How to "Reload/Restart" audio drivers without a reboot?

[nordloewelabs]

sometimes, while i'm watching a video or listening to music, my WinXP goes mute on me. to get sound again i'm forced to restart the computer, which is quick but a bit annoying. i was wondering if there's a way to get the PC's audio to work again without having to reboot the machine....

my guess is that unloading and reloading the audio drivers could fix the problem....(?) can it be done with an utility or simply a little batch file?

thanks in advance.

 

[JustaGeek]

Weird.

Update your Audio Drivers, delete all the Temporary files (use free IE Privacy Keeper, just don't clean the Prefetch folder every time!), and defragment your Hard Drive.

Also, check for malware/spyware, and edit your Startup programs. You might have some programs running in the background that conflict with your Audio driver.

Good luck!

 

[nordloewelabs]

so there's no way to do it?

 

[JustaGeek]

Originally posted by: nordloewelabs
so there's no way to do it?

I would try to fix the problem, and you seem to be focused on the workaround only.

Uninstall/reinstall the drivers, turn off some user tasks in the Task Manager to identify what might be causing the problem, and examine the Event Log for System and Application errors.

Workarounds are good only for some time before the problems intensify...

 

[nordloewelabs]

the reason why i'm looking for the workaround is 2 fold:

1. the problem only happens once in a blue moon.
2. it happens in 2 diff systems: a P3-700 and an Athlon 3000.

i dont think it's a driver issue....

 

[JustaGeek]

That's really, really weird.

If you are using the EXACTLY same software, I would assume that it is a software/driver/spyware issue.

There was a post here about Torrent and spyware troubles.

Are you using any type of file/program sharing software...?

It might be useful, but usually comes with TONS of spyware/malware.