[WPCentral Question]

I have a red X on my sound icon. I have a Sony VAIO, don't know model number the stickers unreadable. My first thought was updating the drivers but that does not work because my audio device isn't found in device manager. Then I thought maybe it was disabled or uninstalled so I went to Sound options and only found that my HDMI audio was listed. I right-clicked to show hidden and disabled devices but nothing popped up. I even tried a system restore but that only fixed the problem temporarily. Once I turn my computer off, the next time I turn it on the red X is back. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[gpobernardo]

Does changing the sound volume (either by using a key combination or by sliding the volume level up or down) fix the issue? In my Samsung Laptop, that does the trick - worked both for Windows 7 and now in Windows 10 (although it doesn't happen frequently now).

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[rhapdog]

A red X on the sound icon (speaker icon in the system tray) means that the sound is currently "muted." To unmute the sound, you may have a specialized key on your keyboard, or you can click on the speaker icon and adjust the volume there.

It is possible that there is another issue causing it, but this is the "most likely" culprit I can think of without further information.

[druben22]

The volume keys on the laptop do do anything when pressed. I can't change the volume via the sound icon because when I press it Windows trouble shooter starts, and like always finds no errors/solutions

[druben22]

It's not muted,cause the X would've been white.

[druben22]

It's not muted. When it's muted the X is white, at least on my laptop it is

[druben22]

Now I turned my laptop back on it's working just fine.

[RumoredNow]

You must have needed audio drivers... Windows either loaded them on the next boot, or found them online...