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11 fixes for no sound in Flash videos

Most video websites, such as YouTube, use Flash for their videos. A lot of people have problems with the Adobe Flash browser plugin. The most common problem is that the sound is not working. Below you can find 11 solutions for Flash related sound problems.

  1. Flash stores its files in a temporary files folder. A corrupt download can cause the sound problems.

    Delete the following folders on Windows XP:
    C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\Application Data\Adobe\Flash Player
    C:\Documents and Settings\%UserName%\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player

    Delete the following folders on Vista/7/8:
    C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Flash Player
    C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Flash Player

    Tip: you can use CCleaner to easily remove all temporary files from the locations mentioned in steps 1 to 3.
  2. Empty your temporary internet files.

    Internet Explorer: Tools -> Internet Options
    Firefox: Tools -> Clear Private Data
    Opera: Tools -> Delete Private Data
  3. Empty your temporary files folder.

    Use this command to empty your temporary files folder:
    Start -> Run -> RMDIR /S /Q "%TEMP%"
  4. Install the latest version of the Flash plugin. You can download it HERE. If you have problems upgrading the plugin, then uninstall your existing version first with this tool. Close your browser(s) before you run the uninstall tool.
  5. Run the Codec Tweak Tool. Click on the Fixes button. Enable the option called "Fix broken sound (Midi, WaveOut)". Select that and press Next. If the option is grayed out, it means that this particular fix is not needed, and your problem has a different cause. This fix will restore a missing "wavemapper" registry key.
  6. Go to the Flash Player Settings Manager website. Click HERE.
    Check the box called "Allow third-party Flash content to store data on your computer."
  7. Go to the Flash Player Settings Manager website. Click HERE.
    Click on the button to remove the data that the Flash plugins has stored for websites that you have visited.
  8. Check if your sound device settings are correct:
    Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Sound and Audio Devices -> Audio
  9. Check if the file msacm32.drv is present in the C:\Windows\system32 folder. If not, copy it from another PC (that has the same version of Windows) and place the file in the system32 folder. If you are using a 64-bit version of Windows, then the file should be present in the C:\Windows\SysWOW64 folder.

    You can let Windows scan for missing and damaged system files with this command:
    Start > Run > sfc.exe /scannow
  10. If you are also having sound problems with other applications, then re-installing your audio drivers will probably solve the problems.
  11. If you have QuickTime installed, then go to the QuickTime control panel. On the Audio tab, set "Default Music Synthesizer" to "General MIDI".
    On the Advanced tab, disable "Enable playback of Adobe Flash tracks".
    On the browser tab, click on "MIME Settings". Under "Miscellaneous", make sure "Flash media" is unchecked.

3 fixes for Flash video problems

Here are some tips to solve video related problems with the Adobe Flash plugin:

  1. Disable hardware acceleration. Right-click on a Flash video to enable or disable hardware acceleration.
  2. Update your graphics driver.
  3. Try fixes 1/2/3/4/6/7 from the audio fixes list above.

Flash does not use any extenal codecs. Installing or updating codecs will have no effect at all on Flash!