HP Laptop - lost my sound after installing updates

  • Thread starter Thread starter five256@NOwhere.com
  • Start date Start date
F

five256@NOwhere.com

Sometimes, after installing MS updates or other apps, I lose my sound.

The only way I get it back is to use System Restore to a point where the

sound worked. However, then I don't have the updates or apps. This

tells me that it's a software problem with Vista - not a hardware

problem. Now, I am about 11 MS updates behind - and no sound. Also, the

System Restore doesn't work anymore (I no longer have a Restore point

where the sound worked). I've Googled and have found that many people

have similar problems with their HP laptops. I am using Vista, SP-2. I

am now going to ionstall the updates since I can't go back to get the

sound. I've checked in Device Manager (no problem) and made sure I'm

using the most recent signed driver. I can't find any text indication

that I have a problem but when I go to Playback Options and try the sound

Test, I get a message which says the sound didn't play. Hope I included

all the relevant information. If not, please tell me. I've tried

everything I know of. I have a full backup of my hard drive - but don't

see how that can help. Perhaps one of you can help me or point me in the

right direction. I don't know where to go from here.
 
wrote in message

news:0uput55q87hd6fi3si3e3sosf507cgnaob@4ax.com...

> Sometimes, after installing MS updates or other apps, I lose my sound.

> The only way I get it back is to use System Restore to a point where the

> sound worked. However, then I don't have the updates or apps. This

> tells me that it's a software problem with Vista - not a hardware

> problem. Now, I am about 11 MS updates behind - and no sound. Also, the

> System Restore doesn't work anymore (I no longer have a Restore point

> where the sound worked). I've Googled and have found that many people

> have similar problems with their HP laptops. I am using Vista, SP-2. I

> am now going to ionstall the updates since I can't go back to get the

> sound. I've checked in Device Manager (no problem) and made sure I'm

> using the most recent signed driver. I can't find any text indication

> that I have a problem but when I go to Playback Options and try the sound

> Test, I get a message which says the sound didn't play. Hope I included

> all the relevant information. If not, please tell me. I've tried

> everything I know of. I have a full backup of my hard drive - but don't

> see how that can help. Perhaps one of you can help me or point me in the

> right direction. I don't know where to go from here.





This seems to be caused by the Windows update however you should really

contact the HP support people, since they are supposed to support the

hardware and OEM Windows edition that was preinstalled on the computer when

purchased (assuming you haven't installed a standard retail edition).



They will probably suggest you update the hardware drivers from their

website it's not advisable to rely on, or allow Windows Update to update

drivers for sound or video hardware, especially for laptops from OEM's like

HP, Acer, Dell etc with integrated "onboard" sound or video. They should

have the drivers available from their websites.



In the meantime try going to Control Panel and to the Device Manager and

double check the "author" of the driver is HP rather than Microsoft if it's

the MS driver, try to use the "rollback" feature to load the previously used

driver for the sound card/chip.



You might want to change the updates options to notify you they are ready to

install rather than automatically installing, since Windows will probably

try and install anything it thinks needs updating including hardware drivers

(although hardware updates are usually "optional" rather than "critical" or

"important") but these should be downloaded separately from the manufacturer

website as mentioned above - don't rely on Windows Update for the device

drivers that it offers.



One last thing you can try, delete the sound item from Device Manager, close

down and restart the computer, and it should reboot and reload the drivers.



If the laptop came with a sound utility, e.g. "Realtek" which produces

sound hardware has a utility that might be included that can be used to

diagnose issues with your sound - but HP might have a similar utility that

was included with your laptop.
 
On Wed, 5 May 2010 07:31:16 +0800, "Andrew Murray"

wrote:



>

>

> wrote in message

>news:0uput55q87hd6fi3si3e3sosf507cgnaob@4ax.com...

>> Sometimes, after installing MS updates or other apps, I lose my sound.

>> The only way I get it back is to use System Restore to a point where the

>> sound worked. However, then I don't have the updates or apps. This

>> tells me that it's a software problem with Vista - not a hardware

>> problem. Now, I am about 11 MS updates behind - and no sound. Also, the

>> System Restore doesn't work anymore (I no longer have a Restore point

>> where the sound worked). I've Googled and have found that many people

>> have similar problems with their HP laptops. I am using Vista, SP-2. I

>> am now going to ionstall the updates since I can't go back to get the

>> sound. I've checked in Device Manager (no problem) and made sure I'm

>> using the most recent signed driver. I can't find any text indication

>> that I have a problem but when I go to Playback Options and try the sound

>> Test, I get a message which says the sound didn't play. Hope I included

>> all the relevant information. If not, please tell me. I've tried

>> everything I know of. I have a full backup of my hard drive - but don't

>> see how that can help. Perhaps one of you can help me or point me in the

>> right direction. I don't know where to go from here.

>

>

>This seems to be caused by the Windows update however you should really

>contact the HP support people, since they are supposed to support the

>hardware and OEM Windows edition that was preinstalled on the computer when

>purchased (assuming you haven't installed a standard retail edition).

>

>They will probably suggest you update the hardware drivers from their

>website it's not advisable to rely on, or allow Windows Update to update

>drivers for sound or video hardware, especially for laptops from OEM's like

>HP, Acer, Dell etc with integrated "onboard" sound or video. They should

>have the drivers available from their websites.

>

>In the meantime try going to Control Panel and to the Device Manager and

>double check the "author" of the driver is HP rather than Microsoft if it's

>the MS driver, try to use the "rollback" feature to load the previously used

>driver for the sound card/chip.

>

>You might want to change the updates options to notify you they are ready to

>install rather than automatically installing, since Windows will probably

>try and install anything it thinks needs updating including hardware drivers

>(although hardware updates are usually "optional" rather than "critical" or

>"important") but these should be downloaded separately from the manufacturer

>website as mentioned above - don't rely on Windows Update for the device

>drivers that it offers.

>

>One last thing you can try, delete the sound item from Device Manager, close

>down and restart the computer, and it should reboot and reload the drivers.

>

>If the laptop came with a sound utility, e.g. "Realtek" which produces

>sound hardware has a utility that might be included that can be used to

>diagnose issues with your sound - but HP might have a similar utility that

>was included with your laptop.



Thanks so much. I have updated the sound driver(s) a number of times and

have not paid attention to the author. I have been using a utility which

notifies me when my drivers are out of date - and offers updated drivers

for download. I wasn't aware that there were different authors and not

to assume MS drivers were good. Actually, I haven't been to the hP site

yet to see what drivers they have. I have two drivers in the Device

manager which relate to sound. One is: IDT High Definition Audio CODEC.

The other is Intel(R) High Definition Audio HDMI. Are they both sound

drivers or should I only be concerned about one? Thanks!
 
Back
Top