No sound in browsers but sound works in Windows...

Tin Tin

New Member
Hi, I didn't know where else to post this based on the titles of each forum, so I figured "software" was the closest I could get.

The deal is that after a video driver update the other day, I lost sound in my browsers (Chrome is what I use, but I checked Firefox also, no sound there either). Also, when loading videos in YouTube, they take a long time to load and I get a message saying "If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device". Once the video finally loads (30-60 seconds or so), there is still no sound.

I have....
  • Checked to make sure Chrome isn't muted in Sound Mixer
  • Restarted (many times)
  • Run AV (Malwarebytes, Webroot, Chrome's built-in version)
  • Uninstalled my graphics driver (nVidia)
  • Reinstalled my graphics driver
  • Updated Flash (but does Chrome even use flash ?, I'm confused about that)
  • Reset Chrome
  • Uninstalled/reinstalled Chrome (even though it affects Firefox also)
  • Checked download speed (115 Mbps consistently)
  • And I have looked for a few days online trying to find answers.
I tried videos in between each of those bullet points too, to see if I could find what was causing it.

Is this a problem anyone is familiar with ?
Is there anything else I can do ?

I really appreciate any and all help... thank you.



Specs:
Windows 7/64, AMD FX-8350, nVidia GeForce 1060/6GB, 16GB ram, etc...
 
Last edited:

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Did you try a system restore to before the driver update?

Try an older driver?

Try uninstalling the driver and let it use the basic Windows display adapter (default driver when one isn't installed). See if Youtube or sound works.

Unless you're running audio thru one of your displays I'd uninstall all other audio devices except for the output you usually use. I've sometimes, after Nvidia updates, had certain programs get tied to playing thru the crappy onboard monitor speakers while others still default to my regular speakers. They might be stuck trying to send it to the wrong output.

Do you run multiple monitors? Try just one?

Did you try Edge, just for troubleshooting purposes?

Have another GPU, even a basic one, you could swap to test?
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
What version of windows are you running? If you go into sound properties, there is actually a section for browser sound volume.

This is what it looks like for windows 10. Will be different for windows 7

browser sound.jpg
 

Tin Tin

New Member
Did you try a system restore to before the driver update?

Try an older driver?

Try uninstalling the driver and let it use the basic Windows display adapter (default driver when one isn't installed). See if Youtube or sound works.

Unless you're running audio thru one of your displays I'd uninstall all other audio devices except for the output you usually use. I've sometimes, after Nvidia updates, had certain programs get tied to playing thru the crappy onboard monitor speakers while others still default to my regular speakers. They might be stuck trying to send it to the wrong output.

Do you run multiple monitors? Try just one?

Did you try Edge, just for troubleshooting purposes?

Have another GPU, even a basic one, you could swap to test?

Sorry, I know it sucks when you try to help but the person doesn't reply.

So to answer... I had already tried an old driver, I tried the basic windows driver, no multiple monitors, I am running Win7 so no Edge (although this system dual boots and in Win 10 sound is not a problem), and I don't want to go to the trouble of swapping GPUs. None of that worked.
But I didn't system restore until you mentioned it. I did it the day you posted it actually and sound has been fine (thank you).
But today, my internet was clunky so I restarted the router, rebooted my machine, and no sound again.

I can't believe as much as I have searched and searched Google, that there aren't more solutions.
Seems to be a common issue.
 

Tin Tin

New Member
What version of windows are you running? If you go into sound properties, there is actually a section for browser sound volume.

Same to you... Sorry, I know it sucks when you try to help but the person doesn't reply. Been so busy is all.

And yes, in my first post that was one of the things I checked. Wasn't the issue.

Thank you though!
 
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