Speaker icon has a Red X on it, "no audio output device is installed".

Anonymous
2009-03-15T21:20:24+00:00

original title: No audio output device is installed.

I have done nothing different to my computer but noticed yesterday that the speaker icon in the system tray has a red and white "X" over it and says that "no audio output device is installed." I have Windows Vista. When I go to my control panel and click on "Sounds and Hardwar," and again click on "Sound," it tells me that "No audio devices are installed." Yesterday I went to --> All programs --> Accesories --> System Tools --> System Restore and I did a system restore that way. After my computer re-started, the audio problem was solved but somehow my anti-virus protection was no longer installed. I fixed this with the McAfee support online chat and the audio was also working all day yesterday. However, today, it again says that "no audio output device is installed," and I do not want to restore my system again and have to deal with the anti-virus software going haywire again. Is there another way to fix this? Please help me. I have looked this up on other support sites and have found the answers too technical for me to understand. I have a one-year-old Toshiba Satellite M205 with an Intel Centrino processer and Vista with Service Pack 1 installed although I don't know if that is important information or not. My computer has a sticker on it that says "Dolby Sound Room," whatever that means. Thanks in advance!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2009-03-16T13:45:31+00:00

Hi m_kelsey,

It sounds like you might have an audio driver that isn’t working properly, please do the following:

1.       Click Start

2.       In ‘Start Search’ type Device Manager, press Enter (provide administrative credentials if prompted)

3.       Click the “+” next to Sound, video and game controllers to drop down the menu

4.       Check the status of any device listed in that category by right-clicking that device, clicking Properties, and then under the General tab check what it says under “Device status”. Let us know what the status was.

5.       Then check all the devices (especially any that had a problem under “Device status”) listed in this category for updated drivers by right-clicking that device and then clicking Update Driver Software… (this step may take a moment so be patient). 

Get back to us with your results so that we can further assist you if need be. We look forward to hearing back from you.

Brian

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-10-23T21:52:35+00:00

    **Thread locked by the moderator since it has already run its course. The efforts of all of the contributors in this thread are very much appreciated. If you're having issues with any Microsoft products or services, feel free to use the*'Participate' menu to ask a question or just simply click the 'Ask a Question' button on the upper right corner of the page.***

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-10-20T22:17:56+00:00

    Updating it didn't work. However, I disabled then enabled the drive. It works now, so basically the equivalent of turning it off and on again worked.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-20T22:14:36+00:00

    I'm having the same problem. It says there is no audio output device installed. I followed all the steps and it says there are no devices installed. I'm updating the drive to see if that works. If it doesn't then I don't know what to do. My speakers worked completely fine until I was forced to update Windows which I have been avoiding doing for this exact reason..

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-09-24T22:36:05+00:00

    I have the same problem, so I followed these instruction but it said "this device is working property" and still not working

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