The “Audio Services Not Responding” error can be very annoying and common to come across. It is created by the Playing Audio Troubleshooter and is usually run when your computer’s sound device is not responding to messages or commands. This article will help you identify the potential causes behind this issue. Also, we’ll be providing you with all the different solutions you can try out to fix this error.
How To Fix The Audio Service Not Responding Error in Windows 10?
Solution 1: Restarting Audio Services
Step 1. Press and hold the Windows key+R from the keyboard.
Step 2. The run dialog box will come up. Type services.msc in the Run dialog box and press the Enter key.
Step 3. Now, check that all services are running properly and the Startup Type is set to Automatic.
Step 4. If everything is fine and is set to automatic, right-click and select Restart. Else, right-click on Window Audio Service and click on Properties.
Step 5. In the Properties dialog box, you need to change the Startup Type to Automatic. Then, click on Apply followed by OK, and hit the Start button. If it has started already then stop and restart it.
This step is to make sure that the Dependency Services get started and are set to Automatic type.
Note: If your system also has the Multimedia Class Scheduler Service, that needs to be started and set to Automatic as well. Check if Windows Audio Endpoint Builder is running or not. This service must be started for the audio services to work properly.
Solution 2: Checking Audio Components
Step 1. Invoke the Run dialog box by hitting the Windows key+R.
Step 2. Type in services.msc in the Run dialog box. Press the Enter key to open the Services window.
Step 3. Now, in the Services window, check if the following 3 audio components are running or not.
- RPC Endpoint Mapper
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
If they aren’t running, right-click on the service and select Start.
Step 4. Check if the Startup type of these services is set to Automatic. If not, then right-click on the service and click on Properties.
Step 5. Change Startup setting to Automatic and click on Apply and then OK.
Step 6. Now, restart your computer and check if the problem is gone or not.
Solution 3: Executing Some Command Prompt Instructions
Step 1. Open the command prompt by typing cmd in the Search bar next to the Start button. Once you see the search result, click on Run as administrator which will open the command prompt as administrator.
Step 2. Now, type in the following command and press the Enter button
net localgroup administrators networkservice /add
Step 3. Then, type this command and again hit Enter
net localgroup administrators localservice /add
Step 4. Once done, restart your computer and check if the “Audio Services Not Responding” error is fixed or not.
Solution 4: Modifying Registry
Step 1. Open the Run dialog box and type regedit in the textbox.
Step 2. Click on the “OK” button to open the Registry editor.
Step 3. Expand the following heads one by one:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
- SYSTEM
- CurrentControlSet
- Services
- AudioEndPointBuilder
Step 4. Click on Parameters and look for ServiceDII located towards the right pane. Now, go through the Data column.
Step 5. If your valuable data is not set to %SystemRoot%\System32\AudioEndPointBuilder.dll, then you need to change it to this.
Step 6. Exit from the Registry Editor and restart your system.
Solution 5: Installing Default Sound Drivers
Step 1. Press the Windows key+Run to open the run dialog box. Now, type in “control system” and then press Enter.
Step 2. The system window will open up. Click on the Advanced System Settings option located on the left side of the screen.
Step 3. Click on the Hardware tab.
Step 4. Select the Device Installation Settings.
Step 5. Click on the radio button next to the “No (your device might not work as expected)” option and then on “Save changes” and close the window.
Note: If it doesn’t work, then change the option back to “Yes.”
Step 6. Press the Windows key+X to open up the Power User Menu.
Step 7. Press M to open up the Device Manager. Once it opens up, expand the category for Sound, video, and game controllers.
Step 8. Right-click on the sound device and choose the Uninstall device option. If prompted, check the uninstall driver checkbox that will uninstall the drivers too, and move on with the uninstallation
Step 9. Once done, right-click anywhere on the Device Manager window and click on “Scan for hardware changes.” Then, reboot your system.
This way the computer will be able to detect your audio hardware and automatically install the default drivers.
Solution 6: Installing Realtek or High Definition Audio Device
Step 1. Press the Windows key + X to open the Device Manager.
Step 2. Click on the Sound, video, and game controllers.
Step 3. Right-click on the sound device. Click on the Update Driver.
A dialog box will pop up and select the option that says “Browse my computer for driver software.”
Step 4. Then, click on “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.”
Step 5. Uncheck the option Show compatible hardware. This will show a list of all the drivers installed on your computer. Look for “High Definition Audio Device” and select “Next.”
Step 6. Install the driver by following the on-screen instructions. Once done, restart your system.
Note: If this solution doesn’t fix the Audio Services Not Working error, download the audio drivers required from the manufacturer’s website to install them. If that too fails, then restore your computer from one of the restore points or execute a clean Windows install.
Solution 7: Perform an SFC and DISM scan
You can also encounter the Audio services not responding issue if your system files are corrupted or have some errors. In this case, you just need to run the SFC/DISM scan. This is a utility of Windows 10 that will enable you to scan the Windows system files for corruption and then restore the corrupted files.
Solution 8: Changing the Bitrate of the Playback Devices
Step 1. Type Sound in the Start menu search box and click on the first result.
Step 2. Click on Playback Devices
Step 3. Select the current playback device (which is set to speakers by default). Double-click on it to open Properties.
Step 4. Navigate to the Advanced tab and modify the bit rate to 24bit/44100Hz or 24bit/192000Hz as per your speaker configuration.
Now you can check if the “Audio services not responding” error has gone from your computer.
Solution 9: Turn Off Audio Enhancement
Step 1. Go to the search button and search for sound. Click on the first result and then, from the Playback tab, right-click the Default Device and click on Properties.
Step 2. Navigate to the Enhancements tab and click on the Disable all enhancements checkbox. Try to play audio on your computer.
Step 3. If the error hasn’t gone yet, click on Cancel. Then, from the Playback tab, choose another default device.
Step 4. Click on Disable all enhancements check box. Now, try to play the audio once more. If it doesn’t work, repeat the procedure for every audio device.
Solution 10: Restoring from the last Restore Point/ Doing a Clean Install
Create a backup of your files and data before attempting to do this procedure else you’ll lose all your information. Given below are the steps on how to restore your computer:
Step 1. Go to the search bar and type “restore point”. Once the results appear, click on Open under the Create a restore point option.
Step 2. Now, click on the System Protection tab and then on System restore.
Step 3. Click on Next and keep following the on-screen instructions until the list of restore points appears.
Step 4. Click on the very last restore point you can think of when your Windows Audio Services were up and running and then hit Next.
Step 5. A dialog box will pop up, click on Finish. The system restore will start.
In case you don’t have any restore points available, you need to do a clean install.
How to Execute A Clean Install of Windows:
Step 1. Visit the official site of Microsoft and hit the Download tool button
Note: Keep in mind that you have to do this on another computer and install the file in yours via an installation media like USB Flash Drive, DVD, etc.
Step 2. If prompted, click on Save to save the MediaCreationTool file and then run it once it is downloaded to your device.
Step 3. Hit the Yes option if User Account Control asks you to confirm it.
Step 4. Choose an appropriate installation media and then click on Next.
Step 5. Now, select the correct language, architecture, and Windows 10 edition. Hit Next and choose a USB flash drive.
Step 6. Once you’re done selecting a USB flash drive, click Next and wait till the media download is finished. Finally, click on Finish.
With that, you now have a bootable USB ready for use. Here’s how you’ll restart the computer for a fresh Windows installation using a bootable flash drive:
Step 1. Press the Windows key + I button to open Settings. Now, click on Update & Security.
Step 2. Click on Recovery and under Advanced startup, select the Restart Now option.
Step 3. A new screen will come up, click on Troubleshoot and then on Advanced options.
Step 4. Select the UEFI Firmware settings and click on Restart.
Step 5. Now, from the Boot settings, select the Change boot order option. Arrange them in a way to make USB the first option.
Step 6. Click on Save settings.
We will now start the fresh installation. For this, you need to disconnect all external devices like your printer, mouse, etc. Then, start the computer.
Step 1. You can press any key to boot the computer.
Step 2. The Windows setup window will appear now. Click on Next.
Step 3. Select the Install Now option.
Step 4. From the next dialog box, select the option that says I don’t have a key and click Next
Note: It won’t be a problem because you have already activated your computer before, so you’ll be using the same product license.
Step 5. Click on the edition of Windows that you have and select Next. Accept the license terms and hit Next again.
Step 6. Select “Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).” Choose the Primary drive and hit Delete. If there are multiple partitions, delete them all.
Step 7. Click on the empty drive and then hit Next to begin the clean installation procedure.
Conclusion
The Audio Services Not Responding error could be very problematic for any of us. Identifying why your computer might be showing this error and resolving it can be a bit tricky. Hopefully, the above article has helped you fix this error via all the different solutions we’ve mentioned.