KB5003173 No Audio Device Installed

Marcus Brubaker 66 Reputation points
2021-05-19T16:09:26.327+00:00

After KB5003173 audio fails. Sound settings show no output devices found and no input devices found. I've tried updating drivers, removing and reinstalling drivers. and even completely removing all audio devices from device manager and reinstalling. I don't see this as a known issue in the KB notes but lots of people are reporting this same issue. Is it being worked on?

Windows 10
Windows 10
A Microsoft operating system that runs on personal computers and tablets.
6,747 questions

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  1. Marcus Brubaker 66 Reputation points
    2021-05-20T13:09:53.983+00:00

    This fix worked for me:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/kb5003173-killed-my-audio/03662044-80f9-45e0-ba20-a47d1e93488a

    I opened CMD prompt as Admin and ran the following commands.

    net localgroup Administrators /add localservice

    net localgroup Administrators /add networkservice

    I then restarted the Windows Audio service in services.msc

    9 people found this answer helpful.
  2. Darsch 26 Reputation points
    2021-07-28T15:30:48.333+00:00

    The official fix is to repair the following registry key and logoff or reboot.

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations]
    "ConsoleSecurity"

    Credit to Todd on the Dell forum: https://www.dell.com/community/Latitude/Latitude-5400-no-sound-after-May-2021-Windows-update/td-p/7878650/page/4

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  3. Teemo Tang 11,056 Reputation points
    2021-05-20T02:10:35.85+00:00

    It is a known issue now, we can see the related known issue information in KB5003173 website.
    97995-audio.jpg
    May 11, 2021—KB5003173 (OS Builds 19041.985, 19042.985, and 19043.985) (microsoft.com)
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/may-11-2021-kb5003173-os-builds-19041-985-19042-985-and-19043-985-2824ace2-eabe-4c3c-8a49-06e249f52527

    Microsoft currently claims to be working to identify and resolve issues as quickly as possible. However, for now, there is no definitive solution other than uninstalling the update. And considering that these patches fix 55 vulnerabilities, and 3 of them are zero-day, it's best not to.
    Fortunately, problems only appear when using 5.1 sound settings, but do not appear when using stereo systems.

    Workaround from Microsoft update history website:
    To mitigate this issue, you can try one or more of the following:
    Streaming the video or audio in a web browser or different app, instead of the app affected by this issue.
    Enable Spatial sound settings by right clicking or long pressing on the volume icon in the notification area, selecting Spatial sound (Off) and selecting any of the available options.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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  4. Vlad Burca 96 Reputation points
    2021-06-15T18:00:15.307+00:00

    I have the same exact issue and the solution provided above wasn't able to fix my problem. Any other suggestions? I have no audio on my device for days now...

    C:\WINDOWS\system32>net localgroup Administrators
    Alias name Administrators
    Comment Administrators have complete and unrestricted access to the computer/domain

    Members

    Administrator
    NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE
    NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
    Stefan Burca
    The command completed successfully.

  5. Darsch 26 Reputation points
    2021-06-24T14:25:15.857+00:00

    Has anyone tried the KB5003698 (1909) or KB5003690 (20H2) updates yet? There's mention on those again about fixing various audio issues.