Display Hidden Audio Devices In Vista

Have you ever wonder, where in Vista, do devices some times disappear to? I did, when it came time to locating an audio device, that once seemed simple to locate in XP.

Since I don't have much time these days, I usually record audio from videos, so I can (at the very least) listen to them later on my iPod when it's convenient.

But the problem I encounter was that Camtasia (which I use for editing and recording) was not recording the speaker audio from my PC.

After looking around in the audio options in Camtasia, I noticed Stereo Mix was missing, which I remember WAS available in XP.

So, off I went troubleshooting.

The first item I checked was Device Manager to see if there were any errors with the audio hardware (Sound, video and game controllers).

Nope, everything checked out OK.

Now what? Time to check the Sound properties in Control Panel.

A quick look and everything seemed normal in the Playback and Recording tabs. Just when I was about give up, by accident, I right clicked…and to my surprise a context menu appeared.

I then checked Show Disabled Devices and Stereo Mix appeared with a down arrow.

I then right clicked on Stero Mix, selected Enable, and the device was now listed as Working.

Hmm, I don't recall that functionality available in XP Control Panel Sound Properties. For that matter, in Vista, all devices listed in the Playback and Recording tabs have right click options that can be configured.

With the mystery solved, I'm now able to select Stereo Mix in Camtasia which will allow recording of audio from the PC speakers…

and allow me to listen to video on my MP3!! ; -)