Volume icon missing

A few weeks back I had an issue with my sound not working, using the following link it was sorted.
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Trying_resto…ml&hl=scudo

Now for no apparent reason it has (volume icon) disappeared again, I have gone into control panel and the volume is set at zero, but the control (slider) is greyed out.
How best to restore this?
thanks

I did have a slight issue with microsoft word and excel and used system restore (backdated 2 days) to resolve that problem, I don`t think connected.

Scudo, make sure that, first of all, there are no yellow exclamation points in device manager that may effect your sound hardware and drivers. Next, open sounds and audio devices in control panel. Click the Audio and Voice tabs and make sure the proper "default" device is set for each item so that it points to your soundcard, whatever that may be.

OK I now have the sound back, just the icon (bottom right) missing now.

Appleoddity, Update…. I now have the icon back, it just needed clicking on the `place on desktop` thanks agin for your help. All sorted. regards Scudo

Can you be more specific as to what you did to fix the problem? What setting you found wrong?

After your post #2 I went to control panel/sounds audio and only had 2 options so clicked the other one for `vinyl AC`97 audio wave and that restored my sound. Then on the volume tab I clicked on `place volume icon on desktop` and that restored the volume icon. (It was previously unchecked) I have to say though I don`t understand how this occurred as the volume disappeared for no apparent reason. I had a slight problem with excel/word and did a system restore but I wouldn`t have thought would have made the change. Scudo

I hope this will be picked up otherwise I will repost a new post in a couple of days. After sorting the above, once again the volume has gone from my PC, This time unable to restore. I have tried `system restore` and in the audio control panel I dont have any options this time so unable to click for other options. I do this time have the volume icon on my desktop. New to this scenario, when I boot up I am getting an error message….. "Generic host process for Win32 encountered problems and has to shut down. Error message… Sz AppName:svchost,exe Sz AppVer:5.1.2600.2180 Sz Modname:upnp.dll Sz ModVer:5.12600.2180 Offset.0000d967 Any help appreciated. thanks Additional information. When I open a video clip using VCR it does play sound, but if I open a video clip from BBC news it does not play sound. Also when I try and open the `sound icon` it states "no active mixer devices available"

I have now managed to restore it again by going to hardware and adding audio devices, a bit of `pot luck` as I wasnt really sure what I was doing, but worked anyway. I still if anyone can help like to fix the problem of it (volume & icon) disappearing as this is the third time in about 6 weeks this has happened. scudo

It may be something that you are doing that is causing the problem. The most likely thing I can think of is that you are plugging in some kind of other audio device temporarily. Anything with a speaker or microphone that plugs in through USB would be considered another audio device, even a webcam with a microphone. Or, a video camera could be considered another audio device.

I don`t use a webcam or microphone so not that. I have in the last few days doenloaded some video clips off utube using a converter and playing back with VCR programme but this I have been doing for some time so not new. The only other thing I can think of and I am sure this is just a coincidence is I did take some short video clips on my digicam a couple of nights and the sound has gone on the camera both in playback mode and also when downloaded to the PC, as I dont use that facility much I wouldn`t have picked up on that, now I thought this was a fault with the camera….maybe not. I will take a video clip tonight and see what happens when I transfer to the PC. I will report back any findings. thanks scudo

I have now tried another video clip and although there is no sound on playback on the camera or when played on the PC it doesnt seem to have affected the volume icon or the volume, so possibly thats not the problem. I tried to download another video clip from utube using `utube downloader` and I get a message stating `No flash video found` So does flash video require enabling somewhere? scudo

Hi Scudo,

No flash video found

To me, this would mean that the actual media file was not properly downloaded and does not exist on your machine.
(Or got saved to some location where it is not being found)

As to the mystery of the volume control and failure of volume in certain instances, you are on the right track to continue problem-solving with the plan of Appleoddity above.
___________________

the following may be helpful, or may not apply in your situation, or may even seem like "voodoo tech support".
Regardless….

The first time you used your digicam to display media, you may or may not have had to install software related to your camera.
If so, the software could have referenced itself to the "exact" USB connection that you were then presently using.
(for instance, at the back of the case, or front of the case, top or bottom USB port specifically)
When you later plug in your digicam via USB, if you plug it into a different USB port, it may identify as if it were a brand-new peripheral and not "find" the appropriate driver for sound. Installing any digicam software again, may solve the situation.
__________

That bit of side-track suggestion aside, your use of the digicam may qualify as "any additional peripheral sound device" as previously mentioned by Appleoddity. Follow-up with Appleoddity may be indicated.

Best Regards

The flash media file was working up until a couple of days ago, I will have a search around and see what I can find and if necessary I can always download again. i will also do an update on the VCR programme. The sound on the digicam does not work if I playback on the digicam so I am thinking its a camera fault, however I will dig out the CD and reinstall the software just in case your assumption is correct. The first time I lost the sound/icon I thought I had maybe clicked on something but I now take the view that something must be triggering it, I will just have to be more observant the next time it goes (but hopefully not) as to exactly what I was doing at that time. scudo Addition……. Just found this while trying to update……. Due to Google's update of Youtube on August 12, Youtube Downloader 2.1.7 cannot currently download videos from Youtube. We are close to a fix and will release an updated version as soon as it's available, likely in the next 24 hours. Please be patient and check back tomorrow for an update. Thank