Go to device manager, select the audio device/driver and click scan for hardware changes.
voiala! sounds stupid but works for me.
Windows 8 occasional no sound problem. The device is being used by another application.
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Anonymous
Hi,
I have been having sound problems with the speakers on an HP Ultrabook running Windows 8. Occasionally the laptop speakers stop working. When this occurs, I go to Control Panel>Sound, select the speakers(only one set to select), select Configure and Test. After selecting Test, I receive the message Device In Use. The device is being used by another application. Please close any devices that are playing audio to this device and then try again. I've gone to Properties for the speakers, Advanced tab and unchecked option "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device". I've also used Run sndvol to try to determine the application, but it only shows Device:Speakers/HP and Applications:System Sounds.
The only way I've been able to get the speakers to work is to reboot or disable and enable the driver for the IDT High Definition Audio CODEC. Does anyone know of a way to determine the application causing the problem? Thanks in advance for your help.
Gary
Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
On the HP Community forum an HP tech found that uninstalling Microsoft update KB2962407 should fix the problem. This update has a fix that states "Shortened battery life when an idle audio device is not turned off on a computer running Windows". I installed this update on June 19. I don't have any July updates installed, so uninstalling July updates may not fix the problem.
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Anonymous
2014-07-20T00:49:35+00:00 I'm running an ASUS K55V laptop Windows 8 and this no sound problem started to afflict me a few days ago. Tried a few fixes and got temporary results but as soon as I turned back on after hibernate, again no sound AAAAGGGGHHHH.
I tried all the suggestions on this thread (including uninstalling and reinstalling Realtek) up until uninstalling the update K2962407 and none had any affect.
That update loaded on to my system on the 13th of July and although I'm not an avid user of sound, would reckon I can relate the problems back to then.
Anyhow, it worked!!!!!!, wonderful thanks. Hopefully will persist. Will be back on the thread if it doesn't.
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Anonymous
2014-07-19T22:31:19+00:00 Robert,
You have to uninstall KB2962407. You cannot uninstall the one component. Below are the steps from the HP Community to uninstall the update. You must do Step 2 so the update doesn't get reinstalled.
Uninstalling the Windows Update, then hiding it, is the only method of eliminating the issue if it caused by this update. Here is the procedure for uninstalling the update:
Step1:
- Go into Control Panel, then click on “Programs and Features”.
- Click on “View Installed Updates”. Look for the update with the ID number KB2962407.
- Right-click on the update and select “Uninstall”. Restart the computer.
Step 2: Next, here is the procedure for hiding the update:
- Go into Control Panel, then click on “Windows Updates”.
- Click on “Check for Updates”. When the process is completed, is should find important update(s) available. Clicking on the message will open a window where the important update(s) is.
- Right-click on the KB2962407 update and select “Hide Update”. This will prevent the update from being installed next time Windows Updates are being installed.
After trying a lot of the different things people mentioned here, this is the only thing that has "fixed" the problem for me. It's been two days, and I have not had any issues with sound, even after the computer sleeps for hours. Also, the xbox player plays my music now where it wasn't before. I only hope that the fix lasts. :-) Thanks for the info, Gary!
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Anonymous
2014-07-19T14:37:36+00:00 Tim,
What you found is interesting. I didn't have any updates from July installed. I installed the KB2962407 update on June 19, but I've heard that other people received this update in July. I also saw on other forums that other people were experiencing this problem in June. KB2962407 did contain a fix that addressed audio devices. Maybe there are a couple of bad updates causing the same problem or it could have something to do with the audio drivers each of us has. Like you, I hope they release a patch that fixes this problem and doesn't cause more problems.