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No Sound *Sometimes* on Windows 7

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Shaney Crawford

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My Windows 7 (64 bit, Dell) computer seems to randomly pick when it wants to play sound and when it has better things to do. I upgraded the soundcard’s firmware and tried all sorts of things but could never make the problem go away without having to reboot. Tonight I found a way to get the sound back immediately.

  1. Right click the speaker icon.
  2. Click “playback devices”.
  3. Double click “S/PDIF”.
  4. Click “Supported formats” tab.
  5. Click on the word “44.1 kHz” to select it (not the checkbox, the word itself).
  6. Click “Test”.
  7. You then get a warning box.
  8. Click “Yes”.

Source: memolipd on m-audio forums.

I tried it tonight and my sound came back right away. I’m not sure if this will end up being a permanent solution or not. I will update this post if I find that it doesn’t have a lasting effect.

Not a permanent solution, it seems. Sound disappeared again the next time I turned the computer on. The good news, I guess, is that this trick worked to bring the sound back again.

Update: September 1, 2011

That solution worked for a while and then stopped working. Next solution:

  • control panel
  • sounds
  • click on speakers
  • properties
  • disable all enhancements

That seems to be working for now. I turned the computer off and on again and the sound still seems to work. I’ll update again if it stops working.

By the way, downloading the RealTek drivers — something that is suggested on many sites — didn’t work.

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Comments

10 responses to “No Sound *Sometimes* on Windows 7”

  1. Andy

    Wow! What a weird problem and what a great solution. If this fix doesn’t work then head over to the Windows Canada page on Facebook and we’ll help you out.

    Cheers,
    Andy
    Windows Canada

  2. Kevin

    Had the same problem you had and tried your second method, and it seems like it did the trick. Thank you for the tip!

  3. Terry

    I’m having this same problem but haven’t tried the fix yet. Just wondering what are the enhancements that will be turned off by using solution 2? Will I be giving up any features? I’m a simpleton, I don’t do anything special, just using it for HTPC and just want to turn it on and have audio. Thanks.

  4. Shaney

    I haven’t noticed any difference since making the change. It should be fine.

  5. Arief

    Wow, the “disable all enhancements” thing works.
    It fixed the problem (at least I’ve seen no problem for 10 minutes).
    Thank you :D

  6. Ryan

    Thank you. Worked perfectly.

  7. zak

    The solution to the “Intel 82801 GB ICH7 AC’97 audio controller [A1]” is to get the
    “SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio” driver from Windows 7 “update” !!! Simple!!

    ~ Just click “Start”, type “update” in the search box, then click on “check for updates”.
    Look at the “additional updates”, not the “important updates”. Find “Analog Devices driver
    update for SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio”
    instal this update and your sound will come on as it finishes updating!
    NOTE!! Do not download or update KB971033. This will render your win7
    NOT GENUINE, even if your win7 is legit!

    …and don’t click on any “Ads by Google”. They are all dead end hype distractions trying to
    sell you drivers you can’t use and don’t need!

    …more information: http://winqual.microsoft.com/support/?driverid=3356

    you’re welcome…. zak

  8. ian

    I had sound from my speakers sometimes but always from my earphones. We had surround turned-on with front and rear speakers. I guess some audio goes to rear speakers, which we do not have, and therefore we got no sound.
    W7 – CONTROL PANEL, HARDWARE SOUND, MANAGE AUDIO DEVICES, CLICK ON SPEAKERS AND THEN ENTER CONFIGURE to adjust what speakers you have in use.

  9. Roy

    I don’t know how to thank you…i had this problem for a long time and now its fixed after i did what you wrote on the second solution.
    God bless you!

  10. Nick

    Yes the same thing happened with my laptop.
    Nicely written..

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