If the sound was working yesterday the best option to try first is a simple System Restore.

Click Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore, restore it to a time when the sound was working.

Sounds like you have accidentally hit the mute button.

Zep, I tried to restore, but I have only two restore dates and on both days there has been no sound. I have had this problem for over a month now and do not know what is causing it. I have entered the setup menu and set on board sound to auto, I have set it to enabled. That has made no difference.
I have not accidentally hit the mute button. When my sound is muted I get a little red circle with a bar across it down by my speaker icon in the task bar. Right now the speaker is not muted.
I have come to the conclusion that my on board sound may be dead. I have ordered a sound card from New Egg.It should be here in a few days.

you need to go back to your system restore calendar and hit the arrow button at the top where it says the month and go back to January to see the restore points created in January, there will only be 2 for this month so far.

Disabling the on board sound and adding a sound card is sometimes a good option. Some sound cards when installed will automatically disable on board sound when you install the card some will not and it may be required to enter the BIOS to do this so keep that it mind.

Have you visited the HP troubleshooting site? I have found that useful in the past when fixing computers. You can walk through the process.

If you feel the need to talk to the help desk don't let the fact that offshore help is used, I have mostly found I could understand them if I pay attention.

Here is a link that might be useful: HP troubleshooter

Did you check the controls on all applications which regulate volume; mixers, amps, players, etc.? Normally now they work conjoined with the Windows default volume control however sometimes they still work independently.

DA

I have visited the HP website and tried to get help but no good I can't hear any audio at all. So the on line chat is no good.The HP troubleshooter couldn't fix it and it didn't know what was causing no sound. Any program that requires audio permission has been given permission but still no sounds, no windows sounds, no audio on CDs being played in Media player, no sound on DVDs played in DVD player. No sounds from any games at all It is very frustrating trying to figure out what has caused it. So when the sound card gets here(it is in transit as I type these words) I will disable the onboard sound and install it.

Well the only other thing since System Restore was an issue is to boot to Safe Mode, that's when you restart the computer and keep tapping the f8 key like crazy until the advanced options menu appears. Instead of choosing Save mode, use the arrow key and choose Last known Good configuration.

Zep, I tried the Last known Good Configuration and still no sound.

I also tried the PC Doctor Diagnostic program that HP has on this computer but it doesn't check the motherboard. It only checks the CPU, the Ram and the hard drives. So when my sound card gets here I will be shutting this computer down and installing it.

Give this a try:

1. Get to Control Panel.
2. Go to Additional Options
3. do you see " Realtek HD Audio manager"?
4. Go to "Realtek HD Audio Manager" and play with the settings there. You may not get sound out if you set it to digital output.

dcarch

Dcarch,
I have gone to the Realtek HD Audio Manager and and tested every setting . All settings produce the same end :no sound.
Have done everything connected with the sound category on the Control panel and the end result is still no sound. Not even Windows sounds work such as the log on , error and all other Windows sounds have the same result: no sounds.

It happened to one of my HPs. that's what I did to get the sound back. Your problem may be different.

dcarch

Did you look in Device Manager so see if the sound card says it has some kind of conflict ?

I lately find myself going straight to msconfig.exe then the tools tab will have the system info program. Tells a lot there. Realtec in my laptop is in the startup group in msconfig and simple to disconnect sound there with a single check box.

I've had the no sound problem on one of my other computers since I bought it. The sound just goes off randomly and when I restart the computer, the sounds come back. Then before you know it, could be hours or days, the sounds are gone again until I restart it.

I sent one computer back because of this and they sent me a new one and it does the same exact thing.

We can't figure it out. It's a Gateway running Windows XP and it's about 5 yrs old now.

Rather than spending more time to get it working:

1. For desktop PCs, a plug-in sound card can be very cheap.

2. For laptops, get a USB sound adapter for a few dollars.

dcarch

It's already on order!

The way it works is like this:

The day you new sound card arrives, all of a sudden the sound in you PC will come back by itself. LOL

Good luck.

dcarch

Well I have shut this computer down and restarted it many times and still no sound. Event manager shows errors but all are connected to logging onto the network we have. Nothing concerning the sound is listed in the event manager.

I have disabled the Realtek Audio and still no sound. I have come to the conclusion that my on board sound may have failed so when my sound card gets here, I will be installing it.

What's the name of the sound card your getting? I guess it will come with a cd that has a driver for it and for windows 7.

For sure you will not have sound when disabling Realtek Audio.. You do that before you install the new sound card. Your ahead of the game.

Hi Zep , here is the information about the sound card.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sound Card I ordered

Looks ok, ready for Vista so should be ok, I see the driver is there too. As well as a support section if you needed it.

Thank you all for the help, even did if it didn't solve my problem. I could have gotten a more expensive sound card if I had had more money but since I don't get paid this week I went for a less expensive one.

I didn't get paid either. I know what's it like. I'm so broke I can't pay attention!

I went to CNET and they helped me get my sound back after being without seven months.