My computer strikes again! This time it's the audio drivers. Recently, whenever I reboot my computer, the Realtek HD Audio manager crashes a few moments after Windows loads. It seems like this has been happening since I updated my video drivers (and then rolled back my video drivers one version because they were crashing some other programs). I will try to move my video drivers back one more version, but... what the hell? How is it that NVIDIA drivers are crashing my entire system time and again? And what do I do if I can't fix the audio drivers?
Interestingly, the built-in speakers work fine, as do my external speakers. I only encounter a problem when I try to plug in the headset. It won't recognize it at all, neither the headphones nor the microphone. I need to record a video for work today (absolutely must have this done) and I can't. It's a very serious problem. Any advice or suggestions are gratefully accepted... I already tried uninstalling and reinstalling the audio drivers to no avail.
EDIT: After further testing, it seems that it's the microphone jack that's broken. If I plug in speakers or headphones, they work fine, but the moment I plug in the microphone, both jacks go dead.
EDIT2: Okay, downgrading the NVIIDA drivers seems to have solved the Realtek problem, although one of my desktop gadgets is now broken again. It's astonishing how thoroughly these drivers can mess up my system. I keep hearing from everyone how important it is to have the most up-to-date video drivers... Apparently not if you use the NVIDIA Geforce.