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

It appears that monthly patch that failed was causing the following registry key to break.

consolesecurity located in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations

The ConsoleSecurity shows as Zero-Length Binary Value

Import the registry key from a working machine (which is the same for all machines I believe) and this has fixed the issue for me.

Here is some more context, I worked with a member of Microsoft Support team to help narrow it down as Im sure you were aware this issue was quite frustrating.

I was waiting to see if Junes patching would also fail in some cases and break users machines here is what I know.

• The issue only occurs with patch KB5003169
• Not everyone is affected only users who experience the following: Patch installs but fails, and retries 2-3 times. After it is installed users have the following issues.
  • Issue #1: Have No Audio (Red X)
  • Issue #2: users now have to hit Ctrl Alt Del at log on (depending on your company policy this may be a change)
• This affected multiple companies as seen here for Microsoft or here for Dell.

Solutions Shown Below. Since this issue has not occurred with the latest patches I believe we can close this case. Not sure if Microsoft wants to address this issue with other customers that may not be aware.

ISSUE #1. It appears that monthly patch that failed was causing the follow registry key to break.

consolesecurity located in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations

The ConsoleSecurity shows as Zero-Length Binary Value

However, it should appear as

Import the registry key (I have regkey if needed) to affected user to resolve this issue.

ISSUE #2 - All users that have this issue also have another issue where they are required to use CTRL ALT DEL to log in

This is related to Local Security Policy being changed

Users were changed to

Changing this to enabled fixes it

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!

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

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! :)