I have been able to listen to audio on my PC while online. Now I have NO sounds at all other than the Windows Media Player. It plays normally. I get NO sounds at all from the Internet or Windows Sounds. I have checked the sound card and all sound files. Everything is running normally. What now?
Since Windows Media Player works, it sounds as though the sound card itself is working just fine so let’s look at a few other possibilities.
Windows Sound Schemes
The Windows sounds like the chimes and beeps that we hear as we go about our computing business are most likely related to the Windows Sound Schemes settings on your computer. If this setting has been changed to “no sounds,” then you won’t hear the chirps and chimes of various events. This is easy to change. Go to Control Panel > Sound. Click on the Sounds tab. Check the Sound Settings list. Is it set to No Sounds? If so, change it to Windows Default.
Speaker Settings
While you’re in the Control Panel’s Sound center, click the Playback tab and highlight your speakers. Are the speakers enabled? Now click Levels. Are the levels not muted? Click the Advanced tab and click Test. Can you hear any sounds? Go back to the General tab and click Properties next to the Controller Information. Does the status indicate that the device is working properly?
Windows Mixer
Have you checked the Windows Mixer? When you double-click the sound icon in the System Tray, a single volume control slider bar appears. However, if you click the Mixer link, a set of volume controls with multiple slider bars appears. Is the volume bar for Internet Explorer set to mute or set exceptionally low? If so, that could be the problem. Adjust the volume and see if that works.
Internet Explorer and Add-ons
Since you mentioned that sound works with Windows Media Player, but not when you listening to audio online, let’s look at the Web browser. Web browsers need add-ons such as QuickTime or RealPlayer in order to process the audio found online. If these have been disabled or removed or if you are using Internet Explorer in “no add-ons” mode, then the sound on various websites won’t play. First, make sure that you are in the standard version of Internet Explorer, not Internet Explorer No Add-ons.
Next, go to Tools > Manage Add-ons. Click “All Add-ons” in the Show drop down box. Scroll through the list and look for sound-related add-ons such as QuickTime, iTunes, RealPlayer, and so on. Re-enable any that are disabled and see if this solves the problem. Because many of these are ActiveX controls, if your browser’s security settings are too high, it could be blocking them from running. If you’ve recently changed your browser’s security settings and think this could be part of the problem, try a lower setting as an experiment. Here’s some information about ActiveX settings in Internet Explorer that may be helpful.
Hopefully one of these solutions will be the one that works for you.
Celeste Stewart | June 26th, 2009
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