There may be several reasons for the lack of sound on a PC or laptop running Windows 7. This article provides a list of reasons why the sound stopped working. What needs to be checked and what actions to take if there is no sound on a personal computer with Windows 7 installed?

First thing to check

Perhaps everything is very simple, and you just turned off the sound or reduced its level to zero. You need to turn on the sound and check whether all system parameters necessary for correct audio playback are configured correctly. If the settings are correct, then the problem may be with the hardware settings.

Driver problem

The second option is that the reason that the sound disappears on Windows 7 may be that the sound card driver is not working properly, or the driver is missing. To fix a playback problem caused specifically by driver problems, you need to do the following: go to "control Panel" — "device Manager", then find the tab "sound, video and gaming devices" and double-click on it with the left mouse button, after which a drop-down menu will be available, right-click and select "Update drivers".

After this, a dialog box will open where you need to select the item "Automatically search for updated drivers". The system will automatically start a search and update the driver if necessary. If after these steps the sound still does not play, you can download a new version of the software for your equipment from the official website and install it yourself.

To do this, save the file on your PC, then run the driver update again, but select not “Automatic search for updated drivers”, but "Search for drivers on this computer", then click “browse”, specify the path to the file you saved earlier. In most cases, such a solution helps restore the sound, but there are exceptions.

Windows Audio service inactivity

If updating the drivers did not solve the problem with the sound, and there is still no sound, make sure that the service responsible for playing audio on a PC running Windows 7 is active and running. The easiest way to go to “services” is the “Start” menu - search bar, enter “Services”, and press Enter. A window will open in front of you with a list of all Windows 7 services. Among this list, you need to find a service named “Windows Audio” - it is responsible for playing sound on a personal computer.

Next, by double-clicking on the line with the desired name, you will open a window in which you can see the status of the service: “General” - “Status: On/Off”. If it is turned off, then you need to turn it on by clicking on the button of the same name, and also change the startup type to "Automatically", then click “Apply” - “OK”. After enabling the service, it makes sense to restart the PC. If all the steps described above did not help, and there is no sound, proceed to further options for solving the problem.

Viruses

The reason why there is no sound may also be viruses that have infected the computer. The essence of the problem is this: viruses that have entered your computer can disrupt the software settings for the sound card, and the sound stops working. Try installing an antivirus and running a full diagnostic of all disks and media on your computer.

But programs for diagnosing viruses must be downloaded from the official websites of the developers, but many users neglect this, which is why sometimes difficulties arise with their PCs.

What else can you do?

If the above measures did not help, and there is still no sound, just try restarting your computer. Often, it is this simple solution that actually fixes the sound problem, and it is after a reboot that everything starts working as it should.

When rebooting the OS has already been tried and failed, you can restore the system using a checkpoint. To do this, you should do the following: go to the “start” menu: “All programs” - “Accessories” - “Utilities”. Select "System Restore", click Next. In the list of recovery points that appears, you must select the one whose creation date and time fall within the time period when the sound on the PC or laptop worked normally.

Start recovery. Sometimes this solution for Windows really helps, and the sound no longer disappears.

The most extreme measure is to reinstall Windows. But even if this did not help, then the problem lies not at the software level, but at the hardware level: the sound card or speakers are not working correctly.

If the sound disappears on Windows 7, there is a possibility that the sound card settings are messed up. You can switch the speakers or speakers to another jack, then perhaps the sound will appear. To test your sound card, connect it to another computer. If this does not work and the sound does not start working, then the sound card is faulty and needs to be repaired at a service center or replaced. If the sound card burns out, it must definitely be replaced; repairs will not help here.

If there is no sound on your personal computer or laptop, or it intermittently disappears, the problem may be that the audio equipment is not working correctly. These could be speakers, speakers or headphones. Try connecting other equipment to the computer, perhaps this will solve the problem.

Typical problems with Windows are mainly due to the fact that the hardware in the computer was not configured correctly. For example, speakers or speakers may not work. There is no sound on the computer for various reasons, so first you need to put aside panic and try to restore normal operation on your own.

Checking the equipment

Can't listen to something? Let's dive into the underlying reasons for the lack of sound and try to configure the sound card. You need to be sure that everything works properly on the computer. To do this you need:

  • Open the Start menu and select Windows Control Panel.
  • Then click on the System and Security category.
  • Then, in the special System section, click on Device Manager.
  • If you are asked for a Windows administrator password, you must enter it.
  • After this, you need to double-click on Sound, game and video devices.

Now you should see if there is a sound card in the list that opens. If it is not there, you should read the manufacturer's instructions on how to set it up. It is also useful to look at the Other devices tab; your sound card may be there. A laptop is usually easier to set up in this regard, since there is no sound card. Instead, a special sound processor works.

Sound in Windows may not work if there are problems indicated by a yellow question mark next to the sound card:

  • You need to right-click on the sound card and select Properties.
  • Then you need to go to the General tab and check the Device Status.

Usually, in such cases, sound in Windows can be restored by simply installing new drivers on the computer. If you don’t have time to scour the Internet for a long time to find and install the necessary driver, you can try a good program called Driver Genius.

After this program is launched, it finds all the necessary drivers on the network (including for sound) and can independently install or restore them in Windows.

Checking the connection

If there are speakers, but there is no signal from them, then you need to check whether they are connected correctly. On almost all computers, sound comes from three connectors that connect to the sound card. It is important to understand here that the speakers must be connected to the linear audio output.

But what if you are not sure which connector is responsible for what? In this case, it is worth going through all the options on the computer, alternately connecting to each socket. The same goes for headphones. It is interesting to know that in almost every computer, after connecting headphones, the sound is turned off automatically.

Power check

The speakers may simply not be connected to the power supply, so there is no sound for physical reasons (no current). Naturally, you need to connect the speakers to the network, and the speakers will start playing sound. The same applies to the controls through which the speakers increase and decrease the volume. Often on laptops the volume control is turned to minus, so that small speakers simply cannot be heard.

You need to open the volume through the following path:

  • Click the Start menu;
  • Then select Control Panel;
  • Click Hardware and Sound;
  • Next is Sound;
  • Finally, adjust the volume.
  • Then the volume slider needs to be raised up.

It is important to ensure that the sound is not completely muted in the mixer. Also, some laptop models have external wheels in order to regulate the sound sent to the speakers. This wheel needs to be checked.

Checking programs

But what if, after all these manipulations, you still couldn’t configure it? It's okay, you just need to check the volume level in the programs installed on Windows. Perhaps it simply does not reproduce anything there. Each program has its own controls so that you don’t need to switch to Windows settings, but quickly turn down or turn up the volume. So it’s better to check the settings everywhere (speakers, headphones, settings) in order to eliminate all the reasons for the lack of sound on the computer and then restore normal operation.


Various operating system errors directly depend on users. It is enough to download a malicious program that attaches itself to free files on the network, and problems with normal operation will begin. However, if you keep a record of all the software that is installed and uninstalled, you can keep your system under control. This is how the speakers will sound, the picture will be displayed correctly, and the programs will function correctly.

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Missing sound can be the result of several reasons at once, and in order to get it back, you may need to sequentially find ways to fix each of them.

If all the methods we have listed do not help, it is best to take your computer in for repair - let the specialists do it.

By the way, to detect the problem, they will probably repeat all the steps described below.

What is the reason for the loss of sound?

Sometimes the reason can be so simple that users cannot even think about it. But it's worth starting with the obvious, so first try this:

  • Restart your computer. It is quite possible that some components of the operating system simply did not load due to its “age” or congestion with other processes. This can be done by clicking on the button on the system unit or by clicking the “Restart” button in the “Start” menu.

  • Check your speakers to see if any wires have come loose, if switches are turned off, and in general, if there are any other defects or damages. It is possible that you will need to disconnect all the wires from the speakers and connect it all again. See if the LED lights up, which indicates that the speakers are working, if they have one.
  • Click the Volume icon(it is marked in figure No. 2). There you need to check if the sound is muted. A red circle means that the sound has turned off for some reason. In this case, you just need to raise the volume slider up or even just click on the red circle itself. Then the system will automatically turn on the sound.

These are the simplest solutions to the problem with the sound not working. All of these should be tried first. And only then apply all the methods described below.

Important! Make sure your speakers or headphones are working properly - test them on other devices before looking for a problem with your computer.

Driver problem

One of the most common reasons for the problem of sound not working on a computer is driver failures.

It's very easy to check if this is true in your case. To do this you need to do the following:

  • Open the Start menu and click on Control Panel, as shown in Figure 3.

  • In the search bar (highlighted in green in Figure 4) you should write “Device Manager”. After this, you need to open the device manager, which is located in the “System” section.
  • Try playing different files. Perhaps there is no sound only when playing a certain type of file. In this case, most likely there is a problem with the codecs. How to solve it will be described below.

Important! You need to open the device manager in exactly the same way as described above. As you can see, there are a large number of dispatchers in Windows 7 and they all look the same, but the functions in some of them may differ, albeit not much.

After this, in the window that opens in the “Device Manager” we need, we need to see if there are any exclamation marks in the list.

We are especially interested in the section called “Sound, video and gaming devices.”

Exclamation marks indicate that the drivers are too outdated, do not work correctly, or, to put it simply, have “flown”, that is, disappeared from the system due to its failure.

Even if there are no exclamation marks, it would still be useful to update your drivers.

It is quite possible that one of them has started to work incorrectly, it’s just that the system “doesn’t know anything” about it yet.

Driver update process

First of all, you need to update the drivers for those devices in the “Sound, video and gaming devices” section whose names contain the words “Audio” or Audio.

However, updating drivers for all other devices won't hurt either. The update process looks like this:

  • You should right-click on a specific device and select “Update drivers...” from the drop-down list of options.

Rice. No. 5. “Update drivers...” item in the drop-down list when clicking on an audio device

  • In the window that opens, select “Automatically search for updated drivers.” Then the system will begin searching for new versions of drivers on the Internet, including on the website of the developer of previous versions. This is the best option in terms of ease of use.

After the search is completed, a list of available driver update options will appear in the same window. You should click on one of them and continue the installation by clicking the “Next” button.

Perhaps there will be a message saying that this device does not need to update its drivers - then you don’t need to do anything.

If the drivers require updating, but the auto search on the Internet did not find any suitable ones, you need to go to the developer’s website, find the latest driver for the desired device there, download and install it manually.

To do this, you need to select the second option in the window shown in Figure 6.

The problem is in the codecs

There is one easy way to determine that there is a problem with codecs on your computer.

It consists of playing different files and checking whether all types of files are played or only some.

But this problem can manifest itself in another way - completely turning off the sound on the computer.

To install a full set of codecs, it is best to use the option offered by the KM Player development team.

It's called and it's a complete set of codecs necessary for normal computer operation.

Interestingly, installing codecs is not as simple a process as it might seem at first glance.

Errors may occur already at the download stage. Therefore, the process of downloading and installing the K-Lite Codec Pack will be described below. It looks like this:

  • Codecs can be found either from the official K-Lite website; other sources may contain malware.

  • In the “Mega” section, find the Download Mega button. Only this package has a full set of codecs. When installing other packages, some may be missing.

  • On the next page there will be two links available for downloading the K-Lite Codec Pack - Mirror 1 and Mirror 2. Users often write on technical forums that the second link is better suited for Russia and other countries of the former USSR. After downloading you should run the file to start installing the codec package.

Important! If you already have an old codec package installed on your computer, at this stage a pop-up window will appear on the screen - the system will offer to remove it. Agree, because you have already downloaded the new version.

  • Next, the installation window will open. There will be installation options, among which you need to select Advanced, as shown in Figure 9, and click the “Next >” button at the bottom of the page.

  • In the next window, you should also click the Next > button, and after that a window will appear in which you can select installation components, that is, codecs. It is best to choose Profile 9, which contains the largest number of them. When finished, click Next > again.

  • In the next few pop-up windows you should just click Next >, we are not particularly interested in them. This must be done until the file extension selection window appears, shown in Figure 11. We recommend selecting Select all video and Select all audio so that any audio and video files can be opened by KM Player.

  • Now click “Next >” several times again and wait for the end of the installation, which will be indicated by the “Finish” button.

The above methods for solving audio problems help eliminate several of the most common causes of problems.

In the video below you can see several more options for solving the problem.

Quite often, users encounter the loss of sound on a computer running Windows 7. There are many reasons for this. Some are quite simple. And sometimes it takes several days to find a problem. This short review is dedicated to how to find and fix the problem.

Non-working speakers

Let's consider possible failure options:

These measures are basic, but you shouldn’t forget about them. If the check didn't yield anything, then it's time to move on.

Hardware audio settings

After obvious faults have been checked, you should pay attention to the software sound settings. It is quite possible that the sound in Windows is turned down or completely turned off. If it is reduced so much that it is barely audible, then the user will most likely assume that the computer itself has broken down.

It’s best to see visually how the sound is configured using Windows 7 as an example; on Windows 8 and 10 the operating principle is the same:


Let's look at the functions of the window that opens in more detail:

If you are unable to play the test sound, you should check to see if the sound is turned down to the minimum value or turned off altogether:

Check Device Manager

If there is no sound on a computer running Windows 7, as well as operating systems Windows 10 and other versions, you should check the status of the mini-programs (drivers) for the sound card. Most likely, they need to be updated or they are not there at all.

You can check the status of the equipment and its drivers in “ Device Manager", which is easy to find in Control panels on the " System».

Systematically displays all devices that are present on a computer or laptop, as well as the status of their drivers. If a yellow triangle is lit nearby, you should pay attention to it first. This means that the sound card is not working at all or is not working correctly. In our case, we are interested in the item “ Sound, video and gaming devices».

If a problem is identified due to which the sound does not work, you need to download and install a driver that is compatible with this PC. The current state of your computer can be maintained using special utilities for automatic updating and searching for the latest version of drivers for any equipment on a PC or laptop. For example, the program Everest will determine the sound card model, check all drivers for relevance and tell you where to find the necessary drivers for sound on Windows 7.

When you monitor the current state of your computer and carry out regular updates, you may encounter the problem of no sound during the next automatic driver update. The source of the problem may be an updated driver. "" will help restore the working situation. On the " Driver» of your sound card, you must click the Rollback button.

If the problem disappears, it is better to disable automatic driver updates for this device.

Updating drivers in Windows 10

The algorithm of actions consists of the following steps:

  1. If the Internet is connected, then in the browser search engine you need to type a search query like: (Your_laptop_model) support or (Your_motherboard_model) support.
  2. In the support section, select your computer model and click Select.
  3. From the Driver-Audio line, select to download to your computer the entire set of drivers that are in this list.
  4. If you are prompted to download drivers for Windows 7 or 8, and not for Windows 10, it’s okay, at least it’s better than nothing. The main thing is that the bit depth of the operating system does not differ from the installed one (x64 or x86). The driver that is missing in the system is included in the package offered by the official website.
  5. After the drivers are downloaded, you need to install the entire kit. If the system requires you to enable compatibility mode with previous versions of Windows, this must be done.
  6. After this, check whether the sound appears or not.

No codecs for audio/video

If there is sound in the browsers, but there is no sound when you start the video on the PC, then you should look for the problem either in the media player itself or in the audio codecs.

To constantly watch videos, it is recommended to use KMR player. He has already proven himself and is showing good results. The creators of the program have provided a lot of different codecs for video playback. And, as a rule, most films are successfully reproduced in this program.

The problem with codecs can be radically solved using the package K-Lite Codec Pack. It can solve the missing sound problem. It has a full set of current codecs that open almost all popular formats, both video and audio files.

Viruses and adware

Problems with sound on Windows 7 may mean that a virus has appeared in the system. There are many types of viruses and they can negatively affect the operating system.

How to behave if the sound on your computer disappears and you suspect a virus:

  • Take a close look at how your computer works as a whole. If it begins to freeze frequently or suddenly slow down, then most likely the PC has been subjected to a virus attack. If the installed antivirus program failed and missed the virus attack, then it is best to check the system with a third-party antivirus with up-to-date virus databases. For example, you can use the utility Dr.Web CureIt. This healing utility successfully cures an infected system.
  • You can try checking your computer using Live CD(emergency boot disk). With its help, you can download a lightweight version of the operating system with a ready-made antivirus. If you boot the restored system from Live CD sound appears, then most likely there is a malfunction in Windows 10 itself. Most often, you will have to reinstall it or perform a system restore using restore points, if this mode was enabled and restore points were created.

Checking the BIOS settings

If your computer or laptop has a built-in sound card and there is no sound even in headphones, then you can look BIOS.

This is an extreme measure - AC97 is enabled by default in the factory settings. If the settings are lost, the sound device in the Windows operating system will not work.

Each computer logs into the BIOS differently. For example, for ACER computers, before booting the system, you must press and hold the Del key. In general, before loading the operating system, you must indicate how to enter the BIOS.

After pressing the Del key, the following dialog box will open, in which you need to select the item “ BIOS Setup».

In the window that opens, you need to find an inscription like AC 97 Audio, use the arrows on the keyboard to highlight this inscription and click on the Enter key. A dialog box will appear to select which function to activate HD Audio or AC97. We are interested in the AC97 “Auto” inscription. Confirm your choice and use the ESC key to exit this section. Exit the BIOS, saving the settings.

If you can’t get the sound back after changing the BIOS settings, then the last option is to replace or send the sound card for repair.

Laptop owners often encounter the problem of no sound in the Windows system. Due to frequent overheating of the sound chipset, the computer begins to malfunction. And all the rest of the electronic stuff simply suffocates with dust, unless, of course, you do regular cleaning, and gradually breaks down, which can also lead to loss of sound on the laptop.

Conclusion

Of course, these are not all the reasons why there may be no sound, but the main, most common versions are revealed.

So, we told you how to restore sound in Windows 10, 7 and 8. And our main advice is not to despair, but to try all the options step by step.

Video on the topic

The multimedia capabilities of a PC are used not only by fans of computer games and connoisseurs of high-quality cinema, but even by those users who, for example, keep accounting records, print documentation or retouch photographs. Many people don’t mind being distracted and listening to good quality music or watching videos on the Internet during their lunch break. One way or another, playing multimedia content first of all requires proper operation and proper configuration of audio equipment.

Usually, during installation, the system selects the most suitable drivers for each device, including the sound card, but there are times when audio playback becomes impossible. The problem in this case can be either software or hardware in nature. Hardware problems are associated with the breakdown of speakers or a sound card and can only be solved by repairing or replacing damaged components; software failures are much easier to eliminate.

In order to figure out what type of problem you are dealing with in each specific case, it would be nice to have a basic understanding of how sound is actually generated in your computer or laptop:

  1. Initially, information recorded on a digital medium, such as a flash drive or DVD, goes directly to the computer’s motherboard.
  2. Next, using a built-in chip or a separate card, the received information is processed and decoded into an analog format, which is fed to speakers or headphones.

Possible causes and solutions to the problem

Method 1: mechanical

Many users who are accustomed to working on a laptop, but “forced” to master navigation on a desktop computer in the office or at home, experience some confusion associated with the abundance of connected wired devices such as a keyboard, mouse, webcam and speakers. Therefore, if the sound disappears (especially suddenly), first of all you need to make sure that the connection has not been broken and the wires do not have strong kinks. Next, you need to make sure that the speakers are connected to the appropriate connector (“Output”) located on the motherboard or audio board. If the sound card is multi-channel and you are connecting a system of six speakers with a subwoofer, then you should carefully (according to the instructions or the colors of the connectors) connect all the plugs in pairs. After all the connections have been made, you need to go to the “Control Panel” through the “Start” quick access menu and enable the “Surround Sound” function in the settings.

What else is worth knowing?

  • Typically, the connector into which the speakers are connected is green and has the inscription Out directly above the socket.
  • If you are using a special HDMI cable, then it is worth remembering that not all devices support this type of switching. In the Windows Control Panel, you can configure the synchronization of the hardware with the cable by clicking on “Set as default.”
  • If you are using USB devices that reproduce sound, you can try plugging them into another slot, after which you must restart the computer.

The volume of the speakers is controlled by a knob called Volume. If you have connected the speakers correctly, turned the volume control to maximum, but no sound appears on the computer, then you can move on to further search for the cause of the problem.

Method 2: Sound card drivers


Method 3: Checking Settings


Method 4: neutralize Win audio failures


Method 5: Fixing an Incorrectly Configured BIOS


Method 6: Installing Codecs

If there is sound when loading the Windows operating system, but immediately disappears while playing games or watching multimedia content, then the problem most likely lies in hopelessly outdated codecs, or in their complete absence.


Method 7: Look at the "Taskbar"

If the sound on the device has disappeared completely, or has a very low volume level, then you can adjust it by clicking on the image of the speaker near the clock icon in the “Taskbar”. Once pressed, you will have access to an adjustment menu called “Mixer”. If the speaker image is crossed out in red, it means it needs to be removed manually. If the volume slider is at the bottom, then it needs to be raised to maximum. Here, in the “Mixer,” you can also adjust the frequency and bit depth of the audio, as well as all sorts of “tricks” like surround sound.

Method 8: Using Additional Software

When you can’t independently adjust the sound on your computer, you can use special programs that can diagnose the problems that have arisen and, accordingly, eliminate the cause of the failure. Some manufacturers of audio components accompany their devices with similar utilities, or they can be downloaded from the official website of the developer.