Sound will not work at all

[WhiteRat]

I woke up this morning and to my horror the sound didn't work at all on my pc. No big deal, right? I'll just go through the motions and update the driver for the onboard sound, re-install winamp, re-install the k-lite codec pack, install the latest Vista updates, and restart several times. Nothing worked.

I went to bed last night listening to a playlist and now the sound won't work for shit. When you open an mp3 in winamp, the progress bar doesn't move at all and the timer stays at zero seconds. When you do the same in wmp, an error message comes up. The device is working properly according to device manager and my speakers are rather new. I'm at a loss here, I pray to Zeus that someone here might be able to help.

[Archduke Tips]

Can you give anymore information about the error message?

[WhiteRat]

This:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/webhelp/default.aspx?&mpver=11.0.6000.6344&id=C00D11B1&contextid=87&originalid=88890008
This is what confuses me because I have all of the latest drivers and files installed.

Also, when I try to test the sounds in the Windows Sound Options, it says, "Can't play test song".

[Seven Force]

Did you try turning your hearing aid on?

[WhiteRat]

seven force you little shit! just wait until your father comes home!

[Archduke Tips]

Try to think about anything you may have installed or settings you may have changed right before the problem happened.

Check your Sounds and Audio Devices settings in control panel, and you may also want to go into your BIOS settings as well. My BIOS only allows me to turn on board sound and on and off, but perhaps yours has more settings.

Also, run a virus scan.

[WhiteRat]

I ran a virus scan this morning using the free AVG. I'm running Spybot right now but so far nothing has come up.

Also, I forgot to mention that when I try to play a video on wmp or even on youtube, the video is choppy and runs really slow.

[Tadao]

Have you tried system restore back to the day it worked last. I hate doing it, but sometimes it is the easiest fix. Another way would to be to go into device manager, remove your sound device stuff, reboot and have windows re-install the drivers and such. I have fixed my sound a few times doing that.

[WhiteRat]

I removed the sound driver completely and rebooted. The sound now works for youtube videos or other embedded web media, but not for mp3s or videos on my hard drive.

[Tadao]

For my comp, i would do the following. testing function in between steps.

1: Check windows update for any updates that are non critical, software/hardware optional bullshit.

2: Remove/re-install my programs that are not working (winamp etc.)

3: re-install direct x whatever.

[Harry Paget Flashman]

Test.

[MarioRPG]

I removed the sound driver completely and rebooted. The sound now works for youtube videos or other embedded web media, but not for mp3s or videos on my hard drive.

Well, there goes the idea I was about to type.

[Tadao]

Still not working even after my next 3 suggestions?

[WhiteRat]

Nope, still not working. When I let Vista install the driver after removing it and rebooting, the sound works on all embedded media, but not for mp3s or .wmv or mpeg files from my HD. When install the official driver from Realtek's site, it renders all sound mute and makes all video plays play very choppy.

I'm at my breaking point now and i'm considering just wiping the whole damn drive out and re-installing Vista.

[executioneer]

could it be a codec problem? do you have a codec pack you could reinstall

[WhiteRat]

Been there done that. I have tried everything that has been suggested and still no sound. It's maddening I tell ya.

[Tadao]

So you have restored you computer to the day before this happened? That sucks :(

[WhiteRat]

I removed winamp, all sound drivers, codecs, divx, vlc, if it plays media, I got rid of it. I re-installed all of the drivers and programs, followed all of the advice I got in this thread, yet still no sound. I have no idea why it would do this. Like I said, I was playing music the night before as I fell asleep, and when I woke up it didn't work.

[Pub Lover]

You haven't explicitly said you've used system restore & T-Dawg has suggested it at least twice.

[executioneer]

install windows xp

[WhiteRat]

I tried system restore but the only day I could choose from that I saw was sometime on the 3rd, which wouldn't work because the sound stopped working sometime in the wee hours of the 2nd. If there is a way to choose a previous date I would like to know.

EDIT: I've had Vista for just about a year and this is the first problem that i've ever had with it.

[executioneer]

:shrug:

[Tadao]

I'm running Vista too, so it looks different to me. Forgive me if you already did this.

choose "Different restore point"

put check in "show restore points older than 5 days"

list should be longer now.

[WhiteRat]

I just tried it again but all of the options are from May 4th, so it's a no go. Oh well, I guess I'll be reformatting once I back up all my shit. Thanks to all the caring and kind souls who fought the good fight with me.

[WhiteRat]

Um, so yeah, my sound works now. Talk about a case of Eerie, Indiana...

[Tadao]

Fucking computers.

[WhiteRat]

I'm 100% serious when I say that as of this morning the sound only works on embedded media again. Apparantly it only felt like playing mp3s last night for some reason. This will be the last I speak on this frustrating issue because as soon as I back up my media, i'm wipin' dis bitch da fuck out.