[SOLVED] System audio device disappeared after crash ?

[Midinette]

My cat jumped on top of my tower and my computer immediately crashed, forcing me to restart. Now my monitor speakers no longer work, nor do they even exist as a device in my system anywhere. I do still have both Realtek and Windows drivers but can ONLY use Realtek as an output device (headset). I've uninstalled those drivers and restarted several times, unplugged both the power cable and HDMI for the monitor but nothing works. The speakers just completely disappeared and there's no option to play system sounds through anything but my headset. Wtf did my cat do?

https://imgur.com/j7LUZMP

View: https://i.imgur.com/j7LUZMP.jpg

https://imgur.com/boKhF27

View: https://i.imgur.com/boKhF27.png

 

[Ralston18]

Under the View tab is "Show hidden devices" checked?

Did you try unplugging and re-plugging the audio cables?

Wiggle all of the plugs and ports. Determine if any are loose or possibly even damaged.

Right click the small speaker icon usually located in the lower right screen corner.

The right click should open a menu that, in turns, leads to quite a number of audio related windows, tabs, and properties.

Work through the menus and menu items for anything that is not as expected.

The Windows troubleshooters may find and fix something.

My thought is that the cat may have caused a static discharge that zapped something. Hopefully not permanently....