Suddenly my speakers are "not plugged in" no sound

[NickL1]

Recently, I suddenly lost all sound. My sound was fine during the day. I went back a couple of hours later and my sound was gone. To my knowledge, there was no update performed. My computer never shut down or restarted that I noticed. I now have the little red X on my sound icon in the task bar. When I click on it, it runs the audio troubleshooter and determines that no speakers are plugged in. They are in indeed plugged in. I checked. I unplugged and re-plugged them in. I tried other speakers and I tried these speakers on another device. They work fine. They were working a couple of hours prior. I plugged in headphones also, same result. I have updated the driver. It says I have the latest driver. I have uninstalled the device and let Windows re-install. I do NOT have a yellow warning sign on audio device in my device manager. In my Sound settings, it says no audio device found. I spoke with Windows support and they the problem lies with my computer only having Windows 8 drivers. But it's been working just fine with Windows 10 running for over three years.  Why did it stop? They say my only options are to roll back to Windows 8.1 (not desirable at all) or try to a  Windows repair, basically re-installing Windows 10 over the existing install and blocking recent updates. I'd really rather not do either. Is there another HP update or driver I can try? I asked about updating my sound card. He said it might work, but it could create new problems since the issue could be with my motherboard. Don't know what else to try. Please help!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I'm thinking that it is possible the Realtek audio chip on the motherboard died on you.

There is a W10 Realtek driver you can try.  If it doesn't work, then you can pretty much bet the audio chip is gone.

Accept the agreement.  Download and install the Windows 64 bit audio driver from the link below and restart the PC.

https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/pc-audio-codecs-high-definition-audio-codecs-softw...

You should be able to install a PCIe x1 audio card to get the sound working again if the above driver doesn't work.

Just make sure it has driver support for W10

[NickL1]

Sadly, did not work. No change. I don't see any new devices installed on my system. Anything else I might look at or try?

I don't need a high end sound card or anything or to spend a lot of money on this machine. Just basic sound is fine for me. Will this card work in my system or is there one you would recommend?  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KWJWVN3/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?psc=1

Thank you for your help!

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

Yes, l think that card would be an excellent option to replace the onboard audio.

[NickL1]

Bought the card, plugged it in, I have sound again. Thank you again for your help!! You saved me a Windows re-install headache!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

That is great news.

If you're happy with your PC, $20 is a whole lot cheaper to fix the problem than buying a new one!