Lost all audio after May, 2021 Windows 10 update!!!!

Hi Lyes,

I also wondered about that ... I thought that the dism and sfc commands would also check Windows related reg keys and of course, an in-place repair upgrade or complete reinstall should also not end up with broken values.

Maybe something happens when first initializing some audio hw/driver/service related things. That would explain why this issue persists (as long as the root cause is not fixed via a Windows update).

Regarding the value of ConsoleSecurity:

I just checked two different Laptops, both had the same value for ConsoleSecurity. So I guess I can post it here without leaking anything.

To apply it copy the following, save as .reg file and execute it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations]

"ConsoleSecurity"=hex:01,00,14,80,9c,00,00,00,a8,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,00,\
00,02,00,88,00,06,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,01,00,00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,\

04,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,bf,03,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,00,\

00,14,00,89,00,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,13,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,81,00,\

00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,14,00,00,00,00,00,18,00,bf,03,0f,00,01,02,00,\

00,00,00,00,05,20,00,00,00,20,02,00,00,00,00,18,00,21,01,00,00,01,02,00,00,\

00,00,00,05,20,00,00,00,2b,02,00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,01,\

01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00

Yet to test it out mate. But I'm still not sure what has this to do with the audio settings. Weird eh?

I'm no expert, hence can someone shed some light on it?

I tried to find some documentation about this key but didn't really find anything explaining it.

Only found some mentions of related keys with sound issues for remote desktop sessions.

So it is not far off that something similar could happen for a local session.

I can't believe it but this actually fixed the problem.

How did you find out about that specific key?

Here is a PowerShell script to first backup everything under WinStations and then copy the value from DefaultSecurity to ConsoleSecurity.

I did not include a check if the current value of ConsoleSecurity is empty / shows as Zero-Length Binary Value so it is probably a good idea to verify this first.

Copy everything, save it as fixAudio.ps1 and call it as admin with PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\fixAudio.ps1

(-ExecutionPolicy Bypass is just needed so you can execute local scripts no matter what policy currently is configured on your system, more info at MS docs)

Use at your own risk ;)

Audio should work after reboot.

REG EXPORT "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations" WinStations_backup.reg $WinStationsPath="HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations"

$value = Get-ItemProperty -Path $WinStationsPath -Name DefaultSecurity

Set-ItemProperty -Path $WinStationsPath -Name ConsoleSecurity -Value $value.DefaultSecurity

Alternatively, you can of course use regedit to do this manually!

Finally a solution that sounds good, and is not coming from half-brained morons! :)

How do you manually copy binary data from 1 registry value to another!? I have never done this, only copied text & decimal/hexa values until now.

In my tries, the 2nd key got different values, so obviously I am not doing it right..

And yes, your PowerShell script sucks and does not work.

EDIT: Okay, remembering my Windows 9x/2000/XP days, when I did much more Windows Registry tinkering, I did the obvious thing - Exported to REG file, opened that with Notepad++ then removed the extra keys/values I do not need -- no option to export without sub-keys, as you probably know.

Then I renamed the saved DefaultSecurity key name to ConsoleSecurity, saved the edits, and then imported the REG file - works great! :)

I have spend a few days trying to figure this out. Installing and reinstalling drivers. Going back to various restore points. Updating windows with repair and so on. THANK YOU! This was incredibly helpful and avoided having to do a fresh install of windows (which might still not have fixed it). Microsoft needs to figure out why this is getting wiped in some upgrades. The key change is definitely what did it.

The powershell script worked for me just fine, but it is was missing a carriage return between the first and second command when I cut and pasted it into notepad++ for those who are trying it out.

Also, I believe the key values are unique to individual machines and probably should not be published (mine does not match the one above), but I'm not sure what is compromised by sharing it.

Note the change suggested by Deric McLemore brought back my audio input and output devices, but no audio. It was only the key change that worked and I had to restore the logon back to local service on the Windows Audio service before I had complete success.

Thanks again!