Warning: Don't update drivers from component manufacturer's websites

It all seemed so simple.

My sound card was having a few issues, and I figured the drivers were old. Sure enough, I found a January 2017 version of the driver for that exact sound card on the manufacturer's website, and I downloaded it.

Then my computer speakers stopped working, yet oddly the headphone jacks still worked.

I rolled back the drivers to the previous version (which I had previously downloaded from the manufacturer of the sound card), but it still didn't help.

I called the Indian tech support for my computer, which I hate doing, but I was out of ideas. The guy was on the arrogant side and was mad at me for not wanting to give him control of my computer via a Teamviewer knockoff type application, but after awhile, he told me to get the "latest drivers".

I told him I had already done that.

He asked where I got them, and I said it was from the Realtek website. He told me that was incorrect, and that I should always get drivers from the HP support website. Sure enough, HP had its own driver specifically for this sound card on their system, and it fixed the problem.

Bottom line: Always get drivers from the manufacturer of your computer, not the manufacturer of the component.