"No Audio Output Device is Installed" after latest update

Good Day AllGoodNamesAreTaken,

My name is Carlo, I am also using Windows 10 pc and community member like you. Let us work together to sort this out.

Here's the steps you can try.\

-Press Windows key + X

-Go to Settings

-Click Update and Security

-Click Troubleshooter then Additional troubleshooter.

-Look for Playing Audio and run the troubleshooter.

Once done proceed with these steps.

-Press Windows key + X

-Go to Device Manager

-Expand the Sound and Video Game Controllers

-Look for Audio driver that was installed

-Right click and Update

-Look for "Browse my computer for driver

-Let me pick drivers available drivers

-Choose an old driver and use it.

-Go to Control Panel

-In Control Panel, select Large icons from the View by drop down menu.

-Select Sound.

-Select the Playback tab

-Right click the Speakers and click Enable.

-Right-click it again and select Set as Default Device.

-Right click Speakers and click Properties.

-Click the Levels tab, then drag the volume slider towards the largest value.

-Click on Advance Tab

-Uncheck the box to "Allow Application to take exclusive controls on this device"

-Click OK.

Restart your computer and test the audio.

If issue persist, let's download the updated driver

What is the exact model of your computer?

To check the system model proceed with these steps.

-Press Windows key + R

-Type msinfo32 and hit enter.

-Look for the System Model and manufacturer post it here.

I hope the information above helps. Please let me know how it goes.

Have a wonderful day ahead and stay safe.

Sincerely,

Carlo T.

Hi Carlo! Here's how it's gone so far:

Section 1: The "Playing Audio" troubleshooter failed to identify the problem.

Section 2: There are several items under "Sound and Video Game Controllers", so I picked the ones that appeared to be core as opposed to, say, a bluetooth speaker I tried. The two were "RealTek High Definition Audio" and "AMD High Definition Audio Device."

It doesn't allow me to pick an "older" version of the drivers, it just installs a driver for the device.

For "Realtek High Definition Audio", for example, it asks me to select the make and model ("Realtek" for the make and the only possible option being "Realtek High Definition Audio" for the model), then it updates the drivers. I don't have a selection list of drivers for that hardware.

Section 3: In Control Panel > Sound > Playback, I don't see "Speakers", just "No audio devices are installed", so I stopped there.

Thanks for the help, please let me know how to proceed!

I have a solution, at least a temporary workaround! This came from a Youtube comment (linked here).

Basically:

1. Press Windows+X.
2. Select "Settings".
3. Select "Ease of Access"
4. Select "Audio" under the "Hearing" header.

Here it gets a little murky, but the original advice was:

5. Turn on "Mono Audio".
6. Click "Change Device Volume".

It should then detect your audio connections.

I had to play around a bit more -- I removed my USB Sound Card then went to "Change Other Sound Settings", then went to the "Playback" tab and selected the Speakers. I then turned off the Mono Audio and I have sound.

Not a clue why this worked, but it did.

Thank you all, especially Carlo, for the help here. If I find out more I will post that information here.

Link to the comment (should be first "Highlighted" comment): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C6dQgLZ4Fg&lc=Ugxs_Bw32NAWF7F1kyd4AaABAg

Unfortunately still no luck, but I think we're narrowing down the problem. The reinstall allowed me to more easily remove the recent Windows updates and reboot, but that didn't fix the issue either, so no I suspect the problem ISN'T the update, just weirdly timed with the update.

After that, I disabled the AMD and RealTek drivers in Control Panel and connected the USB Sound Card, then rebooted... still getting the same error.

I figure if it was a hardware issue then 1) the USB Sound Card would bypass it and 2) the RealTek manager wouldn't see if I had the speakers plugged in, but it does. So I'm still leaning towards software, but I'm baffled as to what it could be.

Unfortunately the problem remains.

I should note that I've unplugged my USB Sound Card just to get it out of the mix of possible issues.

Steps:

1. Disabled my malware/antivirus (ESET, MalwareBytes) -- did not help.
2. Uninstalled drivers, then reinstalled using the downloaded executable listed above -- did not help.

Interestingly(?), the RealTek HD Audio Manager program opens and sees when I plug/unplug my speakers, it just says "You are seeing a blank page because there are no audio devices plugged into the system":