no active mixer devices

[maratha]

I am not getting any sound in my computer. I checked in the volume control and get an error message that states "There are no active mixer devices available. To install mixer, devices, go to control panel, click printers and other hardware, and then click add hardware." I dont have the CD that has that hardware? Also, when I am playing DVDs then I will get another message "Windows Media Player cannot play this DVD because a compatible DVD decoder is not installed on your computer." Any ideas?

[Russell]

Download Belarc Advisor that will give you information about your hardware configuration and also versions of all software installed in Windows patches (with detection of missing patches). For software, click on the asterisk next to the title that takes you directly to the directory where the software is installed.

Also, you have to install DVD decoder, like for example Power DVD that will play all files in your Windows Media Player. Just search these software on the net and download it accordingly.

[Dr.pter]

This problem also happens when Windows Audio service has stopped, so follow the below steps to solve this issue:

1. First of all click the Start button, then click Run
2. After that enter services.msc and press enter
3. Now you have to scroll down and right click on Windows Audio and select Start
4. After that you should also go into Properties and make sure that the Startup Type is set to Automatic