audio driver corrupted or missing

Question

the kids computer audio does not work. troubleshooting says there is nothing installed. went to high def audio controller general tab, device status says: windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. the driver may be corrupted or missing (code 39). {bad file} the attributes of the specified mapping file for a section of memory cannot be read. will getting a driver help and what driver do I need for the kids to get audio. This computer is old, running on windows 10 and unable to update to 11.

Answer 1

Hello,

1.If the audio was working recently, please try System Restore first by selecting a restore point from a date when the sound was still working.

System Restore

2.If that does not resolve the issue, download and install the audio driver from the computer manufacturer’s support website.

If the manufacturer’s driver also fails to load, then either Windows itself is damaged or the audio hardware on this older PC may be failing.

3.Next, try a Windows 10 repair installation (in‑place upgrade):

Download the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft’s official website.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Run the tool and choose to download an ISO file.

Open the ISO and run setup.exe.

Your apps and personal files can be kept, but please make a backup just in case.

4.If the repair installation does not change the situation, the audio hardware may have deteriorated.

In that case, using a USB audio adapter is the simplest solution.

Answer 2

Yes, installing the correct audio driver should fix Code 39 if the issue is only driver corruption.

Follow these steps on the Windows 10 PC:

1. Check Device Manager
   1. Press Win + X > Device Manager.
   2. Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
   3. Note the audio device name (for example, Realtek High Definition Audio, IDT High Definition Audio CODEC, etc.). If it only shows High Definition Audio Controller under System devices and nothing under Sound, video and game controllers, the main audio driver is missing.
2. Uninstall the broken audio device
   1. In Device Manager, under Sound, video and game controllers, right‑click the audio device (or anything with a yellow warning icon related to audio).
   2. Select Uninstall device.
   3. If available, check Delete the driver software for this device.
   4. Select Uninstall.
   5. Restart the PC. Windows will try to reinstall a basic audio driver automatically.
3. Let Windows install a driver
   1. After restart, open Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update.
   2. Select Check for updates and install all updates, including any Optional driver updates.
   3. Restart again and test the sound.
4. If Windows Update does not fix it, install the manufacturer’s driver
   1. Go to the PC manufacturer’s support website (for example, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.).
   2. Search by the exact PC model.
   3. Download the latest audio/sound driver for Windows 10 for that model (often Realtek, Conexant, or IDT).
   4. Run the installer and follow the on‑screen instructions.
   5. Restart the PC and test audio.
5. If the specific vendor driver still fails, try the generic Windows audio driver
   1. Open Device Manager.
   2. Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
   3. Right‑click the audio device > Update driver.
   4. Select Browse my computer for drivers > Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
   5. Choose High Definition Audio Device and select Next to install it.

If audio was working before a recent Windows Update and stopped afterward, use Roll Back Driver from the device’s Properties > Driver tab in Device Manager, if available.

If none of these steps restore audio, the problem may be hardware‑related (for example, failing audio chipset on the motherboard), in which case an external USB sound card or headset with its own USB audio may be needed.

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References:

• Update Audio drivers in Windows
• Fix sound or audio problems in Windows
• How to fix this. no audio device is installed - Microsoft Q&A
• My audio inputs and outputs suddenly disappeared, how do i fix this? - Microsoft Q&A
• NO SOUND DEVICE INSTALLED - Microsoft Q&A