My Volume Disappeared!

[Schlosser85]

I have an HP Pavilion laptop with Vista.

Yesterday I noticed I had no volume. I have restarted several times, but I still have no volume. The icon does not show up on my toolbar.

I right clicked on my desktop and went personalize>taskbar and start menu>notification area, and tried to click on my volume icon to get it to show up, but it was grayed out and I couldn't click it.

Then I went to control panel>hardware and sound>adjust system volume, and found only two volume controls are present when there should be four:

As you can see, the volume is not x'ed out. I tried moving it up and down, nothing happens. I tried an audio device and speaker test, and got a pop-up window saying it was unable to play the test.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm70/Schlosser85/Image1-1.jpg

 

[<(o_o)>]

Did you try unplugging your speakers & plugging them back in?

 

[Schlosser85]

I don't have speakers, it's my laptop itself that has no volume.

 

[Cosmic]

Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound. Is anything missing or labeled "not working?"

Or, go to Device Manager, click on "Sound, Video and Game Controllers" and see if there are any errors.

 

[<(o_o)>]

I don't have speakers, it's my laptop itself that has no volume.

Sorry about that. Try updating the device driver or go to "Manage Audio Devices" section & make sure that your main computer speakers have the check mark below them & that they are set as your default speakers & then click on properties & click enable the speaker setting that you choose to use. If that doesn't work then try using system restore.

 

[Schlosser85]

Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound. Is anything missing or labeled "not working?"

Everything says it's working.

go to "Manage Audio Devices" section & make sure that your main computer speakers have the check mark below them & that they are set as your default speakers

They're checked and set as default.

If that doesn't work then try using system restore.

How do I do system restore, and will it erase anything on my computer?

 

[Schlosser85]

I also discovered Windows Media Player isn't working. It won't even play my videos without volume. Wonder if the problems are connected.

 

[Vengeance]

I had something almost indentical happen to my Dell laptop last year & said everything was working right, it had something to do with some sort of driver thingy (don't think it was driver but something) related to the exact make and model of the laptop, I can't remember exact details but try googling you "exact make" (HP) with the "name" of the laptop (i.e. mine was a Dell Inspiron 6400) & something like "sound not working".

Or if you give me the make and model name of the laptop I'll do some looking around for you

 

[Cosmic]

I also discovered Windows Media Player isn't working. It won't even play my videos without volume. Wonder if the problems are connected.

I'd try using a different media player, like Winamp or DivX. If they work, then maybe it's just a problem with Windows, and not the actual laptop hardware. Troubleshoot to try and get an idea of what might be causing the problem. It could be something as simple as needing a software update, or a conflict caused by another program you installed recently.

How do I do system restore, and will it erase anything on my computer?

Introduction to System Restore

System Restore is a system recovery feature of Windows that creates snapshots, or restore points, of the state of your computer at various intervals or before you perform a certain task. These restore points can then be used to restore your computer back to the state it was in when they were taken. When these restore points are created, and restored, the only files affected are the Windows Registry, programs, and system files. Your data such as spreadsheets, documents, images, and music remain untouched between restores.

I used it once recently, when I had a problem with my internet connection after an automatic Windows Update download. It completely solved the problem.

 

[Alistair]

Greetings,

As other advice has stated in this thread, I would roll back drivers, or I should say install, and reinstall drivers. It could have got corrupt some how, and not letting you have correct sound. This can happeny pretty easily, more matter of fact than not if if it's not a good driver install, or hardware.

Also, if your using Vista, or Seven, make sure in the control panel under "Sound" (I Think, I'm going by memory here) and make sure your Card is Default, and no some "Midi" or other device is the default output. Since some software loves to change these defaults for their own uses.

If the problem persists, I would try a jack out to see if that's a possible software issue, and not a internal hardware problem.

G'Luck,
Ali

 

[Schlosser85]

Well my friend hooked up external speakers, and now I have volume, so it's the speakers themselves, not the driver, that aren't working. He thinks it might be disconnected inside, and I'm gonna have another friend look at it.

 

[Alistair]

Schlosser,

Well, that could be a good thing.... I'm thinking the speakers are blown, IMO. I mean, it could have fell off, but they solder those pretty good. Plus, it depends where your speakers are. If they are near the screen, and yeah, it could have very easy, but I'm still inclined overall that they are shot.

G'Luck,
Ali

 

[Vengeance]

Well my friend hooked up external speakers, and now I have volume, so it's the speakers themselves, not the driver, that aren't working. He thinks it might be disconnected inside, and I'm gonna have another friend look at it.

Out of curiosity which model number/name is the HP laptop?

 

[Schlosser85]

dv6500