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Audio Issues | Red 'X' next to audio icon

Anonymous
2022-03-06T00:32:02+00:00

Greetings,

Up until yesterday, my PC hadn't had any issues with audio whatsoever. Everything was working fine, and I was receiving audio output from my PC's front panel through my headphones. Today, I wake up and there's a red 'X' next to the volume icon in the taskbar, and absolutely no audio comes out from anywhere.

I've tried installing audio drivers from every source I could find, Realtek's page, my motherboard manufacturer, third-party. Nothing works. The driver itself does not show in my device manager, which only shows NVIDIA High Definition Audio and NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM), the latter which I have no clue what it does.

Nothing has changed in my system from yesterday to today. No software installed or updates, I've only used it for work, and game as usual.

Please if anyone knows how to fix this, I'd greatly appreciate the help. I've been looking for a way to fix this all day to no avail and it's been soul draining.

My PC specs:

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Motherboard: ASUS Prime B450-A II
Windows 10 Pro Version 21H2 OS Build 19044.1526

Thanks once again in advance,
JC.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. John DeV 164.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2022-03-06T06:38:52+00:00

    Hello JCM259,

    Thank you for updating that information. Please try performing an In-place Upgrade. Performing this can repair broken operating system files while your personal files, settings and installed applications will not be removed.

    Download the media creation tool(Click Download tool now) and save it to your computer.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...

    Open the tool and select Upgrade this PC now.

    Make sure to select Keep personal files and apps.

    It might take some time to install Windows 10. Your computer will restart a few times, Make sure you don’t turn off your PC

    Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.

    Kind regards,

    John DeV

    Independent Advisor

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  2. John DeV 164.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2022-03-06T01:05:43+00:00

    Hello JCM259,

    Good day! I'm John Dev a Windows user like you and I'll be happy to assist you today. I know this has been difficult for you, Rest assured, I'm going to do my best to help you.

    On the Device Manager, Have you tried clicking the View tab then select "Show hidden devices"?

    Please follow the suggested methods at the link below until the issue is resolved.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix...

    Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.

    Kind regards,

    John DeV

    Independent Advisor

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-03-06T03:20:19+00:00

    Hello JCM259,

    Thank you for updating me with that information. Please try the following methods below.

    1. Shutdown your computer
      Unplug the computer for 30 minutes, then plug it in again and turn on.
    2. Please try to turn off Fast startup
      Press Start then search Control panel
      Under View by > select Small icons
      Select Power Options
      On the left side, Click "Choose what power buttons do"
      Click "Change settings that are currently unavailable"
      Under Shutdown settings > Turn off fast startup
      Power off the system then pull the power cable from the computer, wait for 15 minutes.
      Power back on

    Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.

    Kind regards,

    John DeV
    Independent Advisor

    Hey again,

    Tried both and nothing happened.

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  4. John DeV 164.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2022-03-06T01:41:09+00:00

    Hello JCM259,

    Thank you for updating me with that information. Please try the following methods below.

    1. Shutdown your computer

    Unplug the computer for 30 minutes, then plug it in again and turn on.

    1. Please try to turn off Fast startup

    Press Start then search Control panel

    Under View by > select Small icons

    Select Power Options

    On the left side, Click "Choose what power buttons do"

    Click "Change settings that are currently unavailable"

    Under Shutdown settings > Turn off fast startup

    Power off the system then pull the power cable from the computer, wait for 15 minutes.

    Power back on

    Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.

    Kind regards,

    John DeV

    Independent Advisor

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2022-03-06T01:36:24+00:00

    Hello JCM259,

    Good day! I'm John Dev a Windows user like you and I'll be happy to assist you today. I know this has been difficult for you, Rest assured, I'm going to do my best to help you.

    On the Device Manager, Have you tried clicking the View tab then select "Show hidden devices"?

    Please follow the suggested methods at the link below until the issue is resolved.
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix...

    Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.

    Kind regards,

    John DeV
    Independent Advisor

    Hello there John, thanks for replying.

    I tried showing hidden devices in the device manager and now the 'Sound, video and game controllers' drop down show 3 new devices: Microsoft Streaming Service Proxy and Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter (x2). I don't think these have anything to do with my issue.

    As for the suggested methods, everything on my PC is plugged in and Windows is up to date. Reinstalling drivers doesn't do anything as I mentioned, and most of the steps I can't do because Windows isn't detecting any audio device. Same goes for the troubleshooter, it says: The speaker, headset or headphone is unplugged. I don't really know what this means cause I have my headphones plugged in right now. Sound settings say 'No output devices found' and the drop-down doesn't give another option.

    Hope these details are useful.

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