Win7 Pro refuses to see audio devices after driver update
Have had Win7 Pro x64 up and working for over a year now with sound being fine. (Realtec HiDef built into MSI MB.) Updated driver to most current (from MSI website) and now NO sound device is acknowledged by Windows, even though Device Mgr shows all in and working properly. I tried rolling back driver. I tried uninstalling, re-installing. I tried turning it off in MB bios, then back on and let Windows find it. Every time installs drivers fine--but Sound says "no output device installed". I even tried installing an add-in PCI sound card (yes, with Win7 drivers); Device Mgr sees it fine, in and working--but Sound says no playback deviced. Same result with add-on Bluetooth speakers, they show up in devices and printers but not as Sound playback device. Additional note: the Sound dialog window misfunctions; even though I have checked "show disabled devices," devices are NOT shown when I disable them; additionally, the right-click function on any device in the Sound window shows the normal options, but they do not work, that is, clicking on "disable" does not disable a device, and so on. It's fairly clear to me this is NOT a driver issue--I mean, drivers for 3 different sound devices??--but a flaw/corruption/error in how Windows is interfacing with those drivers. (One other piece of into, SIW--System Info Windows, 3d party software--shows each/all devices in place, drivers OK but errors on bus.) As far as I can tell all other PCI devices working OK--including all unctions of my Bluetooth adapter save the speakers--but for some reason Windows is not addressing the sound devices, and I've not found any descriptions of what files or registry entries would be used for this purpose. All I've found is seemingly dozens of other Win7 users with the same issue.
March 19th, 2011 12:48am

I hope I didn't miss it in your message, but have you tried rollong the OS back to the restore point just prior to installing the new drivers?
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March 19th, 2011 12:12pm

I did try that but the attempts failed, error messages claiming a corrupted restore point file twice and resulting in a BSOD once. I would also note that several others who have reported this Sound problem found no relief from even a successful rollback.
March 19th, 2011 9:53pm

Hi, It is recommended to update BIOS and Chipset driver to see what the result is. Or go to Device Manager, right click sound video and game controller, select scan for hardware changes. Alex ZhaoPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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March 22nd, 2011 6:00am

BIOS and chipset drivers are all up to date, have been all along. What is happening, as far as I can tell, is that the hardware side of Wiindows has been separated or hidden from the software side -- that is, if the sound is being processed at all, it is NOT being handed off to the sound hardware regardless of which device is used or in which slot it is placed. On the hardware side, Device Manager sees the sound card(s) and properly associates drivers with them (and yes, I've uninstalled and re-installed multiple times). On the software side, Windows denies that there is a sound device in place. It's like a huge wall has been erected between the two functions. Still, my guess is that it's something simple like a corrupted file or incorrect registry setting; but my question is, WHAT FILES OR SETTINGS COULD CAUSE THIS SORT OF DISCONNECT???
May 13th, 2011 1:55pm

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