Many sound problems are caused by hardware that isn't set up properly. This section covers checking your sound card, plugging cables into the correct locations, making sure the hardware has power, and checking the volume.
Check to make sure your computer has a sound card, or sound processor, and it's working properly.
Open Device Manager by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Security, and then, under System, clicking Device Manager. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Double-click Sound, video and game controllers to expand that category. If a sound card is listed, you have one installed. If no sound card is listed, check the information that came with your computer to see if there's supposed to be a sound card installed. If there should be a sound card installed, you'll need to install one. See Install or remove a sound card.
If you think you have a sound card installed but you don't see it under the Sound, video and game controllers category, expand the Other devices category and check any devices listed there.
Laptops don't usually have sound cards. Instead, they have integrated sound processors, which appear in the same category in Device Manager.
If there's a yellow question mark next to the name of the sound card in Device Manager, there might be a problem.
Right-click the name of the sound card and then click Properties.
Click the General tab, and then look in the Device status box to identify problems with the sound card.
If there's a problem, you might need a new driver for your sound card. For more information, see Step 3.
If you're using external speakers, make sure that they are correctly connected to the computer.
Many computers have three or more jacks that connect to a sound card or sound processor, including a microphone jack, line-in jack, and line-out jack. Your speakers should be plugged in to the line-out jack. If you're not sure which jack this is, try plugging your speakers in to each of the jacks to see if any of them produce sound.
If you're using headphones, make sure they aren't plugged into the line out (headphone) jack of your sound card or computer (unless you want to be listening with headphones rather than speakers). When you plug in headphones, most computers automatically cut the sound to the speakers.
If you’re using an HDMI cable to connect your computer to an HDMI-capable monitor with speakers, you might not be able to hear sound. HDMI cables support audio signals, but not all HDMI-enabled video cards support audio. You might also need to set the HDMI audio device as the default. To check to see if sound is supported over HDMI follow these steps:
Open Sound by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type sound, and then click Sound.
Click the Playback tab and look for an HDMI device; this will appear as a speaker icon and will be labeled Speaker, followed by the name of the device.
If you have an HDMI device, click the device, click Set Default, and then click OK.
Changing the audio device might require you to restart your computer.
Click Start, point to Control panel, and then click Sounds.
Click Speech and Audio Devices, click Sound, and then click Audio Devices.
Click the Audio tab look at the default device in the Sound playback section, click the drop-down beside the audio device name tab and look for an HDMI audio device.
If you have an HDMI device, click the device, and then click OK.
If you don't have an HDMI audio device, your HDMI-capable monitor should have an audio input, and you might need to connect a separate audio cable from your computer sound card directly to the monitor. If the monitor does not have speakers, you'll need to connect the audio signal to a different device, such as external computer speakers or your home stereo system. <should we provide more info here>
Some video cards with HDMI output require you to connect a wire from your video card to the sound device, this usually requires a small wire connection inside your computer from the video card to the sound card. Check the manual that came with your video card for instructions on how this should be done.
If you just installed a new video card i's possible that the video card driver installation program set your video card as the default audio device. In this case, you'll need to set your preferred video card as the default audio device to fix the problem. See the instructions above for help setting the default audio device. For more information about connecting an HDMI cable to your TV or monitor, see HDTV: frequently asked questions.
If you’re using a USB audio device, for example, you have an internal audio device installed and you’re currently using a USB audio device <example>, try these basic troubleshooting steps:
Unplug the USB audio device and restart your audio program. Test for sound using the internal audio device <how>. If you hear sound, there might be issues with the USB audio driver or with Windows not using the USB audio device as the default audio device.
Close all audio programs, unplug the USB audio device, wait for the USB driver to be uninstalled (this should happen fairly quickly), plug the USB audio device back in to the USB port, wait for the driver to load, and then start the audio program and check for sound.
Check that you have the correct audio device set as the default in Windows and in the program <how>.
Check the audio device manufacturer’s website for updated drivers.
Some computers might have multiple audio devices, an example would be if you bought a new computer and during the purchase, you upgraded to a different video card. You would, in most cases, have an onboard video device (a video chip on the motherboard) as well as a secondary inserted video card. You can check for this scenario by looking on the back of your desktop computer for two sets of audio connections.
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Laptops will normally have one set of audio plugs unless you’re using a USB audio device. Follow these steps to check for and set the correct audio device as the default.
Click the Playback tab and look for an multiple audio devices; these will appear as speaker icons and will be labeled Speaker, followed by the name of the device.
If you have multiple devices, the default device has a check beside it and is labeled as Default.
If the wrong audio device is listed as the default audio device, click the correct device, click Set Default, and then click OK.
Click the Audio tab look at the default device in the Sound playback section.
If this is not the correct device; click the drop-down beside the audio device name, select the desired audio device, and then click OK.
If you have speakers, make sure they're plugged into a working power source and turned on.
Make sure that your speaker volume or headphone volume isn't muted or turned down too low. This is particularly important for laptops, which often have small speakers that can be hard to hear.
Open Volume Mixer by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Hardware and Sound, and then, under Sound, clicking Adjust system volume.
Move the slider up to increase the volume.
Some laptops have an external volume control on the outside of the case. If you're using a laptop, check the external volume control to make sure it's not turned all the way down.
In some cases you might have several volume controls to check. For example, if you're using Windows Media Player it has its own volume control, Windows has a volume control, and your external speakers have their own volume control. If any of these volume controls are set to their lowest setting, you will not hear any sound.
