Fix: No Sound after Fall Creators Update 1709

After Fall Creators Update 1709, users faced numerous issues where one of the issues included the sound disappearing from the computer. This was a very common problem affecting hundreds of users overnight. There are usually two causes of the problem; either the drivers are not installed properly or they are there are third-party applications causing the conflict.

Solution 1: Installing Default Sound Drivers

As your operating system keeps upgrading over time, the sound drivers are also included in most of the package and they also get updated periodically. Your computer has basic default driver already saved so whenever you uninstall your current drivers, your computer recognizes the hardware connected and installs the driver accordingly.

1. Press Windows + S to launch the search menu of your start bar. Type “system” in the dialogue box and select the first item which returns in the result.

2. Once in the system, click on “Advanced system settings” present at the left side of the screen.

3. Navigate to the Hardware tab and click on “Device Installation Settings”.

4. Select the option of “No (your device might not work as expected)”. Press Save changes and exit. This will disable the Windows update from updating your audio drivers automatically.

5. Now press Windows + X to launch the quick start menu and select “Device Manager” from the list of options available.
6. Once in the Device manager, expand “Sound, video and game controllers” category. Right-click on your sound device and select “Uninstall device”.
7. Check the uninstall driver checkbox to uninstall the driver as well and proceed with the uninstallation.

8. Once the device is uninstalled, right click on any empty space on the Device manager and select “Scan for hardware changes”. Your computer will now detect the audio hardware on your computer and automatically install the default drivers present on your computer.

9. Now check if this brings any difference. Also, reboot your machine after the installation of default drivers.

Solution 2: Installing Realtek or High Definition Audio Device

Many users reported that installing High Definition Audio Device driver instead of IDT High Definition Audio CODEC solved the problem for them. This solution is particularly for people having the stated drivers.

1. Now press Windows + X to launch the quick start menu and select “Device Manager” from the list of options available.
2. Once in the Device manager, expand “Sound, video and game controllers” category.
3. Right-click on your sound device and select “Update Driver”. Now an option will come forth whether to install the drivers automatically or manually. Select “Browse my computer for driver software”.

4. Now select “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.

5. Uncheck the option “show compatible hardware” to ensure that all the results are listed in your drivers list. Navigate through all the drivers until you find “High Definition Audio Device”. Select it and press Next.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. Restart your computer and check if the problem is solved.

Note: If this doesn’t work, try downloading the drivers from your manufacturer’s website and install them using the method listed above. In most cases, this also solved the problem.

Solution 3: Doing a Hard Reset (RME TotalMix)

RME is a German company which produces and manufactures professional audio hardware including audio interfaces etc. RME has a history of conflicting with many Windows updates and most of the time, the windows update doesn’t configure it properly resulting in the loss of sound. Here are some tips to perform a successful windows update without the loss of sound if you have RME installed.

• Disconnect RME, reboot your computer and after it is fully rebooted, connect it again.
• If you are performing Windows update, you shouldn’t have RME interface connected with your computer. It is ideal to disconnect all external hardware before proceeding with the Windows update.

Another workaround which worked for people was performing a hard reset of RME using the interface.

• Open the interface, select “Options”, “Reset Mix” and “Total Reset”.

The application might confirm your actions before proceeding. Press “Yes” for the reset. Restart your computer afterwards and check if the problem has been solved.

Solution 4: Refreshing Sound Blaster Drivers

Sound Blaster is a very old sound manufacturer and was once the de facto standard for IBM PC compatible system platforms. There are many type of sound blasters available such as type z, zx or zxr. If you have sound blaster on your computers, follow the instructions below to perform a work around to solve the problem.

1. Head over to the Sound Blaster hardware as done with other hardwares in the previous solutions. Once you have the device selected, right-click on the hardware and select “uninstall”. This will uninstall your existing drivers.
2. Once the uninstallation is done, reboot your PC and update the drivers using Windows update. You can easily update using the “automatic driver update” instead of “manual” as we did in the last solution. You can also use windows update in the Settings.
3. Reboot your computer again. After rebooting install the Creative Drivers.
4. Reboot your computer again and check if the problem get solved.

Solution 5: Editing the Registry for the Speaker having a Red “X” icon

Having a red “X” on your system tray on top any device means that the device isn’t properly configured or there are problems with the drivers. Sometimes these red crosses also point to an error condition on your device. Nonetheless, we will try to solve the issue by first uninstalling the drivers, editing the registry and reinstalling the drivers after rebooting your machine.

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application. Type “devmgmt.msc” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once in the device manager, navigate to the sub-entry of “Sounds”. Right-click the device/devices and select “uninstall” for each one of them.

3. Once they are uninstalled, exit the window and open “Run” again. Type “regedit” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
4. Once in the registry editor, navigate to the following file path:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e96c-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}

5. Right-click on it and select export to back it up if something goes wrong. You can always import it back.

6. Now check on the right-side of the screen for any entries named as:

UpperFilters

LowerFilters

Right-click on the entries and select “Delete” from the list of options available.

7. Reboot your computer completely and check if the problem still persists.

Solution 6: Checking your Speaker Ports and Hardware

You can try plugging the audio output wire from your computer in the front (instead of the back). In many towers, there are two audio ports available. One is situated at the back of the PC and one at the bottom rear (depending on your manufacturer). Doing this will fix the issue if you are having low volume instead of no volume at all.

You can also try availing one of the USB sound card if you are in doubt that your sound card isn’t functioning as it should. If you are already using a remedy for the soundcard and after the update it doesn’t work, try changing the hardware.

If you are experiencing popping sounds on your external speakers, it might be possible that your audio jack is damaged or isn’t working as expected. You can purchase a USB to 3.5mm jack. You plug one end of the cable into the USB slot on your computer and the other end will be connected to your audio device. This way Windows will automatically detect that an external speaker is connected and we can bypass your audio jack.