Solved Windows 11 audio issue

Hi,

I upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and I noticed recently that my audio driver (Realtek High Definition Audio) keeps uninstalling itself and I have to reinstall it upon every logout, restart or even when I'm watching something. It's gotten worse and happens a few times a day now.

Initially I thought there was some software conflict. But software I have installed include: 3uTools; Microsoft Office; OpenShot Video Editor; iTunes; Google Chrome; Firefox; Telegram; Pot Player; Internet Download Manager; uTorrent and WhatsApp. Virtually nothing out of the ordinary.

Drivers I have installed come directly from Lenovo website.

First time I experienced this I looked for online solutions for almost 5 hours until the above (Realtek High Definition Audio) fixed the issue but that didn't hold long.

Is there a permanent fix?

Thank you.

Install the audio driver from Realtek website to see problem resolves.

Hi,
Yeah I installed mine from asus website for my mother board for win10 since there wasn't one for win-11 yet
It doesn't show up in action center but is on the start all apps list and will open from there so it's not uninstalling as you say

You get any warning installing it
I found on one computer install apps from anywhere wasn't a default setting like on win-10 and two other win-11 upgrades
So go to settings/ all apps and at the top make sure it state allow app download from anywhere.

FreeBooter said:

Install the audio driver from Realtek website to see problem resolves.

Click to expand...

Tried that but like I said, it fixes the problem temporarily. It uninstalls automatically when I restart, log out or even right in front of my eyes suddenly the sound goes away.

Sometimes I even have to install the driver TWICE to get it to work. First I have to uninstall all audio drivers from Device Manager, Shift + Delete the Realtek folder from C:\Program Files (x86) directory and then install the driver.

Do you think reinstalling an updated Windows 11 would solve the problem?

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Yeah I installed mine from asus website for my mother board for win10 since there wasn't one for win-11 yet
It doesn't show up in action center but is on the start all apps list and will open from there so it's not uninstalling as you say

You get any warning installing it
I found on one computer install apps from anywhere wasn't a default setting like on win-10 and two other win-11 upgrades
So go to settings/ all apps and at the top make sure it state allow app download from anywhere.

Click to expand...

I think I get the gist of what you're saying.

No, no warning shows up but the setup process restarts the laptop which is normal.

All else is OK.

You should install updates also do you see error message at Device Manager?

Karen said:

I think I get the gist of what you're saying.

No, no warning shows up but the setup process restarts the laptop which is normal.

All else is OK.

Click to expand...

Hi,
Indeed my system restarted twice.

FreeBooter said:

You should install updates also do you see error message at Device Manager?

Click to expand...

Windows 11 automatically does that. I mean I get notifications that updates have been downloaded and I have to restart for them to be installed and it takes some time when I restart the laptop.

An no, aside from the yellow error sticker next to the audio driver's icon.

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Indeed my system restarted twice.

Click to expand...

No, I mean first time I install it, it doesn't work. I need to install it once more.

Double-click the Audio driver at Device Manager and from device status give us the error code.

Hi,
One thing
After you download the driver
Right click it and select properties
If there is a unblock box showing use it and apply/ save.

Then extract all and run setup.exe

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
One thing
After you download the driver
Right click it and select properties
If there is a unblock box showing use it and apply/ save.

Then extract all and run setup.exe

Click to expand...

I've tried that, too. But after extraction, the setup file doesn't even open.

Karen said:

I've tried that, too. But after extraction, the setup file doesn't even open.

Click to expand...

Hi,
Take a screen shot of all the files that show after extracting all
Switch to details view.

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
One thing
After you download the driver
Right click it and select properties
If there is a unblock box showing use it and apply/ save.

Then extract all and run setup.exe

Click to expand...

Thank you for pointing this out. It says that it doesn't recognize a speaker at all.

But right now, the audio works and I'm sure it will go away again. Once that happens, I will copy the error code here.

Thanks again.

Hi,
If it doesn't open antivirus / defender is blocking it.

Here are the 2 files that don't run.

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
If it doesn't open antivirus / defender is blocking it.

Click to expand...

No kind of malware detection software is installed except Windows Defender itself which flags nothing.

Hi,
Setup.exe is all you run from there
The other two are for inside realtek app menus

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Setup.exe is all you run from there
The other two are for inside realtek app menus

Click to expand...

Yes, that's how I install the drivers. I can install it and it works, the problem which emerged suddenly a few days ago, is that it uninstalls itself after working properly for a few hours.

Hi,
Can you link to the driver download page ?