The error message you’re experiencing clearly stems from the SmartAudio application associated with Conexant hardware, and it's indicating that it cannot detect the audio device. It seems like this issue is persisting despite multiple troubleshooting attempts, including disabling (and apparently deleting) the
CxUtilSvc service, reinstalling all drivers from HP's website, and even a full Windows reinstallation.
Here’s a checklist and a deeper dive into potential solutions to help you:
1. Confirm Conexant Audio Hardware Presence
It's crucial to verify whether your laptop physically contains a Conexant audio chip:
- Open Device Manager (
devmgmt.msc).
- Expand the Sound, video, and game controllers category.
- Check if any Conexant Audio device is listed. If it isn’t, your hardware may be failing or not present. In such a case, the SmartAudio application could be mistakenly loading (possibly for another hardware configuration).
2. Remove or Stop the SmartAudio Application (CxUtilSvc Alternative)
Since the
CxUtilSvc service is deleted, the SmartAudio application might still be configured to launch automatically:
- Open Task Manager and go to the Startup tab.
- Look for and disable any entry related to Conexant, SmartAudio, or similar.
- Browse C:\Program Files\Conexant\ and C:\Program Files (x86)\Conexant\, and delete or rename these folders if you are confident they are not required.
3. Regenerate or Update the Conexant Audio Driver
- Use Windows Update to ensure any optional hardware drivers are installed.
- As HP's drivers have not resolved the issue, you could try downloading reference drivers from Microsoft or directly from Conexant (if available).
- Alternate approach: Use a tool like Snappy Driver Installer (free, open-source) to find compatible drivers for your hardware.
- Check and clear device errors:
- Open Device Manager again.
- Right-click on your existing audio device (if visible under "Sound, video and game controllers") and choose Uninstall device with the option to delete software drivers.
- Re-scan for hardware changes or reboot to allow Windows to reinstall audio drivers.
4. SmartAudio Residual Software Removal
If the software continues displaying the pop-up after application/service removal:
- Open Control Panel > Programs and Features and uninstall any software related to Conexant or SmartAudio Suite.
- Check Task Scheduler for triggers related to SmartAudio and disable or delete them.
- Use Autoruns (a Sysinternals tool) to find and disable Conexant-related processes or services trying to start.
5. Disable Notifications or Fully Block Execution
If the pop-up is still appearing (and accessing services isn't possible anymore):
- Browse to the specific executable (
SmartAudio.exe or similar) causing this issue using the error window's title bar information (it may be in Task Manager's details as well).
- Rename the problematic executable file to prevent it from launching (e.g.,
SmartAudio.exe → SmartAudio.bak).
- Be cautious; make backups before making changes.
6. HP Support Assistance
Since you’ve already exhausted their provided drivers, it’s worth confirming with HP support whether:
- Your model indeed always uses Conexant hardware.
- There’s a known resolution or a system firmware update to address this persistent issue.
An Alternative Viewpoint
If you’ve verified no Conexant audio device exists on your laptop (physically or via Device Manager):
- The issue might still lie with remnants of preinstalled software on HP devices.
- In this case, complete removal of all related components, as outlined above, or a clean reinstallation of Windows (not using HP recovery tools) could entirely eliminate the Conexant references.
If none of these steps resolve the issue or further oddities arise, let me know, and I’ll help debug deeper!