No sound from WMP

[Binoculars]

I can't get any audio out of Windows Media Player. The video is fine, but the sound is missing, and when I try to play CD Audio, I get the following message;

Cannot play back the audio stream: no audio hardware is available or the hardware is not responding.

Device Manager doesn't seem to indicate anything is wrong, and the normal CD Player in Windows Accessories plays CD's ok with proper audio.

Any suggestions?

[Dimsim]

Not sure about this, but I think the normal CD player uses the direct cable link for the audio from the CD player to the sound card and as such uses the sound card only for amplification. Windows media player plays the CD (and all audio I think) like a WAV file and thus requires that the sound card and drivers be properly installed. Suggest you look at your sound card set up and driver installation and also check for any resource conflicts on accessories/system tools/system information.

[Binoculars]

I checked all devices and drivers, all appeared to be ok. As a last resort I went into Control Panel Multimedia and noticed that the preferred device for audio playback had been changed from Crystal Fusion to "any available device".

Lo and behold, I have sound again!

I must remember to stop playing round with things I don't understand when I'm pissed

Thanks Dimsim.