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

Anonymous

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!

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Anonymous

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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190 additional answers

Anonymous

2011-09-06T20:12:14+00:00

Thanks, Rob, but in case you haven't noticed, for the vast majority of us getting the "No Audio Output Device is Installed" message, there simply is no "sound" (or anything remotely similar) category in their Device Manager. Like so many others, I've tried the "usual" fixes (like yours), with no luck at all.

On other sites, I am running into many references to overheating and loose solder joints on the motherboard/sound card, so this sounds like a known design flaw, but HP (in my case) has yet to offer a fix. This makes sense, given the fact that the sound has come back briefly several times in the past, only to go away (think: heating/reheating of solder joints that may or may not conduct after a given computer restart). It appears that unless you are able to solder the overheated joints yourself or willing to shell out the bucks for a new motherboard and/or sound card, you're screwed.

My next computer WILL be a Mac.
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Anonymous

2011-09-06T21:03:34+00:00

Hi MoteLF,

Did you try the methods suggested above? All of them as they usually do help to correct

the issues. If they do not then the issue is likely hardware though a Repair Installation or

a full installation of Windows might help.

A Repair Installation allows you to keep the programs and data though redundant backups

are always a good idea. (If you have not tried the previously posted methods those same

settings would be in place and this is less likely to help.)

How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Check with HP Support, their on-line documentation, drivers, diagnostics, and ask in their

forums for known issues.

HP Support & Drivers

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html

Contact HP

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact\_us.html

HP Forums

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/psg/

========

I am not a Microsoft employee, only a volunteer, so I in no way spreak for Microsoft. Buy what

you want to do the work and play important to you. Mac is hardware and most of the users I

know are running Windows on them. Added that Mac's also can breakdown and there is even

less available free help to try to correct the issues (not to say they are not good equipment).

Hope this helps.

Rob Brown - Microsoft MVP <- profile - Windows Expert - Consumer : Bicycle <- Mark Twain said it right.
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Anonymous

2011-09-06T21:43:34+00:00

Yep, I and a gazillion other folks have tried all the methods mentioned...and more (just check out the HP forums). HP has been no help whatsoever. I think they've long known they have a serious hardware design flaw on their hands with the overheating, but have been unwilling to admit it. Unfortunately, this makes it very difficult to solve the problem. I wonder if this has anything to do with rumors of HP getting out of the computer business?

Thanks anyway!
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Anonymous

2011-09-17T15:49:24+00:00

Follow the steps Brian gave. Right click on the sound, video and game controllers, or it might say system speaker. Click on uninstall, and restart your computer. This fixed my problem.

Fritz
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