OK, I did a total re-format on my computer with Windows 7 in preparation to swich to SSD. I thought I was good, Device Manager had no issues. But I couldn't hear any audio.
NOTHING is muted, everything shows "green" and the meter moving up and down to what I am playing in the background. Even when I launch the Realtek HD Audio Manager and click test on various things, NOTHING.
And that is before I even tried to install the Sound Blaster X-Fi, when I install that, it says the supported hardware isn't present.
I tried a couple times to uninstall software, uninstall all the drivers (clicking software also), most of the time it will work after I uninstall everything and re-install (or even let windows do it). UNTIL I restart the computer on my own. Then most of the time I get the red X over the speaker in the task bar... windows "fixes" it... until I restart the computer.
I don't know what more I can remove, uninstall, etc etc
TIA