system sounds not working

My blind friend told me her system sounds are not working; she as you
might expect uses them a lot. (As do I, but I just have a couple of
different clicks for Open Program and Close Program - I like to know
when lots of things are opening and closing. She has a cow moo and a
sheep baa - each to his/her own!)

Anyway. They have been working for a few years on her (W7-64 - can't
remember the flavour) on her machine. But we got into a TeamViewer
session, and I looked at the mixer option available by right-clicking on
the speaker icon in the tray, and System Sounds had its mute button
pressed - so, problem solved, I thought. But, no: they're still not
working! If I go into Control Panel, sounds or whatever, Sounds (there
are other routes to get to the same point, the simplest being just
Sounds from that right-click on the tray icon: where you have the list
of events and can alter and test them), and I select Open Program or
Close Program and click the Test button, the computer moos or baas as it
should. It also plays other sounds accordingly too, such as playing any
..mp3 file by just activating it from Windows Explorer. (Which is a good
thing, as the speech synthesis so that she can use the computer at all
works via the normal sound output.)

Any suggestions as to what she might have done to kill the system
sounds? I have confirmed they are _not_ muted, and their slider is at
about 60% too. (Which is where she had it. I did try 100% anyway, and it
made no difference.) REMEMBER THAT IT _HAD_ BEEN WORKING FOR SOME YEARS,
so we're looking for a setting that could have been _changed_, not
something that would have made it _never_ work.

(Suggestions that don't involve the mouse - "tab to" rather than "click
on" are the most welcome, as I can relay them and she can try them, but
anything is welcome, as I can always do another TeamViewer session. [She
_does_ have a way of "right-clicking" or "clicking" on system tray
items.])
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Veni Vidi Vacuum [I came, I saw, It sucked] - , 1998

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

If I go into Control Panel, sounds or whatever, Sounds (there
are other routes to get to the same point, the simplest being just
Sounds from that right-click on the tray icon: where you have the list
of events and can alter and test them), and I select Open Program or
Close Program and click the Test button, the computer moos or baas as it
should.

Any suggestions as to what she might have done to kill the system
sounds? I have confirmed they are _not_ muted, and their slider is at
about 60% too. (Which is where she had it. I did try 100% anyway, and it
made no difference.) REMEMBER THAT IT _HAD_ BEEN WORKING FOR SOME YEARS,
so we're looking for a setting that could have been _changed_, not
something that would have made it _never_ work.

While you can test the audio playback using the Sounds wizard app, that
doesn't mean that sound file gets used. There are sound themes: a
grouping of sound events. Which sound theme is selected?

Right-click on Sound icon in system tray
Click on "Sounds" in the context menu.
Takes you to the Sound applet.

Under Sound Scheme, which one is selected? If the sound scheme was
modified from the default, it should've been saved under a unique theme
name, like "friendName's scheme", rather than try to step atop a
prebuilt scheme (if that's even possible since I don't try to do that).
You don't want the "No Sounds" sound scheme.

Another problem source is the use of externally-powered speakers that
have their own volume control. I have those. I've had cats and kids
rub against the rotary volume control resulting in a severe change in
volume: no sound or very loud sound. The other audio functions require
depressing a button, so those are less likely to become affected by
accidental presses; however, the volume control is just a rotary knob
that is active all the time, not after hitting some enable button.
Check if the speakers have power. Check if the speaker's own volume
control is NOT so low as to make inaudible any sounds from the speakers.

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

If I go into Control Panel, sounds or whatever, Sounds (there
are other routes to get to the same point, the simplest being just
Sounds from that right-click on the tray icon: where you have the list
of events and can alter and test them), and I select Open Program or
Close Program and click the Test button, the computer moos or baas as it
should.

Any suggestions as to what she might have done to kill the system
sounds? I have confirmed they are _not_ muted, and their slider is at
about 60% too. (Which is where she had it. I did try 100% anyway, and it
made no difference.) REMEMBER THAT IT _HAD_ BEEN WORKING FOR SOME YEARS,
so we're looking for a setting that could have been _changed_, not
something that would have made it _never_ work.

While you can test the audio playback using the Sounds wizard app, that

We were using "Sounds" as you've directed us below.

doesn't mean that sound file gets used. There are sound themes: a
grouping of sound events. Which sound theme is selected?

"julia", one we'd modified and saved.

Right-click on Sound icon in system tray
Click on "Sounds" in the context menu.
Takes you to the Sound applet.

Yep, that's where we see "julia" in the box top left. And if we scroll
the list that is then visible and select Open Program or Close Program,
the filename MOO or sheep2 shows at bottom left. And if we click Test at
bottom middle, we hear a moo or a baa.

Under Sound Scheme, which one is selected? If the sound scheme was
modified from the default, it should've been saved under a unique theme
name, like "friendName's scheme", rather than try to step atop a
prebuilt scheme (if that's even possible since I don't try to do that).
You don't want the "No Sounds" sound scheme.

No, we've been creating our own schemes since, I think, '9x. (It has
always irritated me that these are not saved as real files, but are yet
again something that goes in the dratted registry. But that's a
different matter probably not relevant to what's going on here.)

Another problem source is the use of externally-powered speakers that
have their own volume control. I have those. I've had cats and kids

(Oh good, you're a cat person. I am too, though I don't have one of my
own.)

rub against the rotary volume control resulting in a severe change in
volume: no sound or very loud sound. The other audio functions require
depressing a button, so those are less likely to become affected by
accidental presses; however, the volume control is just a rotary knob
that is active all the time, not after hitting some enable button.
Check if the speakers have power. Check if the speaker's own volume
control is NOT so low as to make inaudible any sounds from the speakers.

Thanks, but no, it isn't that; we can hear the moo/baa if we click the
Test button in the Sounds window (if the appropriate event is selected),
or double-click them from Windows Explorer, and other sound aspects of
the machine - such as the speech synthesis that Julia uses to access the
computer at all, or the me-to-her audio link in TeamViewer - are working
fine (I could hear them, though broken up, via the her-to-me TeamViewer
audio, as her microphone picked up what was coming out of her speakers,
so I know the speakers were receiving and playing a signal).

It seems very odd (has stumped me) that the Test button in the Sounds
thing (utility? applet? whatever it's called, where you tweak the system
sounds, anyway) makes the sounds play when you select the relevant event
(Open or Close program), but the sounds don't play when you actually
open or close a program.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

A dishwasher is rubbish at making treacle sponge. - Marjorie in UMRA, 2017-1-15

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

If I go into Control Panel, sounds or whatever, Sounds (there
are other routes to get to the same point, the simplest being just
Sounds from that right-click on the tray icon: where you have the list
of events and can alter and test them), and I select Open Program or
Close Program and click the Test button, the computer moos or baas as it
should.

Any suggestions as to what she might have done to kill the system
sounds? I have confirmed they are _not_ muted, and their slider is at
about 60% too. (Which is where she had it. I did try 100% anyway, and it
made no difference.) REMEMBER THAT IT _HAD_ BEEN WORKING FOR SOME YEARS,
so we're looking for a setting that could have been _changed_, not
something that would have made it _never_ work.

While you can test the audio playback using the Sounds wizard app, that

We were using "Sounds" as you've directed us below.

doesn't mean that sound file gets used. There are sound themes: a
grouping of sound events. Which sound theme is selected?

"julia", one we'd modified and saved.

Right-click on Sound icon in system tray
Click on "Sounds" in the context menu.
Takes you to the Sound applet.

Yep, that's where we see "julia" in the box top left. And if we scroll
the list that is then visible and select Open Program or Close Program,
the filename MOO or sheep2 shows at bottom left. And if we click Test at
bottom middle, we hear a moo or a baa.

Under Sound Scheme, which one is selected? If the sound scheme was
modified from the default, it should've been saved under a unique theme
name, like "friendName's scheme", rather than try to step atop a
prebuilt scheme (if that's even possible since I don't try to do that).
You don't want the "No Sounds" sound scheme.

No, we've been creating our own schemes since, I think, '9x. (It has
always irritated me that these are not saved as real files, but are yet
again something that goes in the dratted registry. But that's a
different matter probably not relevant to what's going on here.)

Another problem source is the use of externally-powered speakers that
have their own volume control. I have those. I've had cats and kids

(Oh good, you're a cat person. I am too, though I don't have one of my
own.)

rub against the rotary volume control resulting in a severe change in
volume: no sound or very loud sound. The other audio functions require
depressing a button, so those are less likely to become affected by
accidental presses; however, the volume control is just a rotary knob
that is active all the time, not after hitting some enable button.
Check if the speakers have power. Check if the speaker's own volume
control is NOT so low as to make inaudible any sounds from the speakers.

Thanks, but no, it isn't that; we can hear the moo/baa if we click the
Test button in the Sounds window (if the appropriate event is selected),
or double-click them from Windows Explorer, and other sound aspects of
the machine - such as the speech synthesis that Julia uses to access the
computer at all, or the me-to-her audio link in TeamViewer - are working
fine (I could hear them, though broken up, via the her-to-me TeamViewer
audio, as her microphone picked up what was coming out of her speakers,
so I know the speakers were receiving and playing a signal).

It seems very odd (has stumped me) that the Test button in the Sounds
thing (utility? applet? whatever it's called, where you tweak the system
sounds, anyway) makes the sounds play when you select the relevant event
(Open or Close program), but the sounds don't play when you actually
open or close a program.

When you run an application, and if it is sound capable, you should see
another volume slider in the mixer. For example, when you open a web
browser, it will show up in the mixer with its own volume slider. You
might have sliders for Speakers and System Sounds at some level but
perhaps the application's slider, when present, is muted or too low.

- Without a web browser loaded, open the Mixer.
- You should see slider for Speakers (or whatever is the selected output
device along with a slider for System Sounds.
- Now load a web browser AND play a video, like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8
- In the Mixer applet, you should add a slider appear for the web
browser.

Windows Vista changed the volume control from one volume slider for
volume in all apps to separate sliders for each app. You need to load
the sound-capable app and use it to play a sound whereupon Mixer will
show a slider for that app.

https://www.howtogeek.com/244963/how...ps-in-windows/

You'd expect that moving the Speakers slider would move all the app
sliders. Well, yes, but as a percentage change. You can't get the app
sliders to lock to the Speakers slider. You get volume just right in
one app but accidentally move the Speakers slider which screws up your
other app's slider. There is other goofiness in how those sliders are
linked together. Moving the master slider to zero volume will squash
all the other sliders to zero, so you'd expect them to lock together
when raising the master volume slider but that doesn't happen. Mixer
remembers the proportion of the master against app volume level even
when all were reduced to zero.

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/the-ne...-mixer-control

That mentions the option "All devices currently playing sound" as to
which devices will show their own volume control (in Mixer). Right-
click on the Sound icon in the system tray and select "Volume control
options". You should see this option there.

I'm sure Microsoft programmers spent a lot of time adding separate
volume management per app into Windows Vista (which carried into the
later Windows versions). Maybe one app that doesn't have its own volume
control in its settings was way too loud or soft compared to the other
apps when just the master volume slider was the only adjustment you
could change. However, I'd rather have all the sliders locked together
to let me change just one master slider that controls the volume level
for ALL apps. I'm only play one sound app at a time since two, or more,
just makes a jumbled mess and turns the sound into noise. I only need
one master volume slider.

UPDATE:

While trying to hunt around for some way to lock all the sliders
together, I thought that I found it.

- Right-click on Sound icon in system tray.
- Select "Playback devices".
- Select the output device (e.g., Speakers).
- Click on Properties button.
- Go to the Advanced tab.
- Deselect the "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this
device" option.
- Click Apply button.

Nope, that didn't work, either. Once I load the web browser to a page
using sound, I move the volume slider in Mixer to the web browser but
only that slider moves. When I move the master (Speakers) slider, all
the other sliders move but as some percentage relative to the master
slider.

Because apps can change both their own volume and the master volume,
it's possible some software for the blind has volume limiting. For
example, the following app restricts sound sources from getting too
loud, like when playing a game where the characters are whispering but
then there is a huge explosion.

https://www.3appes.com/sound-lock/

Well, if an app can do volume limiting, other apps could do something
similar. Besides the Mixer settings per-app for volume, does the
software for blind users have its own volume settings?

I haven't research the following volume control programs but maybe they
would help (to prevent an app's volume from getting too low):

http://www.actualsolution.com/volume-lock/
https://www.3appes.com/sound-lock/

There are probably lots of other similar or better volume control tools
but I've never bothered looking into them. Might be something to ask
about over the alt.comp.freeware newsgroup.

Microsoft's choice in Vista to go with a separate volume slider for each
app seems to have been more of a bane than benefit.

Here's an article about some other Microsoft "help" in automatically
reducing volume:

https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/windows...system-volume/

Since Windows may misidentify an app as a communications process, it
will reduce volume of the other apps. I would expect that once the
misidentified communications process disappeared (unloaded) that Windows
would resume the normal or prior volume level for the other apps, but I
cannot be sure without such a process to test this behavior. If the
process that fakes out Windows is always running then Windows is going
to reduce volume in the other apps all the time. If an app was set to
30% volume level (which is the sweet spot for my powered speakers with
their own volume control), a reduction by 80% gives 20% of 30% which is
only 6% and that might be too low to realize the process is producing
any sound.

It's also possible this option was set to mute sound from all other apps
when Windows thinks a communications process is active. I don't know
what software your blind customer uses to assist in their use of
Windows. That software probably has its own volume settings.

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

Thanks, but no, it isn't that; we can hear the moo/baa if we click the
Test button in the Sounds window (if the appropriate event is selected),
or double-click them from Windows Explorer, and other sound aspects of
the machine - such as the speech synthesis that Julia uses to access the
computer at all, or the me-to-her audio link in TeamViewer - are working
fine (I could hear them, though broken up, via the her-to-me TeamViewer
audio, as her microphone picked up what was coming out of her speakers,
so I know the speakers were receiving and playing a signal).

It seems very odd (has stumped me) that the Test button in the Sounds
thing (utility? applet? whatever it's called, where you tweak the system
sounds, anyway) makes the sounds play when you select the relevant event
(Open or Close program), but the sounds don't play when you actually
open or close a program.

There is a .current part of the registry here.

It looks like perhaps the current selected sound
scheme is copied there ?

https://s15.postimg.cc/jziau026z/schemes.gif

Paul

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
[]
Any suggestions as to what she might have done to kill the system
sounds? I have confirmed they are _not_ muted, and their slider is at
about 60% too. (Which is where she had it. I did try 100% anyway, and it
made no difference.) REMEMBER THAT IT _HAD_ BEEN WORKING FOR SOME YEARS,
so we're looking for a setting that could have been _changed_, not
something that would have made it _never_ work.

While you can test the audio playback using the Sounds wizard app, that

We were using "Sounds" as you've directed us below.

[]
It seems very odd (has stumped me) that the Test button in the Sounds
thing (utility? applet? whatever it's called, where you tweak the system
sounds, anyway) makes the sounds play when you select the relevant event
(Open or Close program), but the sounds don't play when you actually
open or close a program.

When you run an application, and if it is sound capable, you should see
another volume slider in the mixer. For example, when you open a web
browser, it will show up in the mixer with its own volume slider. You
might have sliders for Speakers and System Sounds at some level but
perhaps the application's slider, when present, is muted or too low.

I/we do see such sliders. However, it is NOT the sounds from any
application that are not working; applications such as Windows Media
Player, RaniRadio, Firefox, etc., do indeed have their own sliders. It
is the System Sounds themselves that have stopped working - except when
I use the Test button in the Sound window.

- Without a web browser loaded, open the Mixer.
- You should see slider for Speakers (or whatever is the selected output
device along with a slider for System Sounds.

Yes. (And a mute button below each slider. I have ensured none are
muted.) But the one for System Sounds is now having no effect.
[]
Windows Vista changed the volume control from one volume slider for
volume in all apps to separate sliders for each app. You need to load
the sound-capable app and use it to play a sound whereupon Mixer will
show a slider for that app.

IT'S NOT AN APP, BUT THE SYSTEM SOUNDS THAT HAVE STOPPED. Apps which
play sounds are continuing to do so.
[]
later Windows versions). Maybe one app that doesn't have its own volume
control in its settings was way too loud or soft compared to the other
apps when just the master volume slider was the only adjustment you
could change. However, I'd rather have all the sliders locked together
to let me change just one master slider that controls the volume level
for ALL apps. I'm only play one sound app at a time since two, or more,
just makes a jumbled mess and turns the sound into noise. I only need
one master volume slider.

Once I'd realised what was going on, I quite like the idea of the
separate sliders; different app.s have different ideas of what is an
appropriate level, and this way I don't have to constantly keep changing
the master volume level as I move between (sound-capable) applications.

But this is not what's not working here.
[]
Because apps can change both their own volume and the master volume,
it's possible some software for the blind has volume limiting. For

Other than JAWS, her speech access software, I'm pretty sure she doesn't
use any blind-specific software; the whole idea of JAWS is that it makes
the software the rest of us use, accessible. (It succeeds to varying
degrees.) Of course, the things that she _chooses_ to use tend to be
ones that work well with JAWS (things that require lots of mouse use do
not, for example). But I'm wandering off the subject.
[]
Well, if an app can do volume limiting, other apps could do something
similar. Besides the Mixer settings per-app for volume, does the
software for blind users have its own volume settings?

I think JAWS is one of the labelled sliders. But I can't see why it
should be affecting system sounds - and not other sounds.

I haven't research the following volume control programs but maybe they
would help (to prevent an app's volume from getting too low):

It's not "an app", it's the System Sounds.
[]
Microsoft's choice in Vista to go with a separate volume slider for each
app seems to have been more of a bane than benefit.

I don't agree, see above, but that's not the problem.

The problem is the system sounds: the set of settings that make sounds
when various things happen, such as open program, close program, error
popup, and so on. I know a lot of people find these irritating and turn
them off, either by assigning none to all events, choosing the No
Sounds scheme, or putting the slider for System Sounds to 0 (or
activating its mute). We have not done any of these.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Never make the same mistake twice...there are so many new ones to make!

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
Here's an article about some other Microsoft "help" in automatically
reducing volume:

https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/windows...system-volume/

Since Windows may misidentify an app as a communications process, it
will reduce volume of the other apps. I would expect that once the

Good thinking, but it's not that. I tried putting the slider for System
Sounds to 100%, and it made no difference. And other sound-generating
things - such as WMP - were continuing to work.
[]
It's also possible this option was set to mute sound from all other apps
when Windows thinks a communications process is active. I don't know

No, again, it's not muting _all_ other sounds - only System Sounds.

what software your blind customer uses to assist in their use of
Windows. That software probably has its own volume settings.

JAWS, but she's being using that for years on this system; the System
Sounds have only gone quiet sometime since I visited over new year. Oh,
and she's not a customer, but a friend of over 30 years!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

A dishwasher is rubbish at making treacle sponge. - Marjorie in UMRA, 2017-1-15

In message , Paul
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

Thanks, but no, it isn't that; we can hear the moo/baa if we click
the Test button in the Sounds window (if the appropriate event is
[]
There is a .current part of the registry here.

It looks like perhaps the current selected sound
scheme is copied there ?

https://s15.postimg.cc/jziau026z/schemes.gif

Paul

Thanks. I might look into that next time I play with her system. (I
don't want to instruct her to use regedit.)

Though I don't _think_ it's that: when we open the Sound window, it
shows that we _have_ the Sound Scheme "julia" selected, and the relevant
..wav files are associated with the various events. (I _think_ a sound
scheme is just that list of associations.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

A dishwasher is rubbish at making treacle sponge. - Marjorie in UMRA, 2017-1-15

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

If I go into Control Panel, sounds or whatever, Sounds (there
are other routes to get to the same point, the simplest being just
Sounds from that right-click on the tray icon: where you have the list
of events and can alter and test them), and I select Open Program or
Close Program and click the Test button, the computer moos or baas as it
should.

Any suggestions as to what she might have done to kill the system
sounds? I have confirmed they are _not_ muted, and their slider is at
about 60% too. (Which is where she had it. I did try 100% anyway, and it
made no difference.) REMEMBER THAT IT _HAD_ BEEN WORKING FOR SOME YEARS,
so we're looking for a setting that could have been _changed_, not
something that would have made it _never_ work.

While you can test the audio playback using the Sounds wizard app, that

We were using "Sounds" as you've directed us below.

doesn't mean that sound file gets used. There are sound themes: a
grouping of sound events. Which sound theme is selected?

"julia", one we'd modified and saved.

Right-click on Sound icon in system tray
Click on "Sounds" in the context menu.
Takes you to the Sound applet.

Yep, that's where we see "julia" in the box top left. And if we scroll
the list that is then visible and select Open Program or Close Program,
the filename MOO or sheep2 shows at bottom left. And if we click Test at
bottom middle, we hear a moo or a baa.

Under Sound Scheme, which one is selected? If the sound scheme was
modified from the default, it should've been saved under a unique theme
name, like "friendName's scheme", rather than try to step atop a
prebuilt scheme (if that's even possible since I don't try to do that).
You don't want the "No Sounds" sound scheme.

No, we've been creating our own schemes since, I think, '9x. (It has
always irritated me that these are not saved as real files, but are yet
again something that goes in the dratted registry. But that's a
different matter probably not relevant to what's going on here.)

Another problem source is the use of externally-powered speakers that
have their own volume control. I have those. I've had cats and kids

(Oh good, you're a cat person. I am too, though I don't have one of my
own.)

rub against the rotary volume control resulting in a severe change in
volume: no sound or very loud sound. The other audio functions require
depressing a button, so those are less likely to become affected by
accidental presses; however, the volume control is just a rotary knob
that is active all the time, not after hitting some enable button.
Check if the speakers have power. Check if the speaker's own volume
control is NOT so low as to make inaudible any sounds from the speakers.

Thanks, but no, it isn't that; we can hear the moo/baa if we click the
Test button in the Sounds window (if the appropriate event is selected),
or double-click them from Windows Explorer, and other sound aspects of
the machine - such as the speech synthesis that Julia uses to access the
computer at all, or the me-to-her audio link in TeamViewer - are working
fine (I could hear them, though broken up, via the her-to-me TeamViewer
audio, as her microphone picked up what was coming out of her speakers,
so I know the speakers were receiving and playing a signal).

It seems very odd (has stumped me) that the Test button in the Sounds
thing (utility? applet? whatever it's called, where you tweak the system
sounds, anyway) makes the sounds play when you select the relevant event
(Open or Close program), but the sounds don't play when you actually
open or close a program.

Just to omit a slap-forehead moment, you have a sound scheme named
Julia. When you test a sound, it plays. However, are any sound events
actually associated to a sound file in the julia sound scheme? Pick a
sound event while the julia sound scheme is selected. After selecting a
sound event (e.g., Windows - Asterisk), what sound file is selected
under the "Sounds:" box? If it shows "(none)" then no sound plays for
that sound event despite you can select a sound file and use test to
play a sound.

I know this sounds like I'm playing you as a dummie but I want to make
sure some sounds are actually defined in the julia sound scheme and not
just that you can hear something using Test.

Meanwhile I'll try to figure something else as a possible cause.

VanguardLH wrote:

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

If I go into Control Panel, sounds or whatever, Sounds (there
are other routes to get to the same point, the simplest being just
Sounds from that right-click on the tray icon: where you have the list
of events and can alter and test them), and I select Open Program or
Close Program and click the Test button, the computer moos or baas as it
should.

Any suggestions as to what she might have done to kill the system
sounds? I have confirmed they are _not_ muted, and their slider is at
about 60% too. (Which is where she had it. I did try 100% anyway, and it
made no difference.) REMEMBER THAT IT _HAD_ BEEN WORKING FOR SOME YEARS,
so we're looking for a setting that could have been _changed_, not
something that would have made it _never_ work.

While you can test the audio playback using the Sounds wizard app, that

We were using "Sounds" as you've directed us below.

doesn't mean that sound file gets used. There are sound themes: a
grouping of sound events. Which sound theme is selected?

"julia", one we'd modified and saved.

Right-click on Sound icon in system tray
Click on "Sounds" in the context menu.
Takes you to the Sound applet.

Yep, that's where we see "julia" in the box top left. And if we scroll
the list that is then visible and select Open Program or Close Program,
the filename MOO or sheep2 shows at bottom left. And if we click Test at
bottom middle, we hear a moo or a baa.

Under Sound Scheme, which one is selected? If the sound scheme was
modified from the default, it should've been saved under a unique theme
name, like "friendName's scheme", rather than try to step atop a
prebuilt scheme (if that's even possible since I don't try to do that).
You don't want the "No Sounds" sound scheme.

No, we've been creating our own schemes since, I think, '9x. (It has
always irritated me that these are not saved as real files, but are yet
again something that goes in the dratted registry. But that's a
different matter probably not relevant to what's going on here.)

Another problem source is the use of externally-powered speakers that
have their own volume control. I have those. I've had cats and kids

(Oh good, you're a cat person. I am too, though I don't have one of my
own.)

rub against the rotary volume control resulting in a severe change in
volume: no sound or very loud sound. The other audio functions require
depressing a button, so those are less likely to become affected by
accidental presses; however, the volume control is just a rotary knob
that is active all the time, not after hitting some enable button.
Check if the speakers have power. Check if the speaker's own volume
control is NOT so low as to make inaudible any sounds from the speakers.

Thanks, but no, it isn't that; we can hear the moo/baa if we click the
Test button in the Sounds window (if the appropriate event is selected),
or double-click them from Windows Explorer, and other sound aspects of
the machine - such as the speech synthesis that Julia uses to access the
computer at all, or the me-to-her audio link in TeamViewer - are working
fine (I could hear them, though broken up, via the her-to-me TeamViewer
audio, as her microphone picked up what was coming out of her speakers,
so I know the speakers were receiving and playing a signal).

It seems very odd (has stumped me) that the Test button in the Sounds
thing (utility? applet? whatever it's called, where you tweak the system
sounds, anyway) makes the sounds play when you select the relevant event
(Open or Close program), but the sounds don't play when you actually
open or close a program.

Just to omit a slap-forehead moment, you have a sound scheme named
Julia. When you test a sound, it plays. However, are any sound events
actually associated to a sound file in the julia sound scheme? Pick a
sound event while the julia sound scheme is selected. After selecting a
sound event (e.g., Windows - Asterisk), what sound file is selected
under the "Sounds:" box? If it shows "(none)" then no sound plays for
that sound event despite you can select a sound file and use test to
play a sound.

I know this sounds like I'm playing you as a dummie but I want to make
sure some sounds are actually defined in the julia sound scheme and not
just that you can hear something using Test.

Meanwhile I'll try to figure something else as a possible cause.

Oh, as another check, pick a different sound scheme, like a pre-defined
one, to see is the sounds can be heard (for the sound events not
selected for "(none)").

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
VanguardLH wrote:
[]
Just to omit a slap-forehead moment, you have a sound scheme named
Julia. When you test a sound, it plays. However, are any sound events
actually associated to a sound file in the julia sound scheme? Pick a

Yes. It is the sound scheme she has been using for some years. For
example, it has MOO.WAV associated with Open Program and sheep2.way
associated with Close Program (or the other way round, I forget), and a
train whistle sound associated with leaving Windows. When her system is
booting up, with the various things that run at startup, it sounds like
a busy farmyard. (Doesn't waste time as you'd think it might - it seems
the sounds can interrupt each other, so you get M'M'MO'MOO or whatever.)
At least, that was the situation until some point since I last visited
them, when the sounds stopped. Only those sounds; anything else that
produces sound (her web radio software, Windows Media Player, etc., as
well as her speech synthesis) continue to work.

sound event while the julia sound scheme is selected. After selecting a
sound event (e.g., Windows - Asterisk), what sound file is selected
under the "Sounds:" box? If it shows "(none)" then no sound plays for
that sound event despite you can select a sound file and use test to
play a sound.

If I select Open Program, it shows that MOO.WAV (or sheep2.wav, I
forget) is selected.

I know this sounds like I'm playing you as a dummie but I want to make
sure some sounds are actually defined in the julia sound scheme and not
just that you can hear something using Test.

The Test button plays the file associated with the currently-highlighted
event in the list; if you highlight an event that has "(none)"
associated with it (in whatever sound scheme you have selected), I think
the Test button greys out.

Meanwhile I'll try to figure something else as a possible cause.

Oh, as another check, pick a different sound scheme, like a pre-defined
one, to see is the sounds can be heard (for the sound events not
selected for "(none)").

Might do that next time I have a TeamViewer session.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

But remember, in a permissive society, it is also permissible to stay at home
and have a nice cup of tea instead. Andrew Collins, RT 2015/2/14-20