Volume on computer is ridiculously low....Pleas help.

I've had my computer for a few months now and for some reason the volume stopped being loud. It's not just a "little off." It's really quiet. I can barely hear the frickin thing.

I've tried everything (all the obvious things a relatively computer-savvy person would try) I can't understand it. Below are some relevant photos. PLEASE HELP!!!!

Picture of the volume controls. Why are those boxes next to the volume sources? Also, the green bar is as loud as it gets. No joke. Unless I use VLC to pump up the sound, this is as loud as it gets from normal playback of media....



Specs of my computer (if this helps)...



Please HELP! It's getting really obnoxious.

@pegs204
The solution to your problem is likely this one. If that doesn't do the trick let me know and I have another that will definitely fix it.

I have to admit to having the same problem and although resolved, it has now developed into something else. Since using the fix cited above Windows system sounds are back to normal however; my own custom sounds are really quiet. How can Windows drop the volume of some files while retaining it in others? I should add that Windows system sounds are WAV format while my own are MP3's. Maybe that's where the problem lies but if so, how does one tweak Windows to stop that from happening?

fireberd said:

System Restore will not delete any user data or e-mails

fireberd, I'm not saying you are wrong but I would like to know how that is possible? As far as I am aware, System Restore takes a snapshot of the drive. When restoring it rolls back to the image you have selected and anything that has been added since that snapshot was taken is lost. It offers no option to select files which should not be restored to a previous date.

I use Rollback Rx which works a bit like System Restore except that you can specify files and/or folders which must be retained. It does that by taking a snapshot at the time of restoring and after restoration it replaces all files and folders you specified from the latest snapshot. Another advantage it has is that you can mount any snapshot as a virtual drive, view it in Windows Explorer, and recover any data you had not specified to be retained.

boohbah said:

you could try converting the mp3's to wav then see if the levels change.

Yes, I had thought of that boohbah but, as they always played perfectly prior to the Windows 7 bug that dropped the volume level, I prefer to locate the source of the problem and eliminate it rather than adapting the system to accept and live with it.

7leagueboot said:

fireberd said:

System Restore will not delete any user data or e-mails

fireberd, I'm not saying you are wrong but I would like to know how that is possible?

System Restore rolls back system files, registry keys, and installed programs.

It's not to be confused with a backup or an image restoration which are more comprehensive.

I use System Restore regularly and have never lost any personal files, although I do keep backups and could restore if it did not work as advertised.

7leagueboot said:

@pegs204
The solution to your problem is likely this one. If that doesn't do the trick let me know and I have another that will definitely fix it.

I have to admit to having the same problem and although resolved, it has now developed into something else. Since using the fix cited above Windows system sounds are back to normal however; my own custom sounds are really quiet. How can Windows drop the volume of some files while retaining it in others? I should add that Windows system sounds are WAV format while my own are MP3's. Maybe that's where the problem lies but if so, how does one tweak Windows to stop that from happening?

Yea. I tried that before. I just tried it again. What's your other solution? BTW, this isn't just on MP3s and such. It's more annoying when watching online media (HBO GO, Netflix, Youtube, etc.).

I'll wait for your response before trying the nuke option and system restoring the thing. Thanks for your help so far.

Anybody got any other suggestions? Anybody know what those boxes mean? I have a feeling they're some weird bug but I'm not sure.

Also, I just checked out the system restore function. I'm afraid it won't work. As you can see below, the restore points don't go back far enough to when the problem began (seemingly) which was at least a month and a half ago.