I seem to remember that there is a volume control in Control Panel of Win 7. Check.

Also you can try Control Panel > Device Manager to see if the audio hardware dirvers can be updated

 

I seem to remember that there is a volume control in Control Panel of Win 7. Check.

Thanks for the ideas.

I found "Sound" in the control Panel, but no help there.

Also you can try Control Panel > Device Manager to see if the audio hardware dirvers can be updated

Drivers are already at most recent and it says "Device is working properly"

What I did stumble upon in Control Panel was Realtek HD Audio Manager; among many other options, I can adjust the Volume and Mute/Unmute; whatever I do here reflects on the TaskBar volume button.

In Realtek HD Audio Manager, as I slide the Volume to and fro, I can then mouse over the Task Bar volume button and the little pop-up will reflect the changes.

If I click "Mute" in Realtek HD Audio Manager, the red X shows up on the Task Bar button.

Otherwise, that button is deader than a door-nail and will not respond to anything.

I did manage to lock Realtek HD Audio Manager to the Task Bar so I don't have to dig through the Control Panel to find it; however, it is not nearly so convenient as the Volume Control that has quit.

Several internet searches using various search parameters have only sent me down numerous rabbit holes.

 

In Control Panel, under sound, Is Realtek HD Audio set as the default?

 

In Control Panel, under sound, Is Realtek HD Audio set as the default?

Yes, it is.

 

I don't have Realtek HD Audio Manager on my computer.
All I see in Device Manager under sound is High Definition Audio Device and it looks like it is using a Microsoft driver.

Where did you locate Realtek HD Audio Manager?

I did find this:
Do I need Realtek HD Audio Manager?
If there are no problems with the audio, then this driver may not be needed for running your Desktop audio.
Source: How to download and reinstall Realtek HD Audio Manager in Windows 11/10

Since I have no sound problems and the volume icon is operating correctly, I'm not going to install this driver.

One last thought: make sure Realtek HD Audio Manager is running at startup. Perhaps that will fix the volume icon trouble.

 

Where did you locate Realtek HD Audio Manager?

It was just there in the control panel under the "R"s

I will investigate the possibles you have provided; thank you.

Nothing has been updated on this machine in many years; I disabled all that foolishness a long time ago.

No new programs have been installed in a very long time.

One day, the volume control was working and the next day it is dead as a hammer, except that it will reflect whatever changes I make in Realtek.

Also, I may or may not have been clear on this; when I click the volume icon, the control thingie does not appear; I see the volume changes that realtek makes in a tiny message box that appears when I mouse over the icon; Volume X-many % or Speakers Muted (plus the red circle/slash shows up when the speakers are muted.

 

Interesting. I see Realtek on laptop in Control Panel. It is not on my desktop computer which I was using when I was answering this thread.

Click the up arrow to the left of the clock and click on Customize. When you see the volume icon under Behavior does it say Show icon and notification?
If so, try hiding it by selecting Hide icon and notification. Reboot then go through Customize again and select Show icon and notifications. Not sure if this will do anything to fix the issue but it is worth trying.

When I opened the Realtek HD Manager and clicked a few things, this is the info I have

 

Did you get any recent updates? I know Win7 is not supposed to be gitting updates but on Sunday my Win7 laptop when I shut it down told me not to turn it off while it was processing two updates from MS.

 

No updates --- none in several years --- updates are seldom a good thing.

 

Right click on taskbar
Taskbar Tab
Notification area>Customize
Blue link Turn system icons on or off
OR
Restore system icons

 

Right click on taskbar
Taskbar Tab
Notification area>Customize
Blue link Turn system icons on or off
OR
Restore system icons

Thanks; but, none of that changed a thing = still dead as a doornail.

However, when I found the Realtek HD Audio Manager in Control Panel, I was able to lock it's big icon to the Task Bar so I wouldn't have to go hunting for it.

I was not aware of it at the time, but this maneuver must have placed an icon for it in the little hidden box down there by the clock.

I set it such that a little button for it now resides beside the standard volume control.

If I click this little button instead of the standard (non-working) volume control, I get the entire big Realtek window that does have a big Volume slider and a not-very-obvious Mute button.

It is a bit unwieldy; and, there is so much going on there as to make quickly finding the volume and mute not so easy; however, with it's own little button now down there by the clock, it is quick and easy to bring up and much better than no manner of control at all.

I am a bit curious as to whether that little button will remain there when I unlock the big button from remaining on the task bar; it will be easy enough to find out = just unlock it and see what happens.

 

Check volume control on speaker system: right click the pc speaker icon, check speakers are your default device and adjust volume.If they are grayed out the connection is probably in the wrong port.

 

Thanks; I will check that out and reply with my findings.