Member Avatar for Sweet_Erika

Hello, I need some help please =)

Yesterday I was streaming a video online and all of a sudden my audio quit working. I thought maybe it was the video, so I played another video and still no audio. I closed out Internet Explorer and tested my audio by playing a song in Windows Media Player...no audio. I restarted my computer and then everything was fine. What would cause my audio to suddenly stop working? I have the latest driver. Oh, and my audio is integrated...not a card.

Then, this morning when I started up my computer, I got a blue screen that said "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL." I have had this message in the past (long story) and I know it can be related to a device driver. So, I am thinking maybe my audio driver is no good? Device manager is claiming that everything is working properly. I am not sure if this blue screen and the audio issue are even related, but it seemed coincidental.

And yes, I do know that this blue screen message can also be related to RAM, but I have brand new memory and I have already tested it with Memtest86 and with Microsoft's mem test.

I have recently formatted my computer because of this darn blue screen that I had been getting pretty much every morning when I turned on my PC. I guess it didn't help and now I am back to square one.

Any ideas?

Thanks =)

-Erika

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Dani AI

Generated

A concise diagnostic checklist and next steps to tie together the earlier suggestions from and the report from . The priority is to identify which kernel-mode driver (if any) is crashing Windows and to isolate whether the audio subsystem is the real culprit or just a symptom.

Start by collecting crash evidence and system logs:

  • Make sure Windows is creating small memory dumps (check System Properties -> Advanced -> Startup and Recovery -> Write debugging info). Minidumps live under C:\Windows\Minidump.
  • Inspect the System log in Event Viewer for error entries at the crash time. A name of a .sys file in the dump or Event Viewer points to the offending driver.

Use targeted tools and safe tests:

  • Use a minidump viewer (e.g., BlueScreenView/WhoCrashed) or WinDbg to read the dump and identify a driver name. That is the single best clue.

  • Enable Driver Verifier to stress drivers only after you have backups; it will force the buggy driver to crash more reliably:

    verifier /standard /all

    If the machine becomes unstable, disable verifier in safe mode:

    verifier /reset

Driver-focused remediation to try next:

  • In Device Manager uninstall the audio device and choose to remove driver software, then reboot so Windows installs the generic Microsoft "High Definition Audio Device" driver. If stability returns, the vendor driver is suspect.
  • Update chipset and storage controller drivers and the system BIOS from the OEM (BIOS updates can fix IRQ/driver interaction). Only apply BIOS updates per the vendor instructions and on mains power.

Other useful checks before replacing hardware:

  • Clean boot (disable third-party startup items/services) to rule out non-driver software.

  • Restart Windows Audio services:

    net stop Audiosrv
net start Audiosrv

  • Test audio from a Linux live USB or with a cheap USB sound adapter to determine whether the onboard codec is failing.

If a particular driver is flagged in the dump, collect that dump and the driver filename before contacting support — it will dramatically speed troubleshooting. 's minimal-hardware approach is good; combine that with targeted dump analysis and Driver Verifier to pinpoint the problem rather than guessing.

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Member Avatar for Dortz

The error is 'also' related to bad or incompatible drivers. try using older drivers for your audio?

if that doesn't do it, try rolling back your video drivers, then take out all but the essential components. one hd, the ram, the motherboard and processor. No cd drive, no floppy, no peripherals. get it to have to load as little as possible, then add one by one, until you find the problematic device.

Member Avatar for Sweet_Erika

You know, it's funny that you say that, because that is immediately what I thought of to do. I am going to install an older driver for my audio and see if it helps.

Thank you =)

Member Avatar for Sweet_Erika

Okay, so I went to Dell's website to find a previous driver for my audio...and there isn't one. The one I have installed is the only one. So, now I am not sure what to do. I guess now I will contact Dell.

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