Your sound card may also be disabled, malfunctioning, or unavailable.
If you are missing the Sound, video and game controllers category in Device Manager, your sound card drivers may not be installed properly. If this does not work, determine what device is not detected and resolve that issue first.
If any other devices are listed, we recommend you remove those devices, reboot the computer, and let Windows re-detect the devices. If Other devices are listed, these could be the sound card or another conflicting device. If this doesn't work or cannot locate the proper files, get the latest sound drivers from your sound card manufacturer. If prompted for a location of drivers, try pointing it to your sound card CD or your Windows CD.
If no conflicts or other devices are listed, and your sound card is listed with no conflicts, skip to the next section.
If not, skip down to the missing sound card section.
If the software's sound settings are not muted, and you increased the sound volume in the software settings, but you still have no sound, continue to the next section. Unmuting the sound or increasing the sound volume often fixes the problem and restores your sound. Muted or very low sound is often a default sound setting in music or video playback software, and online video sites, like YouTube. Look for a speaker icon or sound settings in the software menu bar or status bar, and check if the sound is muted or turned down. Many software programs and games have settings for controlling sound output, and these settings can override the volume settings in Windows.
If you don't hear any sound through your speakers when playing a song, video, game, or other sound-related activities, review the sections below for help on troubleshooting the issue.