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Perform Voice Activation Troubleshooting

One of the smoother things that Microsoft did with the Windows 10 operating system is to separate Cortana from Search. This means that Cortana is strictly now a voice assistant and many users have seen it coming since not everyone uses Cortana. In addition, it also paved the way for other virtual assistants like Alexa to get on board with Windows 10. And now in the newly released Windows 10 v1903, Windows has brought the Voice Activation under Privacy. In this post, you will be guided on how to perform the Voice Activation troubleshooting on your Windows 10 computer.

To use Voice Activation in Windows 10, follow, in the Start Search, type “voice activation” and click on “Voice activation privacy settings” listed in the search results. And from there, you can choose to allow apps to use Microphone, like listen in the background as well as select which app can access it. Each time enabled voice assistants continue to listen via microphone for the voice keyword, the app will activate itself for the keyword and will react depending on what you ask it. So if you are using a voice assistant and it didn’t respond when you speak the keyword, just go to Settings > Privacy > Voice Activation and follow these steps:

Option 1: Check the App permission to use the voice activation feature.

You have to make sure that the toggle button for the Voice activation feature is turned on globally. It can be found under the “Allow apps to use voice activation” section. You also have to ensure that the microphone is available for apps that use this feature.

Option 2: Voice activation is not working under the lock screen.

If you tend to use the voice assistant even when your computer is locked, Microsoft has a specific setting that you have to turn on. You need to make sure that the toggle button for the “Allow apps to use voice activation when this device is locked” option is turned on. However, keep in mind that the voice assistants are not locked to only recognize your voice as they also answer to anyone who will use the voice keyword.

Option 3: Check the individual permissions of apps.

If the voice assistant is not working, you have to check each one of the apps’ permissions for voice keyword, and the option to work under locked condition works.

Option 4: Run the Microphone troubleshooter.

If you’ve verified that the settings are in place, then you have to run the Microphone troubleshooter by simply going to Settings > Privacy > Microphone. From there, make sure that the toggle button for the following options is turned on:

  • Allow apps to access your microphone
  • Enable microphone access for the voice assistant

And if it’s a desktop app, you have to enable the toggle on at the end.

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Further Information and Manual Repair

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Method 3 - Check the Windows Registry

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Further Information and Manual Repair

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Error Code 80073712—What is it?

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Solution

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Further Information and Manual Repair

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Option 2 – Try to update the Audio driver

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  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type in MSC and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
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  • Then also click on the option, “Search automatically for updated driver software.
  • Restart your PC after the installation.
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Option 3 – Try enabling the headphones from the playback devices

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Option 1 – Run the System File Checker

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Option 2 – Try to update or rollback the Graphics driver

You can try to update your Graphics card driver using the Device Manager in your computer to resolve the blank dialog boxes problem or you can also go directly to the website of your graphics card manufacturers like NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD and go to the section called Drivers then check if there’s a new available update – if there is, download and install it. To update your Graphics driver via Device Manager, refer to these steps:
  • First, boot your computer into Safe Mode.
  • After that, tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
  • Type in devmgmt.msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
  • After that, a list of device drivers will be displayed. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
  • After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters and select the “Uninstall Device” option from the menu.
  • Now restart your computer.
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Note: If updating the Graphics driver didn’t fix the problem, you can also try to roll back to its previous version and see if that helps.

Option 3 – Run the DISM tool

The next thing you can do is run the DISM tool. This tool is known to repair potentially corrupted files in your system as having them could also system issues like the blank dialog boxes. To repair these corrupted system files, you can run the DISM commands:
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  • After that, input each one of the commands listed below sequentially to execute them:
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    • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
    • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
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Option 4 – Try to repair or reinstall the software

If the issue with the empty dialog boxes only occurs in a specific program, you can either try to repair the program or reinstall it. You can find the Repair option in the Add/Remove program section when you select the concerned program. If repairing the program didn’t work, you might have to uninstall it and then reinstall it.

Option 5 – Try troubleshooting the problem in a Clean Boot State

You might also want to troubleshoot the problem in a Clean Boot State. Doing so will help you isolate the problem. Refer to the steps below to do so:
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  • Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
  • From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
  • Clear the “Load Startup items” check box and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
  • Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” check box.
  • Click Disable all.
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