Losing Speakers With Windows 10

[chiefyb]

Have had good results from y'all here before, so ...

Just had a new hard drive installed, running on Windows 10, on year-old PC which was running 8.1. Nearly got it all working again but I keep losing my speakers. Restart the PC and they work again; leave it a few hours and they don't again. Tried swapping connections, checking connections, updating drivers and all the usual crap the online support suggests, rather than getting anyone to listen to the problem. If they work sometimes, it's not my fault, it's the system?
Can't find the answer by Googling. Can we sort it?

[Buenchico]

Have you tried uninstalling the audio driver, restarting your PC, and then letting Windows reinstall it?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-10/fix-sound-problems#v1h=tab01

[chiefyb]

no- thought that was covered by it's working some of the time, but might give it a go

[chiefyb]

tried it now and have gone wrong somewhere - no sound now even after reboot - need to reinstall that driver software

[Buenchico]

The Windows generic audio driver usually works but, if your computer has a dedicated driver, it would obviously be better to use that.

Make & model of PC, please?

[chiefyb]

Thanks for your time on this.
I eventually got the generic audio driver, though the order of events was not quite as spelled out in the Microsoft notes you referred me to, and all worked well for a bit, then same problem again - no sound currently.
My set-up was put together by a local business and I don't know what to tell you Specs are at
http://www.thetechnologycompany.co.uk/the-technology-company-custom-desktop-pc/

[Buenchico]

I'm wondering if it's nothing to do with the driver but simply a problem related to overheating? (That's often behind problems which occur only aftger a computer has been in use for a while).

Try the free version of Speccy to monitor key temperatures within your system:
https://www.piriform.com/speccy
If you find the temperatures gradually rising over time, check the vents and fans. If nothing obvious shows up, the problem could be related to poor thermal compound bonding somewhere.

[chiefyb]

It's a thought but it's a newish setup and nothing has changed from two weeks ago, when it all worked fine. My techie mate down the pub suggests the sound card might be a bit wobbly and I might have to get out a screwdriver - why is this underlining happening, I wonder/.

[Buenchico]

>>> why is this underlining happening, I wonder

If you're seeing random words underlined as links, there's malware on your computer. Download, install and run the free version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to zap it:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/
(Malware might also be the cause of your sound problems)

[chiefyb]

Thanks. Currently exploring Power Management as a possible explanation, although Sleep mode should not cut off my speakers?

[chiefyb]

Actually, changing power management so hard disk is always on seems to have sorted it for now.