Recording Devices under "Sound" freezes. Audio recording devices not recognized

Shepsus

Honorable
Oct 9, 2015
8
0
10,510
Hi everyone!

I have Windows 7 64-bit Professional.
It is a customer built machine. I can give specs if necessary.
I use on-board sound and mic inputs. I have ASUS's Realtek Audio Manager, but I've closed that out with no change.

I've recently started to record and edit audio on my PC. I have been successful in the past, but now when I open up the "Sound" tab, The recording tab freezes. All other tabs are fine. I can see what is in there, but nothing is clickable and I can't close it without going to Task Manager.

I have searched Google and found a few people who've had the same issue with both WIN 7 and WIN10. Microsoft has had a few admins respond to these forums, but they don't seem to help at all (with me or their respective users). The last suggestion the MS guys give is a fresh install, which I'd rather not do.

What could be causing this? And what would you recommend as a fix?