audio stopped working

Question

I brought my desk top to an IT person so he could copy some files etc to a new desktop and sync the two. Brought desktop back to a room at a friend's home and audio does not work. it always did before without speaker hardware - I had NO "speakers" connected before

Answer 1

Hello, thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

May I please know whether your monitors have built‑in speakers, or how you were previously hearing the audio from?

If you connect external speakers or headphones to the audio output jack on your desktop tower, do you get sound?

Please also do the following:

1. Type msinfo in the search box on the taskbar and press Enter.
2. Take a screenshot of the window that appears.
3. Upload or post that screenshot here. and share the details of your Monitor.

So, the point is, if your monitor has built‑in speakers (hardware), or if it is an all‑in‑one PC, you should be able to hear the audio from it. However, if you do not have any built‑in speakers, you will need to connect external speakers or headphones to get audio output.

Answer 2

It sounds like your audio issue may be related to the audio drivers or settings on your desktop after the transfer. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the problem:

1. Check Audio Services: Ensure that the Windows Audio and Windows Audio Endpoint Builder services are running. If they are not, start them to see if that resolves the issue.
2. Device Manager: Open Device Manager and check if your audio drivers are installed and functioning correctly. You can try updating the audio drivers or rolling back to a previous version if an update was recently made.
3. Playing Audio Troubleshooter: Use the built-in troubleshooter by going to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters and running the Playing Audio troubleshooter.
4. Uninstall and Reinstall Audio Device: If the audio device is listed in Device Manager, you can uninstall it and then restart your computer. Windows should automatically reinstall the driver.
5. Connect to Different USB Port: If you were using a USB audio device, try connecting it to a different USB port to see if that resolves the issue.
6. Check Volume Settings: Make sure that the volume is not muted and that the correct audio output device is selected in the sound settings.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, consider checking for any specific device-related drivers or software that may need to be installed for your audio to work properly.

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References:

• USB audio device not playing
• How to fix this. no audio device is installed - Microsoft Q&A