Since Microsoft intentionally removes the Stereo Mix / Waveout Mix option from its drivers, you need to try to download the latest version of the sound card driver and install it. If you have an onboard sound card, go to the support section of the manufacturer of your PC (such as Dell/HP/Toshiba/Sony/Fujitsu/Lenovo/Acer) and download an audio driver for your model of the PC that works with your Windows version. Please note that the manufacturer doesn’t support Windows 7, you can try to use Windows Vista driver, althouth there is no guarantee that it will work and will not damage your hardware.
If you can’t find a driver, you need to know the sound card that your PC has. Then you can go to the web-site of RealTek, Sigmatel, Creative,… and download a driver for your particular model that works on Windows 7/XP/Vista/….
If the driver has an installer, you can easily install it. If the driver doesn’t come with an installer, unpack it and:
- Open “Control Panel“.
- Open “System“.
- On the left side under Tasks click on the “Device Manager“.
- Scroll down to “Sound, video and game controller“
- Open that and you will see “High definition audio“
- Right click and select “Update driver software“
- In the new window choose “Browse my computer” and “Let me pick…“
- Uncheck the “Show compatible hardware” box
- Click “Have disk“
- Browse to the location that you extracted your driver files to and just keep opening the Vista folder until you get to a bunch of .INF files. Don’t select any of those just have that open. Your computer should have the one it needs in the file name box. Just click open and then “OK”.
- The window should open with a list of drivers. Choose your one and hit “Next” to install it.
If your device has stopped working after updating your driver you can roll it back.
When updating your driver, you can get a message that you have the highest update available. Click the “Roll back driver” button.
You can also roll back your driver from the Device Manager
:
- Click “Start“.
- Select “Run“.
- Type “devmgmt.msc” (without quotes) and press “Enter“.
- Double click on “Sound, video and game controllers“.
- Right click on the device and select “Properties“.
- Select the “Driver” tab and click the “Roll back” button
Note that if you not only don’t have the stereo mix / waveout mix, but also have the No audio output problem, you need to download and install the latest version of the driver or update it. You can also try the following:
- In the Device Manager right click and disable your audio. Then right click and enable it.
- Plug in external stereo speakers to the stereo jack. Windows detects whether anything is plugged into the stereo jack. After recognizing the speakers, it should install the driver.
- Re-install the driver in the Safe mode.
Windows 7 looks like a service pack for Vista, but it doesn’t fix the audio recording problem. Microsoft is purposefully preventing us from recording sound.
First of all you need to try to enable the “Wave Out mix” (“Stereo Mix“, “Record What you hear”)
How to enable the “Wave Out mix” (“Stereo Mix“, “Record What you hear”) in Windows 7/Vista
- Go to the Control panel and double click the “Sound“.
- Select the “Recording” tab
- Right click on the background of the tab and select “Show Disabled Devices“
- Find the “Wave Out mix” (“Stereo Mix“, “Record What you hear”) item, right click on it and select Enable.
Now you can capture audio from any program in Windows 7/Vista.
