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Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
That happened to me a few months ago when I went from W8.1 Pro to W10 Pro 21H2 on a Dell Latitude E5450. I went to the Dell website, input my service tag and got a list of the latest drivers. Uninstalled the sound drivers and reinstalled the latest ones. Problem solved. Look in device manager, which may tell you which driver isn’t working.
My driver is a Realtek also. On the Dell website you should be able to find a driver page for your computer with links to all the current drivers. There should also be instructions on how to update drivers or a link to the instructions. Follow the instructions! I didn’t on my first attempt but just tried to install the latest driver, which didn’t work. IIRC there’s an uninstall program that you download and run (Support Assist?), after which you install the new driver. Sound worked fine after that.
My Asus desktop also uses Realtek sound and I regularly experienced issues where the audio would stop working after various Win10 updates.
After some searching on the internet I discovered this appears to be a pretty common issue with Realtek audio because the “updated” drivers sometimes installed by Windows don’t always work for all versions of Realtek’s audio H/W.
By reverting to older versions of the driver one-by-one, I finally discovered I had to use the Realtek HD Audio driver v6.0.9091.1 or older. Anything newer than that kills my audio.
Once I got it working again, I used the instructions at How to Prevent Windows from Automatically Updating Specific Drivers to lock the Realtek device driver so Windows can’t change/update it anymore.
BTW, one gotcha if you use this method to “lock in” a particular device driver version. Users on that PC also won’t be able to change/update that specific device driver unless the Group Policy lock is disabled first!
because the “updated” drivers sometimes installed by Windows
You should never let Microsoft updates ‘update’ drivers.
I have Realtek sound drivers on my 4 years Lenovo Windows 10 Pro (1809 up to 22H2) and never had any sound problems with build-in speakers or external Logitech loudspeakers.
You should never let Microsoft updates ‘update’ drivers.
The “Do not include drivers with Windows Updates” Group Policy setting has been enabled since I upgraded from Win7 to Win10 back in Dec 2019. However, as was pointed out in the recent Renesas USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller thread (including by you), that does not always block Windows updates from updating drivers!
My integrated Realtek Sound was no longer even shown in Device Manager nor in Settings/System/Sound.
Upgrading to Windows 10 Pro 22H2 really did a number on the Realtek Sound.
Installed (from Dell) the Speakers / Headphones (Realtek Audio) Driver 6.0.1.6111 dated 08/12/2016.
External speakers now working.
Will wait a few days to make sure speakers continue working & no other surprises pop up.
Then, I will probably use Group Policy to lock in that driver.
THANKS to all 3 of you who provided guidance.
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