Audio Issues/Broken Sound Card (?)

[tadpolemuncher]

Hey guys, so I'm currently using a HyperX Cloud headset with my desktop and it's been working fine so far until this morning.
 

What usually happens when I plug my headset into the audio jacks is that a secondary program comes up (I can't remember the name but it was maroon in colour) and it asks me to confirm whether I want the incoming and outgoing audio to go to the headset or the computer monitor.
 

Well I accidentally pulled the headset out and when I plugged it back into the jacks, the program didn't come up (this has never been an issue before).
 

So now I'm left with no audio on my PC at all. Additionally, my headphones aren't showing up in either playback or recording devices for sound even while plugged in. I've tried restarting my computer multiple times, and even tried to update drivers for the headset/sound card, but it says everything is up to date. I've also tried using the headphone jacks at the back on the computer and the secondary program still doesn't show up. The end result is the same - the headphones aren't showing up in either the playback or recording devices tab.
 

I've confirmed that the headset works on my phone and my laptop, and I've tried my secondary cheapo phone earphones on my PC as well to no avail. I'm wondering how I should go about fixing this. I'm not a super tech savvy person but I can follow instructions and I haven't found any solutions to my issue at the moment. Any and all help is much appreciated, thanks!

 

[Naeaes]

Remove and reinstall that maroon program.

[alexhelvetica]

Headphones are NOT hot swap-able and in rare cases can kill the onboard audio. I assume you have killed the onboard audio, but something may have happened and your OS might be corrupt, so a reinstall might fix it.

[tadpolemuncher]

20 minutes ago, Naeaes said:

Remove and reinstall that maroon program.

Unfortunately I can't remember the program at all! I guess I never really paid attention to the name of the program and now I'm paying the price 

 

13 minutes ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Headphones are NOT hot swap-able and in rare cases can kill the onboard audio. I assume you have killed the onboard audio, but something may have happened and your OS might be corrupt, so a reinstall might fix it.

If the onboard audio is killed - how would I go about fixing it? Also I'm assuming a reinstall of the OS means a clean-reinstall, as such everything would be deleted and like 'factory-new' is this correct?

[Naeaes]

20 minutes ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Headphones are NOT hot swap-able

Well, that's not true. At least for non-USB headsets. You honestly reboot any time you plug/unplug your headset?

[tadpolemuncher]

Not that I can remember. Recently the audio levels have been getting weird though, not sure if its related but I used to have my audio settings at ~6 but I've had to put it to ~20 for the same programs recently. Sorry about the lack of technical knowledge I'm just a casual user 

[alexhelvetica]

2 minutes ago, tadpolemuncher said:

Unfortunately I can't remember the program at all! I guess I never really paid attention to the name of the program and now I'm paying the price 

 

If the onboard audio is killed - how would I go about fixing it? Also I'm assuming a reinstall of the OS means a clean-reinstall, as such everything would be deleted and like 'factory-new' is this correct?

If you were to reinstall the OS, it would reset everything to the bare essentials, no programs and generic drivers.

If the onboard is killed, buy a sound card or DAC, or RMA the motherboard..

4 minutes ago, Naeaes said:

Well, that's not true. At least for non-USB headsets. You honestly reboot any time you plug/unplug your headset?

Yes the computer will detect a pair of headphones when you plug them in, or not detect the headphones when the have been unplugged, but it doesn't mean you should do that. Have you ever heard the sound of when you unplug the audio jack of a powered set of speakers? Same principal applies.

No, I don't turn off and on my laptop when I am removing headphones, I don't care if it breaks, it gives me more of a reason to get my money back on it, I have treated it with respect and it kept on breaking, now I just want it gone.

I don't plug in headphones in my desktop. If I did, I'd probably turn it off because I'd be recable managing my setup.

 

I have never had the onboard audio die on any of my devices, but I have heard it can happen and but it is quite rare of it happening.