# I can't seem to get sound out of my PC **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 4, 2009, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-seem-to-get-sound-out-of-my-pc/501881 "2009-07-04T07:41:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-seem-to-get-sound-out-of-my-pc/501881/1 "2009-07-04T07:41:30Z")
Well, I can, just not through the speakers I want. It’s an ex-office PC and although I see the seemingly standard three sockets at the back for mic, earphones and speakers and have plugged in my own speakers, the sound comes out of a tiny internal speaker inside the PC. I’m not sure where to go from there, what should I look for on the PC, through Windows and on the motherboard itself to investigate? Once I could sort a PC by myself, but now I’m reduced to unplugging the internal speaker and giving a little mental “huh”, when that doesn’t help. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-seem-to-get-sound-out-of-my-pc/501881/2 "2009-07-04T13:56:43Z")
In the Control Panel there should be a Sounds and Audio Devices (at least, there is in my XP) which may help you. Alternatively, if you look in the Device Manager (right click on My Computer, choose Properties/ Hardware), you might find an error (exclamation mark) next to your Audio card settings, which may need addressing. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-seem-to-get-sound-out-of-my-pc/501881/3 "2009-07-04T17:47:32Z")
Do you have a separate audio card in your system, or are the three sockets on the motherboard? If it’s a separate card, is there a driver installed for it? Does the Sounds and Audio Devices control panel show more than one device? If so, have you tried selecting a different one for audio playback? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-seem-to-get-sound-out-of-my-pc/501881/4 "2009-07-04T21:11:29Z")
When I unplugged the internal speaker, I rebooted to see if that and some other changes had taken effect. The sound didn’t seem to be coming from the speakers I had plugged in. I booted up today before I had a chance to try the above and lo and behold it worked just fine. But thanks for the advice 🙂