No sound on Windows Vista sometimes

U

uralowl

Member
Hi,

About a week ago, I changed the system locale on my PC from English (UK) to English (US) and after restarting my computer, my sound died. It said I needed to reinstall SoundMAX about 4 times whenever I switched the PC on, but it never came on again after those 4 times.
Tried changing the system locale back to what it was, but it didn't seem to do it and my sound still wasn't working. Tried installing 'sound fix' programs and new sound drivers, nothing.
And then magically after restarting the computer again for about the tenth time, the sound was back on again. I thought it was all fine because the sound was perfectly alright for about over a week.

But I got the problem back this morning and I have no idea why. It keeps saying 'No Audio Output Device is Installed' on the sound symbol and it has a red x over it. Whenever it does this, the 'Sound, Video and Game Controllers' tab under device manager doesn't exist at all.
However, the sound does work sometimes, sometimes you switch on the PC and the sound is on, or it's not. When the sound is working, the 'Sound, Video and Game Controllers' tab is there and everything seems fine.

I have tried everything I can think of to try and fix this problem and it is getting really annoying now because I had to reboot my PC 3 times earlier just to get the sound on. I have tried downloading sound driver updaters, but they all say my sound driver is up to date.

I have no idea what else to do, I have tried everything I can think of and none of the solutions on google have helped me.
I am using a windows Vista home premium, can't say its exact stats right now because I can't remember them and I am using a different computer to post this thread.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
kesume said:
Hi,
Welcome to the forum.
Have you tried to restore your saystem to a period say 3-5 days before the change of events?
ee below:#
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76905-system-restore-how.html

.
Click to expand...

No, I haven't tried that because I didn't know how to do that.
However, I restore my system to a period 3-5 days before the change, would I lose everything I have downloaded and installed after this all happened? I have installed quite a lot onto my computer since this happened a little over a week ago and I don't want to lose any of it.
 

My Computer

System One

Hi,
Yes indeed you would loose items you downloaded during that time lapse.
Is there any way of saving it to an external memory drive/usb, or cd even?
If you havn't one immediately to hand, could you borrow one, or is there too much info to save?

It will not affect your personal files, such as e‑mail, documents, or photos.

Read the link, then you know.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
kesume said:
Hi,
Yes indeed you would loose items you downloaded during that time lapse.
Is there any way of saving it to an external memory drive/usb, or cd even?
If you havn't one immediately to hand, could you borrow one, or is there too much info to save?
Click to expand...

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if I have installed over 12GB of data since all of this happened and unfortunately I don't have any USB memory sticks or external memory devices to use. I don't think I could borrow one either, since no one I know has an external memory device (about two have USB sticks, but they hold too little data).
 

My Computer

System One

You say that you have tried to download driver updates.
Were they from with device manager, or did you go direct to manufacturers website?
Sorry about earlier post some items did not get carried over.
You can never 100% guarantee that everything can be saved.
So I always ere on the side of caution, and suggest that data be saved beforehand.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
kesume said:
You say that you have tried to download driver updates.
Were they from with device manager, or did you go direct to manufacturers website?
Sorry about earlier post some items did not get carried over.
You can never 100% guarantee that everything can be saved.
So I always ere on the side of caution, and suggest that data be saved beforehand.
Click to expand...

Both, but the device manager said my drivers were up to date and I tryed a program called PC Driver Detective (I think), but that also said my drivers were up to date.
 

My Computer

System One

Okay, it was just device manager & the 'inhouse' drivers are not the best option.
So thought that if you had stuck to that method, chances were you would get the correct ones from the manufacturer, so that rules that idea out.
What system are you on & what drivers were you looking for?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
kesume said:
Okay, it was just device manager & the 'inhouse' drivers are not the best option.
So thought that if you had stuck to that method, chances were you would get the correct ones from the manufacturer, so that rules that idea out.
What system are you on & what drivers were you looking for?
Click to expand...

I'll have to check my other computer tomorrow to see what system it is exactly (I know it is windows vista home premium, but that is all) because I need to leave in about 10 minutes to go to bed (it's late where I live).
I am not really sure what sound driver I have at the moment, but apparently it was SoundMAX.
 

My Computer

System One

Before you do a system restore I would like to make sure that your computer is free from virus, so would you:-
Do a full AV scan making sure your program is up to date.
Download & full scan with malwarebytes, be sure to update first.
Malwarebytes freeware
Once we have those results we can progress. OK?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
kesume said:
Before you do a system restore I would like to make sure that your computer is free from virus, so would you:-
Do a full AV scan making sure your program is up to date.
Download & full scan with malwarebytes, be sure to update first.
Malwarebytes freeware
Once we have those results we can progress. OK?
Click to expand...

Right, I'll do all of this tomorrow (probably tomorrow morning).
I'll edit this post once I've done everything.

Thanks for all the help so far and bye for the time being.
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
kesume said:
It's late here too in the Lake District:-
I am the same timezone UK?:)

For specs. Download Speccy.Speccy - System Information - Free Download

Then you can fill in your specs on the forum.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I live near London and it was about 1am last night so I just had to go to bed, lol.

Here are the specs I found on my PC: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHZ
3070 MB RAM
3.00 GB RAM
32-bit Operating system
NVIDIA GeForce9800 GT

Please let me know if that is enough info or whether I need to download Speccy.
 

My Computer

System One

Hi,
Sorry for the delay.
You posted some info on system specs, yesterday you said you had Sound max, I don't see it on the list?
It would be good to use Speccy, because then we are sure of all component parts, and are then better able to advice knowing their exact specifications.

I trust that you will be now doing full AV scan & malware scan also?
What anti-virus do you run on the computer,norton, Mcafee...etc?
Let me know results of all scans before next step please.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
kesume said:
Hi,
Sorry for the delay.
You posted some info on system specs, yesterday you said you had Sound max, I don't see it on the list?
It would be good to use Speccy, because then we are sure of all component parts, and are then better able to advice knowing their exact specifications.

I trust that you will be now doing full AV scan & malware scan also?
What anti-virus do you run on the computer,norton, Mcafee...etc?
Let me know results of all scans before next step please.
Click to expand...

I couldn't find SoundMAX anywhere on my computer, but it said I needed to reinstall SoundMAX when I first got this issue.
I'll download Speccy and let you know what it says.

I used to have Norton, but it actually ran out just 3 weeks ago and I haven't renewed it yet so I will probably just use windows defender to scan my computer.

EDIT: It looks like you have to pay to download Speccy? I can't really afford it at the moment because my money is going on more important things and if anything, I really wanted to spend my money on renewing Norton.
Sorry about not being able to download Speccy, but do you know of any free versions to it (like a free trail) or don't they exist?
 

My Computer

System One

Hi,
If no AV Please download Microsaoft Security Essentials It's Thee best and FREE
I & many others on the forum use this as an essential part of our overall computer security.

Speccy is a Free download, go to this link, type in speccy in search at the top & download.
It's important to see what you have in view of this Soundmax question.

FileHippo.com - Download Free Software

DON'T spend money on Norton when you can get better FREE.
Let me know after AV & malware test.

Be sure to do FULL SCANS of both AV & malware.
Please take your time, do not rush, & be patient
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
kesume said:
Hi,
If no AV Please download Microsaoft Security Essentials It's Thee best and FREE
I & many others on the forum use this as an essential part of our overall computer security.

Speccy is a Free download, go to this link, type in speccy in search at the top & download.
It's important to see what you have in view of this Soundmax question.

FileHippo.com - Download Free Software

DON'T spend money on Norton when you can get better FREE.
Let me know after AV & malware test.

Be sure to do FULL SCANS of both AV & malware.
Please take your time, do not rush, & be patient
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know about Microsoft Security Essentials, I definitely prefer my AV software to be free, lol.
The AV results all came out saying my computer is fine and working normally.

Thanks, on the site you first posted it said it costed £19.99 and I was confused, lol. Here is my complete results from Speccy:

Operating system:
MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 36oc
Kentsfield 65nm Technology

RAM:
4.0GB Dual-channel DDR2 @ 400MHz (5-5-5-18)

Motherboard:
ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5N32-E SLI (Socket 775) 40oc

Graphics:
SyncMaster (1680x1050@60Hz)
512MB GeForce 9800 GT (Point of view) 50oc

Hard Drives:
488GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD502IJ SCSI Disk Drive (RAID)

Optical Drives:
HL-DL-ST DVD-RAM GH22LS30 SCSI CdRom Device

Audio:
High Definition Audio Device

Norton used to make my other computer lag like heck so I just uninstalled it from that computer. Didn't make this one lag so bad, but it was a nightmare to install, lol.
 

My Computer

System One

Hi,
Glad you got some things sorted, your computer will b better for it.
Did you uninstall norton with norton uninstaller? They have a habit of leaving things when uninstalled!
Did you update your invidia GeGorce from manufactuer, if not the link below IS direct, you can upload from there.


Drivers - Download NVIDIA Drivers

You have not mentioned the malwarebytes scan, is that still to be done?
Microsoft Security Essentials does, as you say take some downloading.
But it will be one of the best security measures available.
Keep me informed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
This is, as far as I am aware the main Samsung Support/Download centre for the UK.
Any updates should be available from that site, if not we'll look elsewhere!

Support SAMSUNG
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard SR5019UK
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 processor 3800 + 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra)
    Memory
    2.50GB
    Graphics card(s)
    nVidia GeForce
    Sound Card
    Realtec ALC888 Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" LCD Monitor
    Hard Drives
    160 Gb Usable Hard Drive
    Other Info
    HP G56 Laptop Win 7 64bit. 4Gb Ram DDR2's. Hitachi 450Gb Hard Drive. Pentium(R) Duel-Core CPU.
Hi, thanks for the advice so far.
No, I unistalled Norton from the control panel.

Yeah, I'm afraid I haven't done the malwarebytes scan yet because I've been a bit too busy today to get on the computer much, but I will try and do it sometime.
 

My Computer

System One

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