sudden problem with sound

[Katherine Sacksteder]

Suddenly today my sound in my computer stopped working -- system, music, everything; Dell latitude laptop with Sigmatec C-Major Audio card, computer thinks everything is working fine. Went through the whole windows troubleshooting  lack of sound). section on sound and everything seems fine (except of course for the I can hear faintly from the computer (though all volumes are blasting at max), but if I plug in a headset I actually don't even hear any faint sounds through the headset.

Oddly, the one really loud sound I can hear is when my Skype phone rings; that sounds loud and clear.

Does this sound like a problem that can be resolved by purchasing a plug n play soundcard, or is there likely to be another culprit?

Thank you in advance!

[Cary_GRant]

Hi there, hope i can help. You actually have several options here, so lets see if we cant get your sound back up.

1. Have you tried System Restore? You may be able to go back to a date before this problem occured to restore your sound.

2. Creative Labs makes a Sound-Blaster that is USB powered, this is a sound card that you can upgrade to by simply plugging it into your USB port.

3. Just cause your volume is UP, does not mean your volume is UP there may be a 3rd party software that actually is in control of your volume, I know on MY laptop I have installed other software that take charge of my sound properties. you may have inadvertently done the same. Skype may be the culprit here.

Hope this helps, but try the System Restore option first, it may be the one that does it, if not, see if any new software you have installed is actually taking control of your sound properties. Cheers.

[Raptor]

 
Oddly, the one really loud sound I can hear is when my Skype phone rings; that sounds loud and clear.

Can you hear this sound over the external speakers or the internal PC speaker? '

Are you certain that you did not mute all sounds?

[Katherine Sacksteder]

I'm hearing the loud system Beeping sounds (the Skype ring, and now I have heard a loud beep because my battery died) over the internal laptop speakers; I don't have any external speakers.

Nothing is muted, at least not visibly.

[Katie Sacksteder]

Marry me, Cary Grant? System restore worked -- which is weird, because I had tried this in my panic yesterday but only restored to Thursday (because the sound was working on Thursday, this seemed reasonable to me). This time I restored to Tuesday and now suddenly everything is magically working again....thank you!

I also modified some settings in Skype which I think should prevent it from happening again...I do think that was the culprit.

[Raptor]

What settings were these?

You should indeed be careful, as certain programs do tend to lower the master volume for the entire PC and not just for the program itself.

[Katie Sacksteder]

I unticked the box that allows Skype to automatically adjust volumes...I think this is a good thing? Skype clearly needs to have less control of my computer than it does.

Someone on the Skype forum suggested to me that Skype had turned off the 20 db boost, which doesn't seem to be an obvious setting that I can reset (except by the system restore).

[Raptor]

1. I unticked the box that allows Skype to automatically adjust volumes...I think this is a good thing? Skype clearly needs to have less control of my computer than it does.

2. Someone on the Skype forum suggested to me that Skype had turned off the 20 db boost, which doesn't seem to be an obvious setting that I can reset (except by the system restore).

1. I have never used Skype, but I would assume that automatically adjusting volumes would be nice if people suddenly decide to yell.

You may want to refrain from using system restore too often, as it can cause problems.

The mic boost (I assume this is the same as the 20DB boost) can often be configured from:

1. The volume icon on the system tray (Next to the clock).
-- Does not seem to work for default Windows sound card drivers.

2. From within the program. See if there is an option somewhere that allows you to enable this, I tried looking for a manual but could fine none.

However, there does seem to be a rather useful trouble shooter