I don't use this laptop often* so I don't know if what has happened was the direct result of something I did or happened some while ago but I didn't notice. (*The computer I use most of the time is a Mac.)
For some weeks when I've used this computer I've been irritated by a message in the bottom RH of the screen saying "Never miss a reminder again" and urging me to do something with Cortana. I was irritated mainly because it obscured what was behind it on the screen and could neither be removed nor deleted.
I tried all sorts of ways to get rid of the message but nothing seemed to work. When I googled the words of the message people seemed to be concerned with privacy issues more than anything else and this was not in my mind at all.
One promising-looking remedy foundered (for me) because it depended on having a Microsoft Account. (Actually I do have a MS a/c in association with my Mac iMac, iPad and iPhone (mainly because I use MS Office software), but I set this laptop up in my husband's name although he has hardly used it.) I jibbed at the idea of going through the process of setting up an account now partly because I'd have to decide whether to do it in my own name (complication: I already have an account) or in Paul's and partly because I'm afraid I'd be asked set-up info that I've forgotten now - did it nearly 8 months ago when the laptop was new.
Eventually yesterday I found something which looked as if it might help, which was the Notification Center (accessed via an icon in the bottom RH corner). I clicked something there and the wretched notice disappeared and for a little while I was pleased at my success.
A bit later my husband began to use the laptop to look at some "how-to" videos on You Tube, but he discovered there was no sound.
I took the laptop back and spent ages doing everything I could to find out what was wrong with the sound, but to no avail.
I somehow (not sure how) initiated HP Troubleshooting, which interestingly seemed to detect that the problem was to do with sound without my actually saying it was. That ran and ran and ran and ran but achieved nothing and I gave up.
It occurred to me that what I had done in the Notification Center could have caused the sound problem, but I wasn't sure what I'd done and I also began to wonder if the loss of sound was unconnected with what I'd done - and I didn't want the message about Cortana to come back.
I have put a CD in the E drive and there is no sound from that either.
Weirdly, when I tried to play audio material from various sources on the internet (just now) sometimes I got a tiny burst of sound - a few seconds - before the silence.
I thought of consulting Geeks to Go this morning (having been rescued from a good number of PC and a few Mac problems… [********] over the years by the wonderful GTG experts) and when I arrived at the Windows 10 page my eye was caught by a post about sound loss following an update. That added weight to my guess that the problem could have been there unnoticed for a while.
[I am typing this on my iMac with the laptop beside me for reference. As I typed the last word or do before [********] above I heard a little noise and I glanced at the laptop. The little blob on the progress bar of a short MP3 audio clip ( set to a loop play) had been silently continuing on its way and at [********] the sound came on, as if normally, for long enough for me to start thinking "Where do I go from here? Should I report this to Geeks to Go?". Then, as abruptly as it had come on, it went away again - back to silence. I've just checked again, and clicking the Start triangle for play sometimes produces 3 or 4 seconds of sound, sometimes just 1 second.]
I think I've probably rambled on too much but I hope I've said enough for someone to have some idea of what is wrong and what I can do about it.
Edited by sue.words, 13 November 2017 - 10:07 AM.