MickinMD ★ Posted September 14, 2019 Share #1 Posted September 14, 2019 From now on, if I'm having a software/hardware problem with my Windows 10 laptop, I'm going to simply reboot first rather than accept the "troubleshooting" offer from the Windows popup. Thursday, I used an HDMI cable to stream NFL Thursday Night Football from my laptop to my TV, where the computer's sound goes through the TV. Afterward, when I unplugged the HDMI cable, the sound did not come back to my laptop. It tried a couple things and suddenly a Windows 10 popup appeared, recommending troubleshooting. I clicked ok and the next thing I knew, Windows 10 no longer recognized that I had a speaker system in the laptop and my headphone jack no longer worked. I rebooted, held F12 on booting to check all the BIOS, etc, settings, had the computer look for drive and software problems, updated some drivers, etc. and still no sound unless I used the HDMI cable. The HDMI cable is a little on the old side and I had to wiggle it in the socket to make it work and I wondered if I had also wiggled the port and broken some connector, etc. I ordered a replacement for the cable but wondered if it was too late! Finally, Friday evening I remembered that Windows has an app somewhere that searches for new devices and wondered if it would find my speakers. When I finally found the app's window, there was a list of device operations that had recently been made, and I saw an alpha-numeric, meaningless-to-me, named device but it drew my attention. Next to it was the word "disconnected" next to the date and approx. time my laptop sound stopped working. I clicked on everything related to the "disconnected" notice until a window finally popped up that included an "update driver" button and then a choice of letting Windows automatically find the driver. I did so and the next thing I new, it said "driver installed" and my speakers and headphones were back in business and the Sound/Playback window showed as default: "Realtek High-Definition Audio" which I now remember was what was there originally (the other driver is "not plugged in" because the HDMI to is not connected my TV): After clicking on the "DTS Studio Sound" app that came with the laptop from the Start menu, it became incorporated as it was before, giving me graphic-equalizer control over all sounds - great for YouTube music, etc. (again, "not connected" just means the HDMI to is not connected my TV). Regaining the laptop's sound and controls was a combination of a little knowledge and a little luck. Next time, I'll remember the automatic fixes on computers can get into things I'm not familiar with and not to tell Windows to fix something that a simple reboot may show isn't broken. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySTL ★ Posted September 14, 2019 Share #2 Posted September 14, 2019 That's why it's known as plug and pray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdc2000 Posted September 14, 2019 Share #3 Posted September 14, 2019 And the latest "updates" also caused the sound to stop working on some systems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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