When I plug in either external headphones or external speakers the sound does not transfer to the external devices, it continues to emit from the laptop speakers.

Dear ScottWaterman1!

Welcome to the Microsoft Community!

I read your post and I understand that you have tried multiple methods to resolve this issue, including sound card hardware and motherboard replacement on your laptop, which must be very frustrating. To further diagnose the problem, I would like to ask you a few questions:

Sound Settings Check:

Have you tried changing the default playback device in Windows' sound settings when you plug in external headphones or speakers? Typically, you can select the newly plugged in device by following these steps:

Right-click on the sound icon in the system tray.

Select "Sound Settings".

In the window that pops up, select your external headphones or speakers as the default device and click "Set Default" and "Apply".

Device Manager Check:

Have you checked Device Manager to make sure the external headphones or speakers are correctly identified and do not show any conflicts or errors?

System Restore or Reinstall:

Have you had Dell's engineers try to reinstall the original system image? Sometimes, system problems can be caused by software conflicts or corrupted system files, and reinstalling the system may resolve these problems.

Audio Drivers:

Have you tried updating or reinstalling the audio driver? Sometimes, corrupted or outdated drivers can also cause this type of problem.

If you have tried all of the above steps and the problem persists, you may want to consider the following further steps:

If your laptop is still under warranty, you may be able to request further repair service or replacement from Dell.

I hope these suggestions will help you resolve the issue. Please let me know what steps you have tried and if there is any progress. Thank you!

I wish you all the best.

Best regards,

Yang.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hello Yang,

Dear Scott!

Thanks for your further troubleshooting information. If you confirm that this problem is related to iTunes, it may be a compatibility issue with a specific version of iTunes or the software itself.

If you want to fix some errors on iTunes by reinstalling iTunes, you can try updating iTunes to the latest version to eliminate iTunes errors before reinstalling iTunes. If it works, you may not need to reinstall iTunes.

In order to reinstall iTunes without losing music, generally speaking, the solutions shared by other users in the Apple community are mainly divided into 3 steps: back up iTunes library, uninstall iTunes, and reinstall iTunes. The following are detailed instructions to achieve this goal.

Step 1. Back up iTunes library

- Launch iTunes and click "File" > "Library" > "Organize Library" in the iTunes window.

- Check the box before "Consolidate Files" and click "OK" to confirm and put the copy of all media files into the iTunes Media folder. This process may take several minutes, depending on the size of the media files. But the original files should be in the original path, iTunes should just put it into the playlist, just in case you still check the files in the source path.

- Click "Edit" > "Preferences" > "Advanced" to view the advanced settings. Then select a path in "iTunes Media Folder Location" and press "Ctrl + C" on your keyboard to copy it to the clipboard. You can check the copy of iTunes media files in this folder.

- Press "Windows + E" on your keyboard to open "File Explorer". Click inside the address bar next to the file explorer and press "Ctrl + V" to paste the path of the iTunes Media folder and press "Enter" to open the iTunes Media folder.

- Select the "Music" folder and press "Ctrl + C" to copy it to the clipboard. If you want to save iTunes To uninstall all media files on the iTunes library, such as movies, TV shows, and podcasts, press "Ctrl + A" to select all files in the iTunes Media folder, and then press the "Ctrl + C" keys.

- Create and open a folder to store the iTunes library files, and then click the "Ctrl + V" keys to paste the files from the clipboard into the folder. This process may take some time, depending on the number and size of the files.

Step 2. Completely uninstall iTunes

Since the installation packages of the old versions of iTunes have been removed from Apple's official website recently, even if you go to find the corresponding old version installation website, you will find that the previous website is no longer available, and you can only download the Microsoft Store version (personal experience In this version, there may be fewer features and services), but you can still try to reinstall here.

Find "Installed Apps" in the App column in Settings, pull down to find iTunes, and then check if there is an iTunes option. After finding it, choose Uninstall.

In this way, you have completely uninstalled iTunes and all its files (in the Microsoft Store version).

Step 3. Reinstall iTunes

- Download the latest iTunes on Apple's official website .

iTunes - Apple

(PS: The version downloaded here is also the Microsoft Store version, but other older versions of MS Installer are no longer available.)

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology. 

- Launch iTunes and click "File" > "Add Folder to Library" in the iTunes window. Then, you can select the folder where you have backed up iTunes media files and click "Select Folder" to add music and other media files to the iTunes library at once.

I wish you all the best.

Best regards,

Yang.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist