Windows 7 Error Messages when Speakers/Headphones Are Not Connected to My Computer

[johnnymike]

Sorry about the length of my post but I wanted to make sure that is was sufficiently detailed so that someone would be able to help me:

I am having a rather strange issue which, although is not hindering the use of my computer, is still something that I would like to try and resolve. I purchased a Dell Inspiron 545 about a month ago (first week of Oct. 09). Given that Windows 7 wasn't available at that time to the general public, my new computer came with Vista Home Premium. My computer does not currently have an aftermarket sound card; I only have the OEM one that came with the computer. Also, I currently do not have any speakers or any other external audio devices that are currently hooked up to my computer. While I was using Vista I never had any problems or warning prompts appear when using audio programs like iTunes even though I didn't have any external audio devices connected to my computer. No problem there.

When I received my copy of Windows 7 Pro I decided to do a clean install on my computer. After installing 7 I went through and manually installed all of the audio drivers that were on my computer when I received it from Dell. I didn't use the driver disk that came with my computer though, because of the hassle of using those disks. Instead I manually downloaded the drivers that I needed from the Dell support page.

After re-installing all of the drivers, updates, and programs on Win 7 I noticed the following: every time that I opened an audio program like iTunes I would receive a warning prompt claiming that "iTunes has discovered a problem with your audio configuration; audio may not operate properly". Furthermore, I have a Sony voice recorder that I use for school and the program for the recorder gives a similar error message claiming that "the file cannot be played back; check your audio drivers or operating system". In addition, this error message prevents me from editing any of the voice files I have saved on my computer.

But the strange thing is that all of these error messages disappear when I plug in my headphones. The messages go away, I am allowed to edit my voice files, and the sound works great.

As I said above, the audio drivers I currently have installed are identical to those that originally came with my computer. Given that I had never received similar error messages when not having speakers or headphones hooked up to any of my past computers or to my current computer before I installed Windows 7, I am assuming that the operating system is the culprit.

Has anyone else experienced this problem and if so, do you know how to fix it?

 

[tblount]

Strange problem.... but why unplug your headset?

 

[Saltgrass]

Can you do a system restore and get it back to prior drivers install, or roll back the drivers.

Did you have a reason for using the earlier, I assume Vista, drivers for your Windows 7 install?

 

[johnnymike]

Strange problem.... but why unplug your headset?

I could just keep my headphones plugged in (actually I just plug them in anytime I am working with my audio programs) but that is just a temporary solution. As I said above, my computer did not do this prior to installing Win 7 so I would like to get the problem completely squared away so that I can have my computer functioning as it was when I first bought it.

 

[johnnymike]

Can you do a system restore and get it back to prior drivers install, or roll back the drivers.

Did you have a reason for using the earlier, I assume Vista, drivers for your Windows 7 install?

The problem has been present since I performed the clean install so I don't think that a restore will work.

Also, I should have mentioned that although I did install the same audio drivers as was on my computer when I first received it the re-installed drivers were the updated versions for Win 7, so I am not using drivers designed for Vista.

 

[Saltgrass]

So you are saying the situation was present prior to loading the drives manually?

Some functions might require the devices to be plugged in. Since Windows 7 knows whether they are or not, you may have to shut down a service or utility to keep from getting the messages. This is just a guess since I have not seen your situation before. It seems iTunes may have some problems with Windows 7, do you know if the problem existed prior to installing it?

 

[johnnymike]

So you are saying the situation was present prior to loading the drives manually?

Some functions might require the devices to be plugged in. Since Windows 7 knows whether they are or not, you may have to shut down a service or utility to keep from getting the messages. This is just a guess since I have not seen your situation before. It seems iTunes may have some problems with Windows 7, do you know if the problem existed prior to installing it?

I don't know if the situation was present prior to re-installing the drivers. One of the first things that I did after I performed the clean install and downloaded updates was install the drivers. Furthermore, I am not sure if the problem existed prior to install any of the audio programs given that the messages seem to only appear while using the audio programs.

One thing that I just realized is that I don't get any errors when using video programs such as VLC media player. Maybe, the problem is localized with respect to iTunes and Sony Voice Editor?

 

[johnnymike]

Update

In the course of updating my voice editor software to a newer version, an error appeared during install that claimed "This computer has no sound board installed. You cannot play a message". This is good news because I now know what the problem is. The question I have though is how do I go about fixing this? I know that my computer has an OEM sound card installed right on the motherboard. But I don't know what else would need to be installed besides the audio drivers that I already am using. Can anyone tell me what I need to do to get my system to once again recognize my sound board? Furthermore, as I mentioned above the sound works great when I use my headphones, so if the sound board is not installed properly how could my headphones even work?

 

[Saltgrass]

Are you using USB headphones? I have seen an occurrence where they would work, but the analog would not.

Which drivers did you download from the Dell site? Could they have not actually installed? Do you know what audio device you have, Creative or Realtek? The Realtek drivers show as urgent... Are these for your system (32 bit)?
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Do you have speakers plugged in, and do you show them if you right click the speaker icon and select playback devices?