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
    2011-06-03T15:18:26+00:00

    Yep I have a problem too please help as I am as desperate as the chaps who need their sound back,my problem is that when I connect my Cowon MP3 player to sync a few tunes my Windows media player will not recognise it and just tells me to connect a device,I have tried all the above yet my PC recognises it in the storage device page tried device manager,updating driver etc after reading other peoples similar probs does the player have an inherent problem I wonder just because I have exhausted all my options other than going down the expensive route,someone must know surely,please help desperado Si calling having mp3 withdrawl symptoms.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-06-03T20:51:59+00:00

    Hi SimonGilbert45,

    That is a different issue so please start a new thread with all the information we need

    to help us help you.

    How to ask a question

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

    Hope this helps.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-06-16T17:32:53+00:00

    Hi Brian,

    I have compaq presario v6500 running vista ultimate service pack 2.  My audio icon says No Audio output Device is Installed.  In device manager, no sound,video and game controllers shows, no modem shows.  All my drivers are up to date. Trying to install sound modem tells me "Driver installation failed: could not find the modem device for the driver".  No audio driver can be installed.  Sometime when I boot my PC the sound will come.  I noticed that whenever there is no modem that is assigned a com port the sound will display no audio output device is installed.  Please help me out.

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-06-21T19:44:54+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.

    That was the first thing I tried and it didn't work. What worked for me was manually enabling audio service I guess it didn't start automatically.

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