How to Fix the “There are no active mixer devices available” Error

My Windows XP computer stopped playing audio when I was watching YouTube videos this week. When I tried to adjust the audio, it gave me the following error:

There are no active mixer devices available. To install mixer devices, go to Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Add Hardware.

This program will now close.

This happens because the Windows Audio service has stopped. To fix the issue, simply do the following:

• Click the Start button, then click Run
• enter services.msc and press enter
• Scroll down and right click on Windows Audio and select Start
• You should also go into Properties and make sure that the Startup Type is set to Automatic