Cortana not working Windows 10 PC

[Steve72852]

Hello, Cortana no longer works for me. It was fine earlier. Updates current, microphone works per sound meter (on speaker icon>recording devices) also working per device mgr. Downloaded MS troubleshooter that said "Microsoft Experiences Host" and Microsoft Windows Cortana" need to be installed correctly' What's that supposed to mean? She won't respond to voice commands, also the search box is there but can't type in it. The 'Cortana' button at start menu isn't functional. Can't even find on/off button for Cortana in settings. Really at a loss. Any ideas anyone? Thanks and please respond soon. Steve ..........

 

[Old Guy Geek]

Depending on your system and the last update, sometimes Cortana resets and you need to use it one time before it will respond. You should be able to click on it and you would be provided with the disclaimer and you would approve and off you go.

But if that is not working for you, try going to Settings and simply type Cortana in the search box. In the list, you should see Cortana and Search Settings. Click on it and instead of it going to an internal Settings window, Cortana should open and present your options for Cortana.

Hope this wakes her up. She can be a bit cranky at times.

 

[Steve72852]

Thanks OGG for the interest. Unfortunately the settings option doesn't work. I think the file may be corrupted or something, since the MS help tool said that Cortana 'needs to be installed correctly' Of course they didn't tell me how to do this, short of reinstalling the OS. Bought a $25.00 microphone that makes a nice desktop ornament ....

 

[Old Guy Geek]

Ok, right-click on the Windows icon in the lower left. Click on Command Prompt (admin), Run the following command in the window. sfc /scannow If it comes back with errors, run it again until it is clean. Reboot.

If that doesn't help, create another admin user and see if Cortana works ok. If so, you can copy all your personal files somewhere else, login as the new admin, delete and recreate your main account.

 

[Steve72852]

Thanks, there were no problems. The admin user account thing is pretty intimidating to me ... domains, etc. that I know I'd screw it up some how. Guess I'm just screwed.

 

[Steve72852]

Thanks, there were no problems. The admin user account thing is pretty intimidating to me ... domains, etc. that I know I'd screw it up some how. Guess I'm just screwed.

I suppose I could try a restore point though ...

 

[Old Guy Geek]

Wait you said there were not problems. Do you mean that another admin account worked and Cortana is fine while logged in? If so, follow the rest of the steps in this video.