If you find that your headphones are suddenly not working, read on as this post will help you sort out the problem. There could be several reasons why your headphone is malfunctioning, it could be due to an update you just installed, or it could also be due to incompatible operating system, drivers, and so on.
Although updates are created to fix bugs on a computer, there are times when it also causes some issues in the computer. One of the issues it causes is the broken headphone. When this happens, the computer will stop playing any audio using the headphones. The problem, as pointed out, could be due to Windows Updates or incompatible or corrupted drivers in the system.
To resolve this problem with the headphones, there are several fixes you can check out. Make sure that you follow each one of the given potential fixes below.
There are times when you plug a headphone, it does not toggle the default audio device. Thus, to fix this issue, you have to set the default audio device to the headphones manually. To do that, follow these steps:
If the glitch in your audio has something to do with software, chances are it might be related to the audio driver – it could be that the newest version of your Windows 10 does not work well with the old version of the driver. This is why you have to update your audio driver to the newest available version.
Note: If updating the Audio driver didn’t work, you can go to the website of your PC manufacturer and look for the support section where you can download the drivers for your computer. You just need to take note of your PC’s correct model and model number so you can find the appropriate driver.
The Windows Services manages audio for all Windows-based programs and if this service is stopped, audio devices, as well as effects, will also be affected and if this service is disabled, any services that depend on it explicitly will fail to start. So you need to check the status of this service. How? Follow the steps below.
Note: You should also make sure that the following Dependency Services are started and have Automatic Startup type:
You should also start the Multimedia Class Scheduler and set it on Automatic if you have it in your system. The Multimedia Class Scheduler Service or MMCSS is a service in Windows that allows multimedia applications to get prioritized access to CPU for time-sensitive processing like the multimedia applications as well as prioritized disc access to make sure that the process does not lack data to process.
Since the Windows 10 operating system has the Playing Audio Troubleshooter, you can use this troubleshooter to try and fix the problem with the headphones. You can access this tool in the Control Panel or in the Taskbar Search and even on the Troubleshooters page of Windows 10.
Run this troubleshooter and see if it can fix the issue or not.
As mentioned earlier, the issue with the headphones could be due to a Windows Update. Thus, to fix the problem, you can try to either roll back or install a newer Windows Update.

Code 21 is a Device Manager error code that appears when you try to use a hardware device attached to your computer and the Windows prohibits you from using it.
This is due to the Windows experiences problems loading the device driver. This error message is displayed in the following format:
“Windows is removing this device. (Code 21)”
Error CausesError code 21 means that Windows is in the device removal process and the device has not been completely removed. It occurs when you set a device to be removed and then select the same device to run on your system.
Upon your instructions, Windows start to remove that device and when you on the other hand try to use/access the same device that you selected for removal, it kicks up Code 21.
If you are experiencing error code 21 on your PC, it is advisable to resolve it immediately.
Though this error will not damage your system, but will significantly lower the performance of your PC which is definitely something you don’t want especially if you work on your computer daily and use it to perform important time-sensitive errands.
To repair and resolve, try the methods given below:
This is one of the best and easiest ways to resolve code 15 on your system. Wait for a few seconds, and then press the F5 key. This will update the Device Manager view and the error will most probably go away.
Sometimes error codes may pop up due to temporary glitches. To resolve such errors, a simple reboot of your PC is enough. Shut down Windows and then restart your system.
This is most likely to resolve Code 21. However, if the error still persists then this means the underlying problem for code 21 is deeper than you think. Try method 3 to resolve.
As mentioned earlier, the error code 21 may occur if you have selected a device to remove and then you try to reuse it.
To resolve, you may have to install the device again and the driver for that the reinstalled device. To reinstall the driver without any hassle, simply download DriverFIX.
It is a smart, user-friendly, and intuitive software program designed to resolve driver problems. The program is embedded with intelligent device identification technology which:
Furthermore, it enables accurate installation and ensures that your system is running at its optimal speed.
Other features that this program boasts are full backup and restoration, safe USB management, and ejection.
If nothing works, you can try the full backup and restoration feature and restore your PC to its previous state when it was functioning properly before the error occurred.
DriverFIX creates a backup of all your files and data hedging keeps you from disasters like data loss. It restores the system to the time when it was working properly.
Click here to download DriverFIX on your system and resolve error code 21 today.
“Error 0x800701e3: The request failed due to a fatal hardware error.”There are several methods you can check out to fix this error – you can try to run System Restore or Check Disk or format the destination drive or check the SMART attribute of the drive. For more details, refer to each one of the following options.
Error code 0x8007232B (Code 0x8007232B) is an error that occurs when you attempt to activate Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista.
Common symptoms include:
Error code 0x8007232B can be seen when you are trying to activate windows, on several different operating systems. This problem can usually be easily corrected, but in the event that it can't, please contact a computer repair technician. When you try to install any of the previously mentioned Windows products, they use a generic product key to install the volume-based license software. If you do have a KMS host computer configuration and see these error codes, that means the correct DNS entries are not being seen on the computer. If there is not a KMS host computer setup, you need to do this setup, otherwise switch to a MAK product key method, and activate the volume license installation that way.
Using a Multiple Activation Key as opposed to KMS activation
Configure a KMS host server for the clients to activate against.
A KMS host server needs to be configured for the clients to activate against. When there are no KMS host servers configured near you, install and activate a KMS server key. After this, configure a computer on the network to host this KMS software and publish the Domain Name System (DNS) settings.
When the client cannot locate a KMS host on the network for activation:
1. Verify that your computer has the KMS host installed and activated by using a KMS key that is registered in DNS. You will follow these steps to do that:
2. A KMS host server registers a DNS SRV record once every 24 hours by default. You should check the registry to see if the KMS host server is registering with the DNS. Follow these steps to do so:
Error Causes
Before we move on to the discussion of fixing the underlying causes for error 103, it is important to understand all those programs that are most likely to generate this error. A list of all such programs is outlined below as follows.
In run dialog type RegEdit and press ENTER
In registry editor find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
Right-click on Parameters> New> DWORD 32
Name it IRPStackSize and change the value to 32
Save and reboot your computer.
In run dialog type RegEdit and press ENTER
In registry editor find a key Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Right-click on Parameters> New> DWORD 32
Name it DefaultTTL and change the value to 64
Save and Reboot
In run dialog type RegEdit and press ENTER
In registry editor find a key Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
There should be a DWORD Value, TCP1323Opts, if not, then create it. Right-click on Parameters> New> DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Double-click on it and change its value to 1
Save and reboot
/c ren %systemroot%System32Spupdsvc.exe Spupdsvc.old