Problem with Windows 10 ver. 21H1 -- all audio input/output devices missing in Sound settings, red X on volume icon

Anonymous
2021-05-19T09:59:57+00:00

For 2-3 days, I am getting no sound at all from my several audio devices/Windows computer here - I have TWO monitors with HDMI audio, plus headphones jack connected to motherboard audio card. I was able to fix it one time by doing lots of tinkering in Device Manager, but I am unable to replicate the fix a 2nd time.

So, asking here.

System is a desktop PC, running an Intel Core i3 Haswell CPU (2 cores, 4 threads), 16 GB of DDR3 RAM, on a ASUS H81M2 motherboard, GPU is AMD Radeon R9 390 (8 GB). Audio card is the built-in Realtek. 1 Crucial SSD, plus 2 HDDs -- WD and Seagate. Logitech Full HD webcam , Logitech wireless mouse, wired Razer keyboard.

The volume icon in lower right (Notification area) shows with a red X. In Settings of Windows 10 OS, Sounds, NO input or output devices show at all.

No sounds possible in any software, i.e. browser, actual OS does not make the Start Windows sound like it used to/etc.

Also, no recording or voice chat possible with my Logitech webcam (which has a stereo microphone), so no Skype, Viber/etc voice calls.

In Device Manager, nothing shows wrong - all audio, system devices appear to be working fine. In AMD Radeon GPU settings, nothing wrong shows either.

I tried the Windows 10 Sound Troubleshooter, but it unfortunately says it cannot identify the issue.

What can I do to fix this?

(Please do not suggest a reinstall Windows OS or Reset OS, I cannot do those.)

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-06-14T13:17:42+00:00

    Ok, I don't get why you're mad when I didn't mention the article for a solution. Did you even read the rest of my post? lol. The useful part of the article was mentioning what the update did, and the things fixed in the Windows Update do seem to relate with the issues described in this post. Also I had noticed one of the services listed in the article was missing for me. The article doesn't explain how to fix that because, as far as I know, you can't restore missing services in Windows.

    Anyway, thanks for that. I needed to hear someone yelling at me this morning.

    Sorry, no, actually I did not mean you. :)
    I just meant the moron article author, not your mention of this article. :)

    Anwyay, glad you are happy -- you are quite welcome.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-06-14T13:04:51+00:00

    Ok, I don't get why you're mad when I didn't mention the article for a solution. Did you even read the rest of my post? lol. The useful part of the article was mentioning what the update did, and the things fixed in the Windows Update do seem to relate with the issues described in this post. Also I had noticed one of the services listed in the article was missing for me. The article doesn't explain how to fix that because, as far as I know, you can't restore missing services in Windows.

    Anyway, thanks for that. I needed to hear someone yelling at me this morning.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-06-14T09:36:10+00:00

    Just a note to everyone. I found this article: https://howtofixwindows.com/windows-10-no-sound-after-update/

    It seems to very much specify those two issues and it discusses that the update I am having an issue with addressed group/local policy bugs. They must have messed something up or pushed a policy that doesn't actually match.

    Let me ask. Are you all missing the Multimedia Class Scheduler service? Because I am, and it's supposed to be there.

    Stupid, useless moron article here! This is NOT an article that covers our issue at all.

    NONE of those so-called "fixes" apply, or can help in our case. Issue is with none of those things.

    There is no use for you to try any of that, none of it will help and you will just waste your time.

    Maybe it can fix some other very basic Windows audio issues, but for our severe, major issue none of the listed applies - solutions given are for newbie users, just starting to use Windows 10 OS..

    EDIT: Thanks guys for the Ease of access tinkering suggestion! That one worked fine for me too. :)

    I hope this issue is logged to Microsoft bug tracking system, as if not, we could wait for a fix until Judgement Day or maybe until Windows 20 OS... :)

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-06-14T01:10:23+00:00

    Just a note to everyone. I found this article: https://howtofixwindows.com/windows-10-no-sound-after-update/

    It seems to very much specify those two issues and it discusses that the update I am having an issue with addressed group/local policy bugs. They must have messed something up or pushed a policy that doesn't actually match.

    Let me ask. Are you all missing the Multimedia Class Scheduler service? Because I am, and it's supposed to be there.

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    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2021-06-13T22:09:43+00:00

    I should add that along with this audio issue, after the BSOD on the first attempted (and failed) update, it actually had changed my login screen to require CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and it also enabled the Administrator account (login was never attempted based on 'net user' info.

    The same happened for me but I thought this was caused by SFC repair after the bluescreen.
    I disabled the admin account again but kept the ctrl+alt+delete login screen behavior.

    Today I noticed an out-of-band update and hoped for some fixes but this was just for some Xbox game pass issues :(

    Let's hope the best for Patch Tuesday!

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