It’s frustrating to start up Windows only to realise there’s no sound. At startup, the volume control in the upper right corner of the taskbar will be marked with a red cross. The reason you are seeing a red cross on the volume mixer is because the Windows Audio service has ceased.
The Windows Audio service is one of the many Windows services that work together to keep your computer working well, so if it’s not active, you won’t have any sound.
Modify The Windows Audio Service Sign-In Parameters
It turns out that altering the service’s login settings is one way to avoid seeing the error message. With these options, you may specify the account from which the service will launch. To a large extent, it reflects the state of the service on your computer.
In this case, we’ll configure the service to log on as the local system account, which should allow us to solve the problem. Here are the steps to take to accomplish this:
- Pressing the Windows key plus R will bring up the Run window.
- When prompted, type services.msc into the Run box and then hit Enter. The Services menu will open.
- A complete inventory of your computer’s services is displayed in the Services pane. You’ll need to locate the Windows Audio service here. Pressing the Windows logo key (Windows key) will bring up the list of Windows services; from there, you may locate Windows Audio by pressing the / key.
- Locate the Windows Audio service and open its Properties window by double-clicking it or selecting the Properties option from the service’s context menu.
- The Log On tab can be found in the Properties window. The This account radio button needs to be chosen automatically.
- The Local System account is the one you want to choose here. It’s important to enable the service to communicate with the desktop by checking the box for that.
- If you’re done, select Apply and then click OK.
- When you’re ready, go back to the Windows Audio service’s Properties window and select the Start button. Verify if the problem still exists.
Modify Access Controls for the Audio Registry
If switching the service’s login account does not resolve the problem, then it is conceivable that your user account does not have read/write access to the audio registry. Such a situation necessitates modifying the audio registry’s security settings to grant your user account administrative privileges.
Changing the Windows Registry is not recommended because it is easy to mess up your machine. Consequently, it is imperative that you adhere to the provided directions precisely. Okay, so let’s get this party started.
- As a first step, press the Windows key plus R to bring up the Run window.
- Next, go to the Start menu and select Run. Once the Run box appears, type regedit and press Enter. Select the Yes button on the User Access Control screen if prompted to do so.
- Selecting this will open the Windows Registry Editor. Copy this path and paste it into the Windows Registry’s address bar to quickly access the MMDevices key: HKEY LOCAL MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion.
- If you click here, you’ll be sent to your MMDevices directory. You can modify the folder’s permissions by right-clicking on it and selecting the option.
- The only option is to grant everyone full control over this area. In order to do so, we must first add it. Select the Plus sign.
- You can then use the Find Now option after clicking the Advanced button.
- When you use this command, it will generate a complete list of your system’s users and groups. Select All Users from the dropdown and confirm your selection by clicking OK. Do it again and press the OK button.
- Then, give them complete control by selecting the box labelled Allow in the Permissions window and selecting Everyone under Group or user names.
- When you’re finished, select Apply and then OK.
- Next, you should minimise the Windows Registry window and launch the Services window using a Start Menu search.
- Determine if the problem persists after you have located the Windows Audio service and restarted it.
