Skip to main content

Did your Windows 10 audio stop working after the update? Microsoft has a fix

windows 10 october update

Microsoft has released a patch for its recent Windows 10 October 2018 update which fixes an audio issue that has affected a small number of those who completed the update. The fix is now available via the Windows Update tool and joins a number of others that Microsoft has released in recent weeks.

The October 2018 Update for Windows 10 was the second major upgrade Microsoft has made to its flagship operating system in 2018. Following on from the April Update earlier this year, this most recent update brought with it a number of exciting features and fixes, but caused a surprising number of problems, too. There was the data deletion bug which halted the update’s rollout for a few days, CPU usage problems, and an audio issue, among others. Most of these, including the audio issue, have now been fixed, though.

The audio update has the catchy title of KB4468550, and Microsoft claims, via OnMSFT, that it, ” addresses an issue where after installing the Intel Smart Sound Technology driver (version 09.21.00.3755) via Windows Update or manually, computer audio may stop working.”

Simply running Windows Update (you can search for it in the Windows search bar) should download the new bug fix patch if you are affected by the problem, or you can download it manually from Microsoft’s Update Catalog if you prefer.

The bug itself materialized as a loss of audio entirely on affected systems. Users found themselves with no sound whatsoever, no matter what audio source or solution they used. Muting and unmuting made no difference, though some users did report having success with driver updates or rollbacks for their particular devices. Microsoft’s stopgap solution before the official fix was to uninstall the Intel Audio Controller driver 9.21.0.3755, as per OnMSFT.

Although this latest audio issue with Windows 10 appears to have been fixed, there are other sound-related problems that you can run into with the operating system. If you apply the above update and don’t have the audio you want, or run into problems later, check out our guide to how to fix sound issues in Windows 10. We may have the tips you need to fix it.

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
If your PC is running slowly, the latest Windows 11 update may be to blame
A laptop running Windows 11.

Microsoft may have a problem on its hands -- the latest Windows 11 update doesn't seem to be working as intended. According to various user reports, the update drastically slows SSD speeds, in some cases even cutting them in half.

If you've noticed that your PC is loading slowly or programs aren't running as quickly as you'd hoped, you might be affected by this problem. Here's how to fix it.

Read more
Windows 11 could be hurting your gaming performance
Overwatch 2 running on the LG OLED 27 gaming monitor.

If you’ve been wondering why your beefy graphics card hasn’t been performing as well as it should in Windows 11 or Windows 10, the answer could be Microsoft’s Virtualization Based Security (VBS). According to testing done by Tom’s Hardware, VBS could cause gaming performance to drop by as much as 10%.

In a suite of fresh benchmarks, Tom’s Hardware tested 15 different games, from Cyberpunk 2077 to Red Dead Redemption 2, both with VBS enabled and with the feature turned off. In some games, the results could be cause for concern.

Read more
PC gamers are flocking to Windows 11, new Steam survey says
Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the Alienware 34 QD-OLED.

According to the latest Steam Hardware and Software Survey, more PC gamers are switching to using Windows 11. Although Windows 10 continues to top the charts, it's slowly losing users to Microsoft's newer operating system, as Windows 11 now compromises over a third of all operating systems in Steam's monthly survey.

It's happy news for Microsoft as Windows 11 continues to inch forward in the Steam Hardware Survey. While the survey doesn't include the software and hardware utilized by each and every gamer on the platform, it still shows us some significant averages. Microsoft has continued to push Windows 11 for new PCs, and the latest survey from Steam suggests that the effort is working.

Read more