No Audio Device Found in Windows 10: Troubleshooting Guide

If you've recently booted your existing Windows instance using a USB enclosure or adapter to clone your boot drive, you may be experiencing an issue where no audio device is found. This problem can occur even if you didn't intentionally enable Windows-to-Go features yourself.

In some cases, certain registry values and settings get enabled automatically by Windows when booting via USB, which can cause issues with installing software that checks for these values. Some installers may refuse to run if they detect Windows-to-Go, leading to frustrating errors.

For instance, I recently encountered this issue while preparing for an online exam using the Lockdown Browser, which requires access to my computer's microphone. Despite trying to let Windows install a driver, it couldn't find one. Under Device Manager, I found no sound devices listed, but there was an 'Intel High Definition DSP' device under 'Other Devices.'

I attempted to reinstall the driver bundle and even extracted the bundle to install the Realtek driver separately. Unfortunately, this didn't resolve the issue. When I hovered over the volume button in the taskbar, it displayed the message 'No Audio Output Device is installed,' and clicking on it launched the Windows Get Help app.

Interestingly, I had previously used Rufus and Windows-to-Go to install Windows on a 250GB expansion card, and everything worked except for sound. However, this issue only arose after booting via USB enclosure.

As a college student relying heavily on my computer, I'm desperate to find a solution to this problem. Normally, I run Linux (Arch) on my Framework laptop without any audio issues. If you're experiencing similar problems or have any insight into resolving this issue, please share your expertise in the comments below.

No audio device found windows 10