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Error message when you try to configure a disabled audio playback device in Windows Vista: "Windows host process (Rundll32) has stopped working"

Article ID: 953916 - View products that this article applies to.

SYMPTOMS

When you view and then try to configure a disabled audio playback device on a Windows Vista-based computer, you receive the following error message:

Windows host process (Rundll32) has stopped working

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WORKAROUND

You can safely close and ignore this error message.

To work around this problem, you can configure playback devices successfully if you do not show disabled devices. To do this, follow these steps:

On a Windows Vista-based computer, right-click the speaker icon in the notification area, and then click Playback Devices.

If you use the inbox driver for HDMI sound, two sound output devices appear. One is speaker and the other is HDMI.
Right-click one of the devices, and then click to clear the Show Disabled Devices check box.

Or, work around this problem by viewing disabled devices but not selecting any sound output devices, To do this, right-click an empty area on the screen, and then click Show Disabled Devices.

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