I'm helping a friend who is almost totally blind, (I'm seeing), and seems to have an ongoing issue with both of his Microsoft Surface laptops.  After a varied, but short amount of time, any screen reader he has tried stops working, usually within about 5 to 10 minutes.

I suspect a software issue with the laptop, but it's happened on two different laptops, and both Narrator and NVDA have the issue.  The problem occurs when using the built-in speakers, or Bluetooth connected headphones.

I don't have access to the laptops, and he lives across the country, so I'm looking for any advice or tips that can help me before I do a remote assist with him.

Has anyone else heard of, or had audio issues like this?