No sound on computer

[Cathie]

Several hours later now, I decided to uninstall the Audacity program & my sound came on immediately!

I have Vista on my HP Pavilion computer and after installing Audacity 1.2, I made the recommended change in Preferences. In copying a tape to the PC, I was able to hear the tape and see the waves on the screen but when I copied it onto a CD, the CD wouldn't play. Next thing that I noticed was that I have NO sound on my computer- I've gone to youtube, tried to play CDs that normally play, etc. I then came to this site & downloaded Audacity 1.3.12-Beta. The problem persists. I cannot seem to create a CD (Roxio Basic, which has worked before) and now hear any sounds. Changes I made I did through the Control Panel, Sound and also System, Device Manager. I have Realtek HD Audio speakers.

In Preferences right now, I have MME as the interface; for Playback- Speakers (USB audio CODEC); For Recording- Line in Realtek High Definition; & Stereo for channels.

In My Control Panel under Sound, Playback, I have checked USB Audio Codec. It says "Working" and has a green check beside it.
In System, Device Manager, under Sound, Video and Game Controllers, I have Realtec High Definition Audio and USB Audio Codec.

I wonder if someone could offer some help. Many thanks. Cathie
PS One thing I didn't add. I decided to delete the first version of Audacity 1.2 and only leave in my computer 1.3.12-Beta. It made no difference.

[steve]

Several hours later now, I decided to uninstall the Audacity program & my sound came on immediately!

What is the USB device?
Try disconnecting it and rebooting - does your sound work?
Try connecting it and rebooting - does your sound work?

[waxcylinder]

When you plug in a USB device like this your computer hands over control of all sound services to the USB device - both input and output. I'm guessing your USB device doesn't have a set of speakers, you then don't get any sound from the computer (not even the normal computer sounds).

All you need to do is to get your O/S and Audacity to retarget the sound output onto your computer's on-board soundcard. In Windows use Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio > Sound Playback - in Audacity use Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O > Playback Device - you may need to close and restart Audacity for the change to take effect.

WC

[edwinoudejans]

after i installed audacity my sound from the computer is gone. can jou please help me.

[steve]

after i installed audacity my sound from the computer is gone. can jou please help me.

Have you also just connected a USB device such as a USB turntable or similar?

As I asked Cathie - if you do have a USB device connected - try disconnecting it and rebooting - does the sound come back?
If this is the case, try the suggestion in the last post from waxcylinder.
If this fixes it, please let us know.