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Verify
software volume control
settings

First verify you see a small sound icon or in
the Windows notification area (bottom right-hand
corner of your screen). If this icon is missing,
follow the steps below. If you see this icon skip to
next section.
Windows XP
1. Open the Control panel
2. Open the "Sounds and Audio Devices" icon.
3. Verify the "Place volume icon in the taskbar"
checkbox is checked. If this option is not
available or is grayed out, skip to the next
section of this document.
4. If you were able to check this box, click ok and
close out of this window and the Control Panel.
5. Double-click the sound icon in the Systray and
verify that all the sound volumes are mid-way
or higher.
Windows 2000
1. Open the Control panel
2. Open the "Sounds and Multimedia" icon.
3. Verify the "Show volume control on the taskbar"
checkbox is checked. If this option is not
available or is grayed out, skip to the next
section of this document.
4. If you were able to check this box, click ok and
close out of this window and the Control Panel.
5. Double-click the sound icon in the Systray and
verify that all the sound volumes are mid-way
or higher.
Windows 95, 98, or ME
1. Open the Control panel
2. Open the "Multimedia" icon.
3. Check the checkbox for "Show volume control
on the taskbar." If this section is grayed out,
change the Playback "Preferred device" by
clicking the down arrow and changing to an
alternate selection. If that is also grayed out,
skip to the next section of this document.
4. If you were able to check this box, click ok and
close out of this window and the Control Panel.
5. Double-click the sound icon in the Systray and
verify that all the sound volumes are mid-way
or higher.
Verify the installed driver
settings
1. Open the Windows Device Manager
2. Verify there are no conflicts or errors listed
anywhere in Device Manager. If conflicts exist
skip down to conflicts section.
3. Verify no "Other devices" are listed. If other
devices are listed skip down to other devices
section.
4. Verify that your "Sound, video and game
controllers" category is listed, if not skip down
to the missing sound card section.
5. If no conflicts or other devices are listed and
your sound card is listed with no conflicts, skip
to the next section.
Conflicts section
If conflicts exists with your sound card or other
devices installed in your computer it is likely that
either the drivers are not properly installed for
that device or the sound card or other devices are
conflicting. If you open the properties of the
device that is conflicting and view the properties,
additional details about the conflict can be found.
Additional information about error codes as well
as help with Device Manager can be found on our
Device Manager section.
If you are unable to locate additional information
about your issue or are unable to resolve the
issue, follow the steps below.
1. Under Sound, Video and game controllers
highlight each device and press the delete key
to remove the device.
2. Reboot the computer.
3. As the computer is booting the system will
detect the sound card and any of it's devices
and re-install those devices. If prompted for a
location of drivers, try pointing it to your sound
card CD or your Windows CD. If this does not
work or is unable to locate the proper files, you
need to get the latest sound drivers from your
sound card manufacturer.
Other devices section
If Other devices are listed, these could be the
sound card or another conflicting device. If any
other devices are listed it is recommended you
remove those devices, reboot the computer and
let Windows redetect the devices.
If this does not work, determine what device is
not being detected and resolve that issue first.
Missing sound card section.
If you are missing the "Sound, video and game
controllers" category in Device Manager, it is
likely that the sound card drivers are not installed
properly, sound card has been disabled, sound
card is bad, or no sound card is available in the
computer. First, verify no conflicts or other
devices are present in the Device Manager; if
these are present it is likely they are the sound
card or devices causing the sound card not to be
detected. Second, verify that the computer has a
sound card and that the sound card is enabled on
the computer.
If this is an on-board sound card you can verify
that it is enabled in CMOS setup.
If you have no adapters or cannot click the down
arrow to select the correct adapter, close out of
this Window. In Control Panel double-click the
System icon, click the Device Manager tab within
Device Manager and ensure there are no yellow !
or red X. Read more. www.smobnology.com/2015/07/missing-or-lost-sound-in-windows.html?m=0
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