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In this guest post, James Ricketts discusses how to handle PC sound card problems. Find out more about James at the end of this post.
You just double-clicked your favorite song, turned the volume up, but guess what – there is no audio! You wait wondering what the cause could be, but still no luck. Your speaker simply refuses to produce any sound.
You frantically scan your sound file for a virus and the scan results show everything is clear. Your computer is new, so the cause cannot be a faulty sound card, or incorrect entries in the windows registry.
Well, you just overlooked one basic thing, your sound drivers. Yes, that is right, outdated or corrupt sound drivers are quite often the root cause of sound issues in Vista as well as other Windows operating systems.
Just perform the following steps to correct such sound problems.
Check if your sound driver is compatible with your operating system and sound card
Device drivers are operating system specific. What this means is that if a sound driver works with one operating system, say Windows XP, it doesn’t mean that it will also work with different versions of Windows, say Windows Vista or Windows 7. So, first check to see if your sound driver is compatible with your operating system. Next, ensure that your sound driver is compatible with your sound card.
Install the latest driver
In case the above two steps fail to resolve the problem, chances are your sound driver is outdated.
Updating device drivers is easy and not time consuming. You can use a reliable third-party driver scanner and update tool for this purpose. Our Driver Finder review will show you how these tools work to help you fix common driver-related issues.
You can also manually download the latest sound driver from the website of driver manufacturer. Alternatively, you can also update your driver via the Device Manager.
Perform the following steps to update your sound drivers in Windows 7 or Windows Vista using the Device Manager:
- Click the Start button on the taskbar.
- Select Control Panel.
- Locate and double-click Device Manager.
- Double-click Sound, video and game controllers.
- Right-click the sound driver that you need to update and select Update Driver Software.
- Click Search automatically for updated driver software.
- Follow the onscreen instructions to locate and install the latest driver.
Scan your driver files for infection
Lastly, scan your driver files for virus infection. Please remember to update your protective software with the latest malware definitions and security updates before you scan your driver files. As this will allow your protective tool to identify and quarantine or delete the latest malware if present. Additionally, we recommend that you run the malware scan twice to ensure no malware escapes detection.
The above-mentioned tips will allow you to troubleshoot sound issues that may occur due to incompatible, outdated, or corrupt sound drivers. Make use of these tips, before you try something else, as most of the time driver issues are the root cause of sound problems on a Windows computer.
James Ricketts is a writer whose work can be seen at Instant-Registry-Fixes.org. To find out more about his work or to contact him, please visit Instant-Registry-Fixes.org.
Good article, and useful in some cases, but the most common causes for sounds “not playing” were not discussed. _Usually_, in my experience, the sound cards are just fine and there are no driver problems. User error is the most common root cause with these issues as the immediate causes:
1. Speakers unplugged/off or plugged into the wrong port (desktop)
2. Sound muted by the user–either intentionally and forgotten or unintentionally (unfamiliarity with a new “multi-media” keyboard is a frequent culprit :-)).
Great addition David ..
If I might add #3 – Make sure your pointed to the correct playback device(s) and they are configured properly.
Drivers and sound chips/card are rarely a problem on new machines.
Excellent additions to the article David and Jpbrogan. Thank you.
Excellent advice. This is an article in itself. If you’d like to have this put up as a guest article, please contact me http://www.mintywhite.com/contact/
I have a question, I installed a sound card driver using the same process as you said but there is no sound. The driver is ok and songs are playing but I can’t hear anything! HELP ME
I’d start with trying the following: different speakers (try headphones, that you know are functional, in the output jack), ensure the media player’s volume is turned up, try a different media player, ensure Windows’ sound levels are turned up, and ensure your speakers are the default playback device in Windows’ sound management.
Jason, this is good advice for PC users that are having difficulties with their audio. I actually have been having an issue with my sound recently. When I plug my headphones into to my PC, the sound only comes out from one side. I’ve tested the headphones on other devices like my iPod and they work fine. Do you have any tips on how to solve this?
manufacturer these days are having good support of their product. check out the support site to download best driver for your device.
Also, there are now plenty of driver tool that will automate everything for you, which is what I do. :)