Audio faiils at boot

Go to the manufacturer of your computer and type the model number of your computer (model # is usually found on a sticker under your computer) and download the latest os's driver that supports the hardware. Boot into safe mode then uninstall the audio driver present on the system then install the driver you just downloaded.

If an older os the driver support use program compatibility assistant and find the os then click apply and okay. Then you should be good to go

Thanks for chiming in.

This is custom made PC.

What is allegedly the latest Realtek driver (from Windows Update) has been tested, and it killed audio as does a reinstall of the long-used version 2.82, circa 2017.

It's a puzzlement that this intermittency is evident even when the PC is running an older system image that never had the issue.

Is this your motherboard?

PRIME Z390-A
If so there's a driver made from 2019 on there


PRIME Z390-A Driver & Tools | Motherboards | ASUS USA

You guessed it. Thanks for reminding me of that forgotten resource. Updated the Intel Management Engine while there.

Oddly, the newest driver is installed - perhaps via Windows Update. So we'll give it time and see if the issue is resolved.

As long as you booted into safe mode to uninstall the previous driver and install the new one should be fine.

Drivers have a tendency to overwrite previous files of a driver which leads to windows having a hard time. I've installed a GPU driver over the top of another driver and after a restart the picture on the monitor was green. But I booted into safe mode after a visit to guru3d and downloaded ddu. Ran ddu until it was finished (I chose the option to stay in safe mode) installed the new GPU driver and booted back up to the normal desktop and no more problems. Windows and drivers can be tricky

The driver works well, when it's correctly loaded, so it's unlikely that's the issue. No errors or oddities are apparent..

Recently, after PC was awakened from SLEEP mode, audio vanished. Earlier, the issue occurred only after a reboot.

Repeated booting or driver installs did nothing. Restoring the 2004 Windows system image did.

This is a peculiar fault and, being intermittent, will be tough to track down. Regards

The issue persists in both W1909 and 2004. Usually occurs after a reboot, After many restarts, audio may return. When reboot doesn't succeed, a power cycle usually does.

No errors, troubleshooter finds nothing, reinstalling various drivers doesn't help. In fact, if an audio driver update is attempted, it kills audio.

Once, audio spontaneously vanished mid-session. Power cycled. Start-up sound was heard but it was dead thereafter. Changed the Windows theme and sound returned. But the issue remained. Themes are not the likely culprit and the sound scheme is Windows default.

Is this being experienced by others?

Thanks. Instructions followed to the letter.
Upon Realtek uninstaller completion (via Windows Apps) Drive Store Explorer listed no Realtek .ink files in the audio section.

Installed 6.0.8960.1 as administrator. Result: No sound, no Realtek console in control panel.
Rebooting, and even power cycling - which usually succeeds - repeatedly failed.

Restoring a system image succeeded...but the issue will recur. This is beginning to hint at hardware issues. BIOS update is next.

Done. Driver successfully installed, as before. No sound.

Also tested restore of a 1903 system image from a time when the issue wasn't evident. Even the speaker icon in the notification section failed to load until the PC was rebooted. Still no audio.

This has to be a hardware/BIOS issue. Appreciated your input.