Hi everyone,
Sometime ago I ran an automatic BIOS update to my laptop. This was the second time since I bought it and the first time I had no problems. A short while after the update, I noticed that the sound driver always went inactive if I switched off my laptop and switched it on the next day, i.e. a full shutdown or a restart maybe necessitated by Windows updates or something of that sort. When I switched it back on, the sound driver was inactive. The first time I did not think much of it and simply reinstalled the driver. I had to re-download it, though from the HP website. After that it has happened twice. This does not occur when I hibernate or put it to sleep. Only after a full shutdown or re-start. Last time I checked the programs folder to see if the driver had vanished. It was there, but simply inactive on the status bar. Normally I can see the driver in the Control Panel as well, but when that happens, it is nowhere to be found. When I re-install it, at some point it tells me that the folder already exists and will be overwritten, which proves that it is actually still installed, but the speaker icon on the status bar tells me that there is no hardware plugged in (whereas it is). I did some research on this through Microsoft updates to see if I had any updates that were causing this. I read somewhere about a particular update, but when I checked through my update history, I did not have that update installed that was purported to cause this problem, so I left them untouched.
Also I have had problems with computer restart. I use AVG free for antivirus. If I install updates that require restart and I do so it works without fail, but if I initiate restart myself, or it has to go through Windows updates that require a restart, the laptop pretends to shut down (i.e tells me shutting down), the screen goes dark after going through the motions, but stays on (fan running, power LED on).
Both of these problems began a short while after the last BIOS update, not immediately, maybe like 2 to 3 weeks, that is why I initially did not link them to that.
My laptop is HP Compaq Presario CQ58, running Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit, 4.00 GB RAM, Processor type, AMD E-300 with Radeon HD graphics 1.30 GHz. Sound driver is Realtek HD Audio Manager.
Hoping someone can help me out!
Thanks
