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I got a virus and had to reboot my computer. I lost my audio drivers, downloaded some, and have no sound. If I go to My Music one of the sample songs will play but if I try to watch a movie or listen to music elsewhere there is no sound. Can you help?

I think this is definitely due to the virus, particularly if you can play the samples, but not other sound on your system. You said that you rebooted the system - did you also run a virus scan and correct the virus issue that was causing the problem? If you need some help with antivirus programs, you can take a look at our review article here.

Uninstall then Reinstall

You said that you downloaded the audio drivers, but did you uninstall anything that was remaining on the system first? It’s possible that you had something partially installed before you did a new download, so try it again. Go to Audio Devices, delete the audio devices that are there and have the system detect and reinstall the drivers when you boot up the system. You can also go to the manufacturer’s website and do a manual download. If you find that it is a problem when you try to play DVDs, you can delete the DVD player in your computer and have that reinstall as well.

System Restore

You can also try a System Restore to see if you can roll your computer back to an earlier time when the sound was working well. Go to Start and then All Programs and Accessories. Click on System Tools and then System Restore. You will see a welcome screen for System Restore. Click on “Restore my computer to an earlier time”. Click Next and you will see a “Select a restore point” page. You will need to select a date just before the virus hit and you lost sound. Click Next and confirm the date. The computer will shut down and reboot - when you see the Restoration Complete message, click Ok.

If the System Restore is successful, you need to immediately update your antivirus product and run another full virus scan to eliminate anything that might be lurking on your system. It is a good idea to set another restore point when everything is working and you have just performed a scan so that you will have something to go back to in case this happens again.

How do I restore the sound to my Gateway laptop? I have no sound whatsoever. My computer won’t show the settings necessary for adjusting the volume.

Restore the Volume Icon in XP

The first thing to do is restore the sound icon on your desktop. Here are the settings for Windows XP:

• Click the Start button, then choose Control Panel
• Click to open the Sounds and Audio Devices icon
• Find the listing called Place Volume Icon in the Taskbar
• Make sure that the corresponding box is checked, or click to check it
• If this option is greyed out or unavailable, move to the next suggestion
• If you could choose this box, choose OK
• Close the window and Control Panel
• Look in the taskbar on the bottom right hand side of the screen for the volume icon shaped like a speaker
• Double click the icon to open the volume settings and adjust them to your preferences

Restore the Volume Icon in Vista

If you are running Windows Vista, follow these steps to enable your taskbar icons:

• Right click the taskbar on the bottom right side of the screen
• Choose Properties
• Choose the tab called Notification Area
• Now you can check or remove the icon choices to configure your taskbar
• Make sure that the box is not checked to Hide Inactive Icons
• Click Apply

Troubleshoot your Sound Card with Device Manager

If the icon options are greyed out or if you aren’t able to select the volume icon, you can check the drivers in Device Manager.

• Click Start, then Control Panel
• Click twice on the System icon
• Choose Hardware, then choose Device Manager
• Look for the Sound, Video and Game Controllers listing
• Look for any red Xs or yellow exclamation marks indicating a problem.
• If there are any issues, double click to open the listing
• Once you know the brand of the sound card, remove and reinstall to troubleshoot the driver settings and go to the manufacturer’s website and download any available drivers to update them
• Use Windows Updates to get the latest releases and service packs from Microsoft to keep your system up to date.

Good luck!

How do I restore the sound on my Gateway laptop? I have no sound at all.

The Mystery of Missing Sound

Sound problems are among the most common issues that we deal with. In fact, my own laptop is consistently flakey when it comes to sound. I’ve noticed that after updating Windows, my computer’s soundcard frequently stops working. You want to know how I fix it? It’s a bit embarrassing for a Tech Jock to admit it but I reboot the computer and the sound almost always comes back!

Windows Updates and Sound Errors

In my case, I believe that during some of the Windows updates, my soundcard is also being updated with the latest device driver. When a device driver is updated, the computer generally needs to be rebooted in order for the update to complete and all of the necessary device drivers loaded. So, my first piece of advice is the most basic: reboot your computer.

Next, let’s double check that the sound hasn’t been inadvertently muted. See the little sound icon in the lower right corner? Double-click that and make sure that the volume lever is not all the way down or the mute button depressed. If either of these are set too low, the volume will be turned off so adjust as needed.

Using System Restore to Restore Sound

If rebooting your system didn’t do the trick and you’ve ruled out the obvious such as mute buttons, speakers being turned off or not plugged in, etc, the next step is to use a couple of built-in system tools to troubleshoot the problem: System Restore and Device Manager.

System Restore, available in Windows XP and Vista, is ideal for dealing with newly introduced system problems. If enabled, you can effectively rollback your system to an earlier point in time by choosing a “restore point” that was created previously. For example, if your sound stopped working today, you could choose a restore point from yesterday and your computer will work just as it did yesterday - sound and all!

System Restore doesn’t affect data so you don’t need to worry about losing your sales reports or projects. It does affect programs and newly installed devices, so you may have to reinstall programs or devices installed after the restore point. In addition, System Restore can be undone if the results are undesirable.

Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore and see if a restore point is available from before the sound problem started.

Using the Device Manager to Restore Sound

The Device Manager is a built-in utility for managing your computer’s devices including the soundcard. The soundcard needs device drivers in order for your computer to understand how to interface with it. Occasionally, device drivers can be overwritten, deleted, or otherwise destroyed. This can happen innocently enough (such as by installing or uninstalling a program that makes the change), maliciously (such as when a computer virus goes on a rampage and deletes files), or accidentally (such as a power surge or unexpected shutdown).

Launch Device Driver via the Control Panel. Click the plus sign next to the Sound, Video, and Game Controllers category. Double-click your soundcard, read the error message, and follow any troubleshooting steps offered. Next, click the Drivers tab followed by Update Driver and choose Automatic. Windows will attempt to locate and install new drivers. Once complete, reboot your computer.

If Windows doesn’t find the appropriate drivers, you can download them from the soundcard’s manufacturer’s Web site. Use information from Device Manager to identify your soundcard and then start hunting for the manufacturer’s download device drivers webpage. Manufacturers usually provide detailed instructions for installing your newly downloaded drivers.