I attached some remote USB speakers, then when they are removed my laptop
refuses to revert to its built in audio device.
I have re-installed the device drivers but I cannot see the built in Audio
device in my device manager.
There is a bulleting dated May 2007 that says the USB device remains
recognized even if it is physically disconnected.
I need my audio device back. What can I do to be able to use the audio
device again?

This message from dean-dean about re-enabling a disabled microphone just
might help:
---
Right-click the Sound icon in the notification area, and choose Recording
Devices. On the Recording tab of Sound, right-click an empty spot of the
window, and put a checkmark next to "Show Disabled Devices" and "Show
Disconnected Devices".
-----
Use the Playback tab rather than the recording tab, and check both choices.
It enabled me to get my built-in microphone back.
Good luck.

"acruet" wrote:

I attached some remote USB speakers, then when they are removed my laptop
refuses to revert to its built in audio device.
I have re-installed the device drivers but I cannot see the built in Audio
device in my device manager.
There is a bulleting dated May 2007 that says the USB device remains
recognized even if it is physically disconnected.
I need my audio device back. What can I do to be able to use the audio
device again?

I appreciate the attempt to help.
However I do not have a sound (speaker) icon in the task bar area.
There appears to be no way to reactivate the missing device.

I could not follow the workaround for this problem:
Article ID : 912176
Last Review : May 10, 2007
Revision : 2.2

I would disconnect the USB speakers, and reboot with no return to sound
provided by my internal sound device.


It is listed in the device manager as "Conexant High Definition Audio".
(In this case, Toshiba Laptop, built in audio)
There is an option to disable it since the system thinks it is working.
When I detach the USB speakers the built-in speakers do not come back to life.
So I can't hear that signal that a USB device was disconnected, even if it
was.

As I was exploring the device manager I happened upon the "Update Drivers"
button and figured why not?

To my surprise after searching the internet, new drivers were actually found
and installed. In order for these drivers to take effect I was instructed to
reboot.
After rebooting (with the USB speaker device disconnected) the internal
speakers came back to life.

So now it appears that I "CAN" follow the "workaround" posted by MS
Article ID : 912176
Last Review : May 10, 2007
Revision : 2.2

I have yet to attach the USB speakers and cause this annoyance again to
determine if in fact I have found a reliable method of going from internal to
external, and back.

For the moment this is resolved by what I hope is a repeatable workaround.
But when will MS implement a fix so things work "normally"?


"centerlawn" wrote:

This message from dean-dean about re-enabling a disabled microphone just
might help:
---
Right-click the Sound icon in the notification area, and choose Recording
Devices. On the Recording tab of Sound, right-click an empty spot of the
window, and put a checkmark next to "Show Disabled Devices" and "Show
Disconnected Devices".
-----
Use the Playback tab rather than the recording tab, and check both choices.
It enabled me to get my built-in microphone back.
Good luck.

"acruet" wrote:

I attached some remote USB speakers, then when they are removed my laptop
refuses to revert to its built in audio device.
I have re-installed the device drivers but I cannot see the built in Audio
device in my device manager.
There is a bulleting dated May 2007 that says the USB device remains
recognized even if it is physically disconnected.
I need my audio device back. What can I do to be able to use the audio
device again?