Computer problem "There are no active mixer devices available"

[Pacion]

As there are so many IT bods/techies here on DF, I am putting this problem I am experiencing here. Has anyone encountered it? How did you resolve it, other than throwing out the computer and getting an new one?

Am getting the following message:

There are no active mixer devices availalbe. To instal mixer devices, go to the Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Add Hardware. This program will now close.

I am on Windows XP and the computer apparently has an integrated sound card with the motherboard.

Thursday afternoon, as I was shutting down the computer, there were some Microsoft automatic updates. Friday morning, I got automatic message from the computer's manufacturer saying there was an update for the software on the computer. I accepted the update.

Since then, I have been having the following problems:

1. The computer is not recognising/holding the audio selection. When I initially log in, it is recognised, but a few seconds letter, the option greys out and there is a 'No devise selected' message.
2. iTunes message saying:

   iTunes has detected a problem with your audio configuration. Audio/Video playback may not operate properly.

3. Outlook - my signature when creating new emails is deselected. I have to go in and reselect it to automatically be added.
4. Windows Media Player - no sound (from a couple of online videos I checked/tested with)
5. Internet Explorer 7 - when it first launches, the tabs option is not available. I have to open another IE window, for the tabs to be there
6. Skype - been getting an error message when I previously didn't have one - "This computer has not sound recording capabilities for Skype"
7. Scanner/Printer machine - I can generate electronic Adobe pdfs but the computer does not seem to be recognising the scanner. [Seems all the other functions work fine]. If I restart the computer, I can do one scan, but if I try to do a second one, I get an error message.
8. The above are only what I have discovered so far. There may be other things...

Friday evening (!!!) I spent roughly 5 hours with the computer manufacturer's technical support. We a system restore (ie pre updates) via "msconfig", downloaded the driver for the manufacturer's audio several times but the problems persist.

The computer has automatic anti-virus software updates, had a virus scan on Friday evening and came up virus free.

Did a test (F12) on the external audio speakers, and they seem to be fine.

For the life of me, I can't remember what the manufacturer's Friday update was - I think it was to do with the Video hardware but wouldn't bet on it. I assumed that when we took the computer settings back a couple of days, all updates would have been removed.

Not being a techie, I am also puzzled that the audio setting is held just for a few seconds and then drops/loses it.

 

[SPratt74]

Yeah I don't like techies that work at those places. I spent a whole week trying to get my wireless hooked up only to find out that sometimes it doesn't work for whatever reason. But anyways, it sounds like you might have to go in safe mode and fix the problem, because your software that you downloaded might not be compatible with your program. (I go into safe mode whenever I have to fix something if I can't fix in DOS.) All you have to do is press F8 before your computer starts,

If not then did you check to make sure that your mute control wasn't on by mistake? And check to be sure that your speakers aren't lose in the back. I have an old machine, so that sometimes happens with my keyboard.

But I don't know much about XP to know since I still have my good old 98 computer lol. I do know that safe mode is always the best method to fix problems though if you know how to do it that is.

There is a way to go back to the time before you started to update your computer in DOS, but I won't go into that unless you are a computer expert. Because you can really mess up things in DOS if you don't know what you are doing even with a description. It's neat though, because that's a way to recover missing files as well.

 

[Joe]

Sounds like a bullet is your best solution.

 

[DancinAnne]

Thursday afternoon, as I was shutting down the computer, there were some Microsoft automatic updates. Friday morning, I got automatic message from the computer's manufacturer saying there was an update for the software on the computer. I accepted the update.

This is from DH, since I asked him to see if he could tell you anything useful about your problem. He has been working as a computer programmer for over the past 10 or so years and has a degree in Computer Science from a top 10 accredited university.

"My first question is, the 'automatic message from the computer's manufacturer saying there was an update...'... how did you receive this message? Was it a system message that just popped up when you logged on or did you receive this notice in email or something? Plus, the other thing to consider is who is the manufacturer? A lot of automatic updates like that are already managed by microsoft updates, so it seems odd that the manufacturer would send updates separately. There is a good chance, even if it popped up as a system message, that you somehow acquired a trojan horse program that required you to run before it could damage your system. This might explain how your computer showed up with no virus yet everything seems to have errors. I would recommend not using your own computer to scan itself and I would go to somewhere with a free online virus scanning utility.

try going to one of these sites and see what they come up with on a virus scan:

housecall.trendmicro.com
www.bitdefender.com/

Unfortunately, one of the bad things with XP is that even if you're using the system restore utility, especially if your system is infected, you may not be able to get rid of certain things. XP has made it very hard and very annoying to undo most things that get messed up with automatic updates.

Another thing you can try is on the device manager, you can see what version of driver you are using for each of your devices and roll back your drivers to see if that makes a difference in anything. Look for the ones that bring up errors, but you may even try the ones that could be related, i.e. your sound and video devices.

I would explore the virus/trojan horse approach first before messing much more with the drivers. Unfortunately, you may be facing a system rebuild in any case. At work my department supports a few hundred end users with more than 99% of them using microsoft/windows machines. We consistently have up to a dozen machines back in our shop for rebuilding because of minor corruptions that windows machines are just prone to. You should consider yourself lucky if you use your computer a lot and can make it more than a couple of years without having to rebuild the system.

A good friend of mine would argue that you DO have a virus and it is called XP. However, he would then recommend you install some version of Linux. My wife would recommend you use the sledgehammer fix and buy a Mac!"

Hope that helps!

 

[SPratt74]

Ok. Well, I got out my laptop that has XP. I don't use it that often, because I like my 98 lol (shush computer people lol). But here's what I would suggest from that.

Turn the power button and quickly hit F8. You may have to click enter when you see Microsoft XP etc.

Choose the option Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked).

This will take you to the time when your computer worked fine, and it will restore whatever is wrong with the computer now.

It will then take you to the screen where you have to type in your password etc. and you can go on as before.

There are other options available as in safe mode etc. if you know what to do that way. But I would try this before giving up. I don't think that what you have is a virus. I would suggest a virus check though (the best way to do a virus check is in safe mode in my opinion), but really... try this option first. If you need help step by step, please pm me, and I'll try to help guide you that way. Again, most of what I do can be done in DOS or in safe mode, because you can always restore things if you know the codes. But most people don't know DOS, because most colleges don't teach DOS any more, and I would suggest to stay away from DOS if you don't know it.

 

[SPratt74]

Oh sorry... wanted to add let us know if and when you are able to get it fixed.

 

[quixotedlm]

Go to windows update in control panel (you can go there from internet explorer also, from tools->windowsupdate) menu, and click on 'view update history'. you can see a list of all updates that were installed on your machine.

or try: start->run->appwiz.cpl. click on 'show updates' check box. it will list all updates on your machine. you can sort this by installation date.

can you post the list of updates you installed recently?

 

[Pacion]

Thanks everyone for your responses! My answers and update:

This is from DH, since I asked him to see if he could tell you anything useful about your problem.

Thanks to DancinAnne DH!

It was an automatic message from the computer's manufacturer/system message. There is an icon on the bottom righthand side of screen to say there is an update. Scratching my memory, usually to do with software for the video/DVD software? Really didn't pay much attention to this one :doh:

There is a good chance, even if it popped up as a system message, that you somehow acquired a trojan horse program that required you to run before it could damage your system.

This thought did cross my mind, but am trying not to think about it too much.

A good friend of mine would argue that you DO have a virus and it is called XP. However, he would then recommend you install some version of Linux. My wife would recommend you use the sledgehammer fix and buy a Mac!"

lol! Okay, Will follow up on the trojan horse program thingy. I tried twice today to jump back a few days (different days) on the system restore, which sounds like it is the same thing Spratt was suggesting via DOS. Getting a message now that it could not take me back to the days I asked for! :?

quixotedlm, will also do as you suggested. Back as quick as I can... :car:

 

[SPratt74]

lol! Okay, Will follow up on the trojan horse program thingy. I tried twice today to jump back a few days (different days) on the system restore, which sounds like it is the same thing Spratt was suggesting via DOS. Getting a message now that it could not take me back to the days I asked for! :?

quixotedlm, will also do as you suggested. Back as quick as I can... :car:

Well, depending on how you did that, you can't go back past a certain length of time. And the system restore is very different than DOS, because DOS is a lot more complicated (and I learned DOS from the college that I went to, because that's how we fixed things in our Computer Club). That's why I suggested pressing F8 etc., because using the F8 method that I gave you will take you back to when your computer wasn't working correctly, and will fix it for you that way, and it's pretty easy for beginners to fix if you mess up using F8 as well.

Also, when it comes to viruses, make sure that you have the latest software on your computer system. It's much better to fix whatever needs to be fixed when you are under safe mode, and you shouldn't have any other programs running when scanning for viruses. But in my opinion, your problem doesn't sound like a virus. It just sounds like a problem with software compatibility. If it were a virus, then I would be highly surprised. Again, fix the virus under safe mode. It's always best to get the live update and to keep it running etc., but the best rule of thumb that I can't stress enough is to learn to use your safe mode.

And there are many ways to try things in Windows and not so much in Mac. I own a Windows 3.1 laptop, a Windows 95 laptop, and a Windows XP laptop as well as a Windows 95 and 98 Desktop Computer. And I can tell you that from experience, it is pretty easy to fix things (and I'm not saying this because of my school experience). I've never had to take anything in to a techie. The more that you use them, you wil understand how to deal with them and that it's not that scary to mess around with them. If anything you can stick in your old restore disk to replace whatever you need that way lol. (I've had to do this, but that's how I've learned.)

Lol... I feel for you though. I was scared to touch computers until my friend came over one night and said you should go to school and learn after showing me how to work my machine lol. I loved going to my computer classes. Now I keep all of my computers to learn off of and if I need a part, I'll take my tool kit and switch things around. It's fun! Good luck. I'm praying for you lol!

 

[Pacion]

Go to windows update in control panel (you can go there from internet explorer also, from tools->windowsupdate) menu, and click on 'view update history'. you can see a list of all updates that were installed on your machine.

When I try this way, the time bar (? don't know the technical term, if there is one!) just keeps moving, and moving, and moving. Nothing happens.

Going to try the other way.

Incidentally, came across this http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...=microsoft.public.windowsupdate&lang=en&cr=US

Seems some other people are experiencing XP problems very recently. :?

(For certain reasons, I have to hold faith in Microsoft! No, I don't own any of their shares/stock!)

 

[SPratt74]

When I try this way, the time bar (? don't know the technical term, if there is one!) just keeps moving, and moving, and moving. Nothing happens.

Going to try the other way.

Incidentally, came across this http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...=microsoft.public.windowsupdate&lang=en&cr=US

Seems some other people are experiencing XP problems very recently. :?

(For certain reasons, I have to hold faith in Microsoft! No, I don't own any of their shares/stock!)

Lol! What? Microsoft is fun for some computer geeks like me lol. I love messing around with their stuff. I don't want to own a Mac ever. I've used them, and I understand them, but I can't stand them worth anything lol.

 

[Pacion]

Updates for 2007:

Windows XPSecurity Update for Windows XP (KB928843)16 February 2007
Office 2003Security Update for Outlook 2003 (KB924085)13 February 2007
Office 2003Security Update for Excel 2003 (KB925257)13 February 2007
Office 2003Security Update for Office 2003 (KB924424)13 February 2007
Office 2003Update for Office 2003 (KB919029)13 February 2007
Office 2003Update for Office 2003 (KB923097)13 February 2007
Office 2003Security Update for Word 2003 (KB923094)13 February 2007
Office 2003Security Update for Office 2003 (KB923272)13 February 2007
Office 2003Security Update for PowerPoint 2003 (KB923091)13 February 2007
Office 2003Security Update for Publisher 2003 (KB894542)13 February 2007
Office 2003Security Update for Office 2003 (KB914455)13 February 2007
Office 2003Office 2003 Service Pack 213 February 2007
Windows Live ToolbarUpdate for Windows Live Toolbar 3.0 (KB926307)09 February 2007
Office 2003Update for Office 2003 (KB907417)09 February 2007
Office 2003Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB925534)09 February 2007
Windows XPWindows Malicious Software Removal Tool - January 2007 (KB890830)09 January 2007
Windows XPSecurity Update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP (KB929969)09 January 2007

 

[tj]

Without more information, I'd say that it could be a microphone problem, possibly even that Microsoft's "speech recognition" software might've been accidentally turned on. (Some of your issues sound like what happened to a co-worker of mine).

The Microsoft Support article is here. The relevant part would be to check to make sure it's turned off on your system.

Hope it helps, but it may be just a wild goose chase.

 

[Pacion]

Updates for 2007:

Windows XPSecurity Update for Windows XP (KB928843)16 February 2007

When I click to uninstal the above security update, I get a message that uninstalling could affect Realtek AC'97 Audio (which is what I have on the computer and is greying out after a few seconds of being logged in)

 

[tj]

Good! Sounds like you're hot on the trail of the problem!