No audio

I have a relatively new computer (November 2009) that came already with Windows 7 installed (original version therefore).

For a while I've been having problems with audio off and on. Usually it would be enough to restart the computer, but now nothing helps. When I try to increase the volume, the programme (volume control thingy at the bottom right) freezes... if I go into control panel, trying to open the 'sound' option there, it also freezes.

What can I do? Please help me!

Thank you very much in advance.

Hello AAY,

What brand of computer is this? And is it a laptop or desktop?

Bryan W
MS Architect Evangelist

AAY, welcome to the fourms! I had a problem with my original Windows 7 install, the problem was preventing me from backing up my system. I contacted HP, with no positive results. So I decided to reinstall Windows 7 through the recovery program that was provided with the PC. It took less than an hour, and afterwards, the system worked fine. Sometimes, the factory install isn't done right, it's rushed and not tested throughly before leaving the factory. I guess if it starts up, everything's fine. That would be my suggestion for you. It doesn't take long, and you don't have to babysit the process. Not knowing the make of your computer, I don't know which key at startup to begin the process, but with HP, it's F11. Hope this helps, and should you require further assistance, post back.

Other makes are documented here - Windows 7 Recovery Partition

Thanks Clifford, that is very useful information. There's some that doesn't care for these partitions, but I'm glad they are built in to the system.

My computer is a laptop a DELL Studio 1557.

Finally last night, my brother was able to help me and resolve the issue by first disabling and then enabling the sound drivers again.

I'm working for a humanitarian organization in Darfur, Sudan... so I became a bit desperate because skype is my lifeline! But obviously there is nobody around here who can help! I'm already amazed that they have fast enough internet connections to be able to use skype! This is my fifth year abroad like this and the first year with internet faster than 56.6kbps... (remember that?).

But you're right about the installation, I also can't do the backup. If I use an external harddrive it just doesn't recognize it as such, though when I use it for other things there is no problem.

So I will follow your recommendation and reinstall Windows7 on the weekend when I have some time! Will I need to reinstall all the programs (such as skype) afterwards? What about my data?

Thanks so much for your help!
Anne-Marie

AAY, it looks like you're in for a reinstall. Being that you can't backup, you will have to reinstall your programs manually. Do you mean that you can use your external drive on the same computer that you're referring to? If you can still use your computer with no other issues, you can run it until a solution is found. I don't want to see you losing your data if you can help it. Can you backup to DVD's?

Something else worth trying is to disable all running programs w/exception of Skype. you can do this by following the guide at this link: Disable Startup Applications

I had a similar issue previously with some of the built in programs. Give it a shot since it is a lot easier than a reformat.

Thanks MSbwood for using links on this forum.

Very useful information, MSbwood! That's a lot easier than using third party applications for this purpose. Thanks.