New computer,Win 10 Home,and can't get my speakers to work

[sneakypete]

Old computer died,so I bought a new one. Win 10 Home. My old speakers were probably 15 years old,so I wasn't surprised when they stopped working.

So I bought new speakers,and they mostly don't work,either. The only sound I get out of them is the "welcome to windows" sound when the computer boots.

Is there some software I have to download to make the damn speakers work?

[roamer_1]

Old computer died,so I bought a new one. Win 10 Home. My old speakers were probably 15 years old,so I wasn't surprised when they stopped working.

So I bought new speakers,and they mostly don't work,either. The only sound I get out of them is the "welcome to windows" sound when the computer boots.

Is there some software I have to download to make the damn speakers work?

@sneakypete

By definition your speakers are working if you are hearing the 'Welcome to Windows' sound.
You will have to be more specific as to what is not working....

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete

By definition your speakers are working if you are hearing the 'Welcome to Windows' sound.
You will have to be more specific as to what is not working....

@roamer_1

If I understood it well enough to explain it to you,I would know how to fix it.

Since the speakers work when it boots up and doesn't work at any other time,I am guessing it must be a software glitch. I have been trying to configure it to work for most of the day,and am more confused now than when I started.

[Frank Cannon]

Windows 10 is unstable on some older computers. I installed it on my Probook a while back and it was absolute hell. Payed my computer guy to switch me back to Win 7 and couldn't be happier.

[endicom]

Old computer died,so I bought a new one. Win 10 Home. My old speakers were probably 15 years old,so I wasn't surprised when they stopped working.

So I bought new speakers,and they mostly don't work,either. The only sound I get out of them is the "welcome to windows" sound when the computer boots.

Is there some software I have to download to make the damn speakers work?

Make? Model? Of the puter and the speakers.

If you are having this problem then others should be and the solution should be a web search away.

[roamer_1]

@roamer_1

If I understood it well enough to explain it to you,I would know how to fix it.

Since the speakers work when it boots up and doesn't work at any other time,I am guessing it must be a software glitch. I have been trying to configure it to work for most of the day,and am more confused now than when I started.

@sneakypete

Sorry for the late reply - I got caught on the phone with a client.

Wait.  Don't panic.
It is GOOD that your speakers work 'on start', because that means the hardware is proved.
Lets start simple:
Poke your Win Key (the one with the windows logo).
Your start menu will pop up - pay that no mind.
begin typing:
Type 'Control' (always sans quotes unless specified).
You will see 'Control Panel' in the search results. Poke that.
Control Dialog, top right corner, 'View By'=Large Icons.
Find 'Sound'.
In the sound dialog, in the 'sounds' tab, you will find a list of system sounds.
Any sound in that list with a little speaker icon in front of it has a designated sound.
highlight several, each in order, and poke the test button for each on.
Do they produce sounds?

If yes, your sound system is working fine, and can play sounds.

Then we need to know what sounds lit is not playing... Like:
I am watching a movie and can't get sound.
or
I am trying to play music and can't get sound...

[roamer_1]

@sneakypete

Nother thing.
How are you hooked to your monitor?
If it is this:



...You need to tell me.

[sneakypete]

Windows 10 is unstable on some older computers. I installed it on my Probook a while back and it was absolute hell. Payed my computer guy to switch me back to Win 7 and couldn't be happier.

@Frank Cannon

Frank,this computer isn't two weeks old,and it a smoking hot game computer. It happened to come up on sale the same day my old desktop died,and I bought it so cheap I almost stole it.

Never bought a gaming computer before,and was more than a little surprised it didn't come with a CD or a DVD player. Had to buy  a remote to plug into it to finish loading the software.

Then I thought my speakers died, They were at least 15 years old,so they were on borrowed time,anyhow. Bough a new set with a sub-woofer on sale,and those are the ones I couldn't get to work. Screwed around and screwed around,and finally got them working about a half-hour ago. Come to find out I had to load some drivers. Never had speakers before you couldn't just plug in and they would start playing. MAJOR pain in the ass,but they are working great now. Sound pretty good for 29 dollar speakers

Now that I found out my old speakers are still good,I'll just use them out in my shop with my laptop,so no loss there,either.

[sneakypete]

Make? Model? Of the puter and the speakers.

If you are having this problem then others should be and the solution should be a web search away.

The computer is a CyberPower that I bought on sale from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0767S8KCX/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The speakers are Logitech https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002HWRZ2K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete

Nother thing.
How are you hooked to your monitor?
If it is this:



...You need to tell me.

Yup. HDMI.

New monitor,too. Samsung 27 inch curved screen.

[roamer_1]

Yup. HDMI.

New monitor,too. Samsung 27 inch curved screen.

@sneakypete
Alright. That's probably your problem.
Your computer probably thinks there's speakers out there on the monitor, and is porting the sound to the monitor.

Refer to my above post, get to Control Panel => Sound
On the front page of the dialog (the 'Playback' tab, one of the things there has a green check on it. That's where it is sending the sound.

If anything HDMI has that green check, that is what's wrong.
'Speakers' needs to be where the check is.


Alternatively, see if there are jacks for the speakers on the monitor and plug em in there.

[endicom]

The simplest mistake would be not plugging the speakers into the subwoofer.

[aligncare]

The First Mistake: In the Beginning Gates created Windows...And the World would come know Original Sin...

[Neverdul]

@sneakypete
Alright. That's probably your problem.
Your computer probably thinks there's speakers out there on the monitor, and is porting the sound to the monitor.

Refer to my above post, get to Control Panel => Sound
On the front page of the dialog (the 'Playback' tab, one of the things there has a green check on it. That's where it is sending the sound.

If anything HDMI has that green check, that is what's wrong.
'Speakers' needs to be where the check is.


Alternatively, see if there are jacks for the speakers on the monitor and plug em in there.

I used to have the same problem with the sound bar that used an HDMI port that I purchased for my laptop computer. Every now and then, I think often after a Windows update, for both Windows 7 and 10, it would revert to the system speakers on my lap top and I'd have to go to the control panel and redirect sounds to the sound bar.

[WingNot]

Someday "Plug and Play" will be plug and play. 

[sneakypete]

Someday "Plug and Play" will be plug and play.

@Wingnut

Maybe,but I doubt that I will live long enough to see it.

[WingNot]

@Wingnut

Maybe,but I doubt that I will live long enough to see it.

 

[roamer_1]

I used to have the same problem with the sound bar that used an HDMI port that I purchased for my laptop computer. Every now and then, I think often after a Windows update, for both Windows 7 and 10, it would revert to the system speakers on my lap top and I'd have to go to the control panel and redirect sounds to the sound bar.

Yeah, that's why it is immediately suspect to me.

[sneakypete]

TO ALL:

My problem turned out to be that Win 10 Home wasn't recognizing the sound card in my new computer. Once I went into Win 10 configuration and "loaded" the sound card,the speakers started working instantly.

I have Win 10 Pro on my old computer,and never had any problems like that.

[endicom]

TO ALL:

My problem turned out to be that Win 10 Home wasn't recognizing the sound card in my new computer. Once I went into Win 10 configuration and "loaded" the sound card,the speakers started working instantly.

I have Win 10 Pro on my old computer,and never had any problems like that.

Hear! Hear!

[roamer_1]

TO ALL:

My problem turned out to be that Win 10 Home wasn't recognizing the sound card in my new computer. Once I went into Win 10 configuration and "loaded" the sound card,the speakers started working instantly.

I have Win 10 Pro on my old computer,and never had any problems like that.

Weird in that case that it would play any sound at all!
But glad you are sorted! 

[Fishrrman]

Wingnut wrote:
"Someday "Plug and Play" will be plug and play."

It often is .... over "on the Mac side" of things...   ;)

[Bigun]

Wingnut wrote:
"Someday "Plug and Play" will be plug and play."

It often is .... over "on the Mac side" of things...   ;)

Never owned an Apple product and never will.

[Elderberry]

Weird in that case that it would play any sound at all!
But glad you are sorted! 

It may have been using an internal speaker driven directly from the motherboard and not via the sound card. That's the speaker that the BIOS uses for its Beeps.

[roamer_1]

It may have been using an internal speaker driven directly from the motherboard and not via the sound card. That's the speaker that the BIOS uses for its Beeps.

Yeah, but no... it played the Windows Welcome sound, which is driver sound, not bios.
That's what makes it weird. If the dirver wasn't loaded, there should be no sound at all.
 

[sneakypete]

Yeah, but no... it played the Windows Welcome sound, which is driver sound, not bios.
That's what makes it weird. If the dirver wasn't loaded, there should be no sound at all.
 

@roamer_1

I don't no nutting bout no bits and bytes,but maybe the Win 10 software driver was a outdated version that no longer worked properly?

Not that I really care. I have it working now.

[Fishrrman]

Bigun wrote:
"Never owned an Apple product and never will."

Give the Mac a try someday.
The company may be leftist and looney, but the computers they put out remain pretty good stuff.

The OS itself doesn't seem to be too political.

Perhaps this is moreso with the iPhone and iPad. I don't use them (iOS).
I'm a "Mac OS only" guy... three decades now, going on four.

[BassWrangler]

Yeah, but no... it played the Windows Welcome sound, which is driver sound, not bios.
That's what makes it weird. If the dirver wasn't loaded, there should be no sound at all.
 

I wondef if when he "loaded" the driver for the sound card, it had the side effect of making the speakers the default audio output. reading this thread I was convinced it was the HDMI sound to monitor without speakers problem discussed earlier; that is so frequently the source of this issue. I had this problem on my computer, and periodically it reverts to that state - I am guessing when some driver gets updated

[roamer_1]

@roamer_1

I don't no nutting bout no bits and bytes,but maybe the Win 10 software driver was a outdated version that no longer worked properly?

@sneakypete
Dunno - I have never seen that before. Maybe a DRM layer that kicks in later or something, but normally sound is just sound, and either works or it don't..

Not that I really care. I have it working now.

That's right. Just an academic curiosity on my part. If that was on my bench, I would have to know why... But the answer is incidental and rendered moot at this point.
 

Had a similar problem with a big barn-burner I just acquired ... My first eight core, and my first water-cooled system - 32g or ram... Man, it flies!  But it loaded with no sound... Went looking and no driver, so it defaulted to HDMI. Went and got the driver and everything is fine now.

[Frank Cannon]

Bigun wrote:
"Never owned an Apple product and never will."

Give the Mac a try someday.
The company may be leftist and looney, but the computers they put out remain pretty good stuff.

The OS itself doesn't seem to be too political.

Perhaps this is moreso with the iPhone and iPad. I don't use them (iOS).
I'm a "Mac OS only" guy... three decades now, going on four.

Oh Christ. Not another cultist. You guys are worse than the Moonies.

[roamer_1]

I wondef if when he "loaded" the driver for the sound card, it had the side effect of making the speakers the default audio output. reading this thread I was convinced it was the HDMI sound to monitor without speakers problem discussed earlier; that is so frequently the source of this issue. I had this problem on my computer, and periodically it reverts to that state - I am guessing when some driver gets updated

Dunno, but yep. That is a very common problem, at least in my work orders it is. That's why I thunk it nearly right off. That it had sound at all put me off driver issues. That is what makes it weird. Like I said, maybe a DRM layer comes in late, and an updated driver fixed it against his new hardware...

One of the problems with the bleeding edge, that. Winders may recognize the ID tag, but the revision is so new that it is still basically specialty.... So Win loads it with the earlier common revision, and sh*ts the bed.

That happens a lot in chipsets and vid drivers... never seen it with sound.

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete
Dunno - I have never seen that before. Maybe a DRM layer that kicks in later or something, but normally sound is just sound, and either works or it don't..

That's right. Just an academic curiosity on my part. If that was on my bench, I would have to know why... But the answer is incidental and rendered moot at this point.
 

Had a similar problem with a big barn-burner I just acquired ... My first eight core, and my first water-cooled system - 32g or ram... Man, it flies!  But it loaded with no sound... Went looking and no driver, so it defaulted to HDMI. Went and got the driver and everything is fine now.

@roamer_1

Sounds like the same exact problem and solution I had with mine.

Think maybe it is a problem with gaming computers,although mine barely qualifies compared to yours,or do you think that selling new desktops without all the software loaded and working is just something everyone is going to have to deal with these days?

[Fishrrman]

Frank Cannon wrote:
"Oh Christ. Not another cultist. You guys are worse than the Moonies."

Heh.
You're gol-dang right I am, Frank. No denying it, you nailed me cold.

If not having to tear my hair at all kinds of updates, virus threats, and numerous other disturbances makes me a cultist, well, so be it.

The times I've tried to fool with Windows left me somethin' akin to to the times that leftists-communists try to fool with logic and reality -- that is to say, bewildered and confused.

I actually started with an Apple //c in 1986. That was "pre-Mac", a command-line prompt, I could get a couple of things to run. When it was time to "move up" (soon after), I bought a Macintosh SE -- $2,200 in 1987! So yep, I joined the cult (though it wasn't called one at the time). There would be no "Windows" until some years after.

It's kinda funny -- if you had said "computers" to me in 1985, I would have replied "what the heck would I need one of them for?". And yet here I am now, retired, and tinkering and using the Mac is my main pastime. If there are any other "briefers" out there with Macs, and you're having problems, I'm the guy to ask for help.  ;)

One thing most non-Mac folks don't know about Mac OS X is that at its core, its foundation is UNIX with a "new cover" on top. Back in the late 90's when the -original- Mac OS was showing its age, Apple was trying to construct an entirely new OS (named "Copland"). That effort failed, badly. So... as an alternative... they bought Job's "NeXT" company, and the NeXTStep OS along with it (which was also UNIX-based, I think). From that evolved the earliest versions of OS X.

Lately, you'll find many Mac folks grumbling about the state of the mother company.
Apple makes the lion's share of their profits these days from "iOS" (iPhones and related stuff), NOT from the "Mac OS". if anything, they've been neglecting it, both on the software and hardware side. They haven't updated their Mac Mini since 2014, no substantial update for the Mac Pro since 2013. Apple only derives about 14% of its revenue from the Mac product line these days, it's become their forgotten child. And it shows.

So... I'm wondering if the time could come when I have to move beyond the Mac OS, to something else. I've even downloaded and tried a few Linux distributions. Seems like work.

But Windows... cue up Charlie Brown.... "arrrgggghhhhhhH!"

So, pour another one and raise your glass, Frank -- to Fishrrman, the Mac cultist!

(BTW, that's a great image -- saved it to my archives!)

[aligncare]

Ninety five percent of computer users want to simply hit the power button and go. Steve Job understood this. That’s why buying an iPad alone freed me from the headaches of my tenth windows machine. Hundreds of hours on updates and fixes and thousands spent on programs and repairs on windows nightmares.

Thank you, sweet Apple.

[Oceander]

If I’m going to leave the Windows Rez., it’ll be for the pastures of Linux, not the gilded cage of Mac.

[sneakypete]

So... I'm wondering if the time could come when I have to move beyond the Mac OS, to something else. I've even downloaded and tried a few Linux distributions. Seems like work.

But Windows... cue up Charlie Brown.... "arrrgggghhhhhhH!"

So, pour another one and raise your glass, Frank -- to Fishrrman, the Mac cultist!

(BTW, that's a great image -- saved it to my archives!)

@Fishrrman

Hey! When the time comes,I'm your guy! Contact me and I will set you up with a smoking hot DOS 3 machine,and give you a good price on it,too!

Now,I can't guarantee I can hold on to it long once the word gets out that I have it for sale at a good price,so ya better act FAST!

[Blizzardnh]

So... I'm wondering if the time could come when I have to move beyond the Mac OS, to something else. I've even downloaded and tried a few Linux distributions. Seems like work.

https://www.linuxmint.com/
1/2 hr. install .
I think people like fighting with windows.

[BassWrangler]

I've used both Apple and Windows computers since the start of the PC revolution (first computer was an Apple ][). There is nothing inherently more stable or less error-prone about Apple and OS-X other than what they gain from having absolute control over the hardware and a policy to abandon old hardware and a user base that upgrades to the latest stuff pretty frequently. 99.9999999% of Windows problems are actually problems with 3rd-party drivers on some hardware that doesn't even exist for the Mac. Well, I guess also a factor is that in general Apples don't come loaded with manufacturer supplied bloat-ware. THis has gotten so bad on Windows that the PCs in the Microsoft store have fresh versions of Windows installed on them, with no HP or ASUS (or whatever) bloatware - if the manufacturer puts it on there, they don't care as they just reformat the drive and reinstall Windows.

Honestly, I have had more trouble with Apple devices, due largely to their simply awful online services, than Windows over the last couple of  years. I think that's just a fluke, however. All the major OS these days are extremely stable, solid, products. A big reason for this is the pioneering work Microsoft did to capture information about OS and App crashes and communicate that over the Internet so that it could be used to find and fix bugs. Most of the big companies do this now, but Microsoft was the first, and it had an enormous impact on OS stability. OS crashes now are almost always due to bad hardware.

I'm sure the Windows haters will disagree - I don't care.

[Oceander]

I've used both Apple and Windows computers since the start of the PC revolution (first computer was an Apple ][). There is nothing inherently more stable or less error-prone about Apple and OS-X other than what they gain from having absolute control over the hardware and a policy to abandon old hardware and a user base that upgrades to the latest stuff pretty frequently. 99.9999999% of Windows problems are actually problems with 3rd-party drivers on some hardware that doesn't even exist for the Mac. Well, I guess also a factor is that in general Apples don't come loaded with manufacturer supplied bloat-ware. THis has gotten so bad on Windows that the PCs in the Microsoft store have fresh versions of Windows installed on them, with no HP or ASUS (or whatever) bloatware - if the manufacturer puts it on there, they don't care as they just reformat the drive and reinstall Windows.

Honestly, I have had more trouble with Apple devices, due largely to their simply awful online services, than Windows over the last couple of  years. I think that's just a fluke, however. All the major OS these days are extremely stable, solid, products. A big reason for this is the pioneering work Microsoft did to capture information about OS and App crashes and communicate that over the Internet so that it could be used to find and fix bugs. Most of the big companies do this now, but Microsoft was the first, and it had an enormous impact on OS stability. OS crashes now are almost always due to bad hardware.

I'm sure the Windows haters will disagree - I don't care.

Good points!