Changing System Sounds

Just as you can change the way Windows XP looks, you can also change the way it sounds.

Every operation in Windows can or does have a sound associated with it. When you first turn on your computer and launch Windows, you hear a sound. When you get dinged with an error message, you hear another sound. When you open and close applications, you hear even more sounds.

When you take all the sounds together, you have a sound scheme which is similar to a color scheme, but with sounds. (Naturally.)

Windows XP lets you change the entire sound scheme, or individual sounds within the scheme. Just follow these steps:

1.	From the Control Panel, select the Sounds and Audio Devices icon.
2.	When the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties utility opens, select the Sounds tab (shown in Figure 2.22). Figure 2.22. Personalize the sounds you hear when something happens onscreen.
3.	To change sound schemes, pull down the Sound Scheme list and select a new scheme.
4.	To change an individual sound, select an item in the Program Events list and then select a new sound from the Sounds list. (You can choose from a wider variety of sounds by clicking the Browse button and navigating to any sound file stored on your hard disk.)
5.	Click OK when done.