Windows 7 - multiple programs with conflicting sound output I have a Windows 7 (32 bit, service pack 1) on my laptop and, whenever I launch my sound editor (Ableton Live 8), all other programs (Firefox, Chrome, Skype etc) stop outputting any sounds. Even when I try switching the order of steps (opening Ableton first and then launching a browser, for example) it doesn't work.

In Control Panel > Sound, I have the laptop speakers as the default output and, as soon as I close Ableton, all other programs are able to make noise again.
Driver type ASIO Audio device ASIO4ALL v2


Aha, there we go. ASIO is designed to give only one program at a time access to the audio hardware. As I said, this is in principle a good thing, because it ensures the DAW can run trouble-free and without overly long latency or crippled sound introduced when the OS tries to combine the audio from different programs so some composite that's then usable for even the worse hardware that can be assumed. However, for just testing out the program, learning features etc. none of this is really a concern, so you might as well use one of the non-professional alternatives. Microsoft DirectSound should always work.