reinstall Dragon Microphone after update

Hi,

What is the headphone model?

If possible, access the Start menu > Settings > System > Sound > Sound Control Panel > click on the white area and check the option to view disconnected and disabled devices.

See if it appears. If not, access the Start menu > Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooting > Sound > Run and see if it corrects the problem.

Test it on other USB ports and, if possible, on another PC to see if it recognizes the headphones.

Open the command prompt (admin) and run the commands: sfc /scannow and dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth, wait for the process to finish and restart the computer.

Thanks

Follow these steps in Windows 11 to get the USB headset (Dragon microphone) working again when the system reports “no audio device available”:

1. Check that Windows sees the device
   1. Connect the USB headset directly to the PC (avoid hubs if possible).
   2. Select Start, type Device Manager, and open it.
   3. Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
   4. If the headset or its audio device appears with a warning icon or is missing, continue with reinstalling the driver.
2. Reinstall the audio driver (USB headset / audio device)
   1. In Device Manager, under Sound, video and game controllers, right‑click the audio device associated with the headset.
   2. Select Uninstall device.
   3. If prompted, confirm the uninstall.
   4. Disconnect the USB headset.
   5. Restart the PC.
   6. After Windows has restarted, reconnect the USB headset so Windows can automatically reinstall the driver.
3. If the device still does not appear, scan for hardware changes
   1. Open Device Manager again.
   2. On the menu, select Action > Scan for hardware changes.
   3. Confirm that the audio device now shows under Sound, video and game controllers.
4. Update the audio driver
   1. In Device Manager, right‑click the audio device.
   2. Select Update driver.
   3. Select Search automatically for drivers and follow the on‑screen instructions.
   4. Restart the PC after the update completes.
5. Verify microphone input settings
   1. Select Start > Settings > System > Sound.
   2. Under Input, select the USB headset microphone.
   3. Use Start test (if available) and speak normally; adjust Input volume if needed.

If the audio device still shows as not installed or unavailable after these steps, install the latest audio/USB drivers from the PC or headset manufacturer’s support site, then repeat the reinstall steps.

References:

• Fix microphone problems
• Fix sound or audio problems in Windows
• Update Audio drivers in Windows
• Audio devices are missing or are displayed as "Not plugged in" after you restart a the computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2
• My audio inputs and outputs suddenly disappeared, how do i fix this? - Microsoft Q&A
• How to fix this. no audio device is installed - Microsoft Q&A
• internal microphone on windows 11 not working - Microsoft Q&A