The Sound Driver is an important software component in your Windows system. If the Sound Driver is corrupt or missing, you will not be able get sound from the speakers or the headphones. Let’s take a look at some common sound problems in windows 7 and the solution to these sound problems.

Sound issue 1: Headphone detected but no sound

This is one of the sound issues experienced by Windows 7 users which causes confusion. The headphone is detected when you plug it in, but there is no sound.

Follow these steps to start the troubleshooting process for this issue:

1. Click Start
2. Click Control Panel > Hardware and Sound
3. Click Sound

You should see a Playback Device entry. If you see a red cross on Playback device even when the headphone or speaker is connected, do the following:

1. Click Start
2. Type regedit in the search box
3. Open the Registry Editor
4. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > MMDevices > Audio > Renderer
5. Right-click on any keys in this stack
6. In the Permissions tab of the Properties dialogue box, there should be a user called ‘AudioEndpointBuilder’ and one more called ‘AudioServ’
7. If you are unable to find these, it indicates that there is a problem

To resolve this issue, you need to upgrade the rights of the programs to access audio service so they can read and write correctly. Follow the steps set out below to resolve the issue:

1. Click Start
2. Type Command Prompt in the Search box
3. Right-click on Command Prompt in search results and select Run as administrator
4. Type the following net localgroup Administrators /add localservice
5. Restart your computer

Sound issue 2: No Audio Output Device is installed

When you experience this sound issue, you will see that the speaker icon in Task Bar has a Red Cross mark. To resolve this issue, follow the steps set out below:

1. Click Start
2. Type devmgmt.msc in the Search box to open the Device Manager
3. Go to Sound, video and game controllers group and expand it
4. You should find an audio device listed, right-click on it and select Enable
5. If there is no audio device installed, go to the Menu bar of Device Manager
6. Click on Action > Add Legacy Hardware
7. The Add Hardware dialog box will pop up, click Next
8. In the next window, select “Search for and install hardware automatically”
9. Click Next
10. In the next screen, you will see several hardware types listed, select Sound, Video and Game Controllers
11. Click Next
12. In the next screen, select the manufacturer and model of your sound device
13. Click Next to install the device
14. Click Finish

Sound errors can also occur when the Sound Card Drivers are corrupt or outdated. Keeping your drivers up-to-date is simplified by using a driver update tool.