Windows 7 SP1 audio error

It seems as though SP1 may have killed my sound. I was playing music just fine during the download process, but once it restarted my computer and finalized the update I no longer have working sound. The sound is not muted, it is enabled, and I have the correct sound device selected. After all, I made no changes to that selection prior to restarting.

I'm running sound off my motherboard. It's an Asus Rampage Maximus II Formula. I've never had to update the driver, it simply worked.

Is it possible SP1 is to blame? Would doing a system restore to right before the SP1 was installed do any harm? Will it delete SP1 from my system as a result?

Have you attempted another restart?

There are times that drivers do not get fully updated until a second restart of Win7.

I had this happen with my Wi-Fi card - no Wi-Fi upon initial reboot but after subsequently rebooting, all of the drivers loaded famously.

Yes, if you do a restore to before you installed SP1, it will be uninstalled.

Is SP1 to blame? I doubt it but I've seen more issues here with SP1 than I had ever expected to see given my experience.

If the SP 1 install succeeded, you probably don't have any System Restore points to an earlier time.

But you should be able to uninstall it outright.

But I wouldn't do that until I had more reason to believe SP 1 is the cause and that you can't repair whatever it might have done.

Have you tried uninstalling and then reinstalling your sound drivers--it may be as simple as something got overwritten or corrupted?

I did perform another restart. And I went to ASUS' website and downloaded the most current driver for my audio device. Still no sound.

I checked system restore and there is a restore point for the installation of SP1. That should take me back to right before it was installed, if I am understanding it correctly.

Sorry for the possible double post.

jon71186 said:

I checked system restore and there is a restore point for the installation of SP1. That should take me back to right before it was installed, if I am understanding it correctly.

Sorry for the possible double post.

Yes. SP1 creates a restore point upon successful installation (actually, before). Rolling back will restore your system to the point before you installed SP1.

I'm going to give that a shot.

Please keep us informed. If your sound is restored, try to reinstall SP1 once more, OK?

If your sound is not restored, we'll have to look at other possible issues.

I'll be damned. My sound works. I restored and it's functional again. I'm still scratching my head though. Why would a service pack mess with audio at all? I know I sometimes get 'optional' updates through Windows Update that includes drivers for other parts of the system. But that wouldn't be rolled into a service pack, right?

I know you mentioned trying to reinstall SP1, but I'm rather leery of that, at least for now. My computer isn't going to miraculously get attacked because I don't have SP1 right away. Or maybe it won't affect the sound this time, who knows. But I'm not ready to take the chance again tonight. I'll look into it more in the morning.

Thanks for the help regardless.

Give it another shot (SP1) but install it by itself. If the issue resurfaces, you can always do another restore.

I've got a feeling this time it will work out well for you.

Glad you got your sound back. :) It should remain after your next update to SP1, I'm sure.

If it doesn't work (your sound) after you reinstall SP1, we'll get it figured out nonetheless. :)