A note about Windows and Drivers.
It's true that this has been a long time and ongoing issue with Windows.
When you support every piece of hardware under the sun this will almost inevitably be the case
(however I'm sure we have all seen the typical "Microsoft" behaviour only exacerbate the scope of this problem)
You can't conclude that just because your not experiencing the same issue with updates and drivers, that the issue does not exist.
I am right now typing on my home PC that has 3 monitors and I have never experienced this problem. Likewise this PC has had issues that the other has not seen.
The PC I started the thread for is in my church and for some reason I've had to guide (over the phone) several people, several times through the process of correcting the issue I describe above.
I'm trying to avoid this problem coming back again so I will try the practical suggestions listed here in an effort to simplify my life
lol.
I just hope that any solution I try does not backfire and cause other unforeseen nuisances, only way to find out is to try it, which I will soon.
Just to reiterate what I've tried so far, I have tried disabling all of the undesired Playback devices. I think I mentioned that somewhere in this thread.
To clarify further, the system in question does not ever have "new" monitors or sound devices plugged in.
However, the desired audio output is a PA system amplifier, and since this has an independent power switch, it is "possible" that someone can power on the PC with NO available audio device.
If this is the case, a reboot does not fix the problem unfortunately.
This may be the problem some of the time at least.
This is one reason I was originally looking for a hardware solution, it would be great if the option to send sound elsewhere simply did not exist.
I will try the suggestions posted this weekend to see if any work.
Thank you for your imput gentlemen!
(and any ladies I missed