Configuring Windows to Work with Sound | Windows Vista: The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series)

Many applications, particularly games , have built-in sound. Those programs automatically take advantage of your system's sound card, speakers , and microphone, once Windows is configured to work with them.

Displaying the Status of Your Audio Devices

To see all the audio devices installed on your system, choose Start Control Panel, click Hardware And Sound, and then click Sound. You see the Sound dialog box. Sound devices that are installed show up on the Playback tab (see Figure 20-2). Those working correctly show Working in the short description for each device.

Figure 20-2: The Sound dialog box.

To display or change the settings for some devices, click the device and click the Properties button.

Choosing and Configuring Audio Input and Output Drivers

When you install sound equipment, Windows usually configures itself automatically to use the proper sound drivers. If you need to tell Windows which sound drivers to use, or choose settings for your audio devices, including voice, you can configure Windows in the Sound dialog box. This dialog box has tabs for configuring when Windows plays sounds and which drivers Windows uses to play and record sounds. You can also use this dialog box to display the properties of all your audio and video devices. Follow these steps:

Choose Start Control Panel, click Hardware And Sound, and then click Sound. You see the Sound dialog box.
Click the Playback tab, shown in Figure 20-2, if it's not already selected.
Click a device.
Click Properties to open the Properties dialog box for that device.
Click Properties on the General tab and then click the Driver tab on the resulting dialog box. The driver used to play sounds by selecting the device from the list of available devices in the Sound Playback section of the Audio tab.
Click the Advanced tab. For some systems, you can adjust the sample rate and bit depth of your sound cards (you can set some sample rates on the Supported Formats tab). Also, if you play games or other sound- intensive applications, make sure the Exclusive Mode options are selected. Click OK.
Tell Windows more about your speakers or headphones by clicking the Speakers item on the Playback tab of the Sound dialog box (see Figure 20-2). Click Properties. Each tab on the Speakers Properties dialog box provides settings for your speakers. For example, on the General tab (see Figure 20-3) you can select the type of speaker jack you use to plug in your speakers to your computer.

Figure 20-3: Use the General tab to set speaker jack information.
Click OK to return to the Playback tab of the Sound dialog box. Click Speakers in the list of devices and click Configure. Choose your computer's arrangement of speakers or headphones. Click Next and work through the Speaker Setup wizard. You can specify the position of your speakers, types of speakers (such as subwoofers), and if you have satellite speakers in surround-sound setup.
To control the volume of your speakers or headphones, click the Properties button on the Sound dialog box and click the Levels tab. Move the Speakers control to the right to increase volume, to the left to decrease volume. Click OK.
Click the Recording tab on the Sound dialog box. Choose a recording device, such as a microphone you might use to record audio notes for a business document. Click Properties to open the Microphone Properties dialog box (see Figure 20-4). You can change the icon for the microphone, configure device driver settings (click the Properties button on the General tab), set jack information. You can set sound settings on the Levels tab, and sample rates on the Advanced tab. Click OK.

Figure 20-4: Set microphone options in the Microphone Properties dialog box.
Click OK to save your changes and exit the Sound dialog box.

Tip	If you have trouble getting sounds to play, try the Troubleshoot Sound Problems Help articles (see "Finding Topics" in Chapter 4).

Controlling the Volume and Balance

You can control the volume and balance of the sound that goes into your microphones and comes out of your computer's speakers or headphones. You can also choose to mute (suppress) the sound for any audio device. You can use the Volume icon (a little white loudspeaker icon) in the notification area on your taskbar to set the volume of sounds and music that play back through your computer.

To adjust the volume of your speakers, click the Volume icon on the taskbar once; you see a Volume slider (see Figure 20-5) and speaker icon.

Figure 20-5: Use the Volume icon for adjusting audio volumes .

Drag the Volume slider up for louder volume or down for softer volume. Click the speaker icon to suppress audio output completely (such as when you are using your laptop on a train). Click outside the window to make it disappear.

To adjust the volume and balance of any audio device, click the Volume icon and click Mixer. You see the Volume Mixer window, shown in Figure 20-6. Depending on the sophistication of your sound system, you may see more controls and mixer items here.

Figure 20-6: Use the Volume Mixer to adjust device and application volumes.

Note	Some sound cards come with their own mixer application. To use all of the features of your installed device, use the mixer program that comes with the sound card.

The Volume Mixer lets you set volume levels for different devices or applications. For example, you can control Windows sounds using the Windows Sounds Volume Mixer element. That way, if you want Windows sounds (such as clicks and dings when you perform specific Windows actions) to be lower than other sounds (such as music you play), you can adjust that sound lower.

Tip

If your speakers or headphones have a physical volume control knob, it's generally simpler to leave the Windows volume set fairly high, sending a strong signal through the wires, and just turn the knob to change the volume. Similarly, laptops usually have volume controls on the keyboard to let you quickly mute, turn up, or turn down the volume.

Choosing What Sounds Windows Makes

Windows comes with an array of sounds that it makes when certain events (Windows operations) occur. When you start Windows, for example, a rich, welcoming sound occurs; however, you might prefer the sound of a friend yelling "Hello!" You can control which sounds Windows plays when specified events occur by clicking the Change System Sounds link in the Hardware And Sound Control Panel. The Sounds tab of the Sound dialog box displays, as shown in Figure 20-7.

Figure 20-7: Associating sounds with Windows events.

The Program box lists all the events that you can associate with a sound, including events that happen in Windows and other programs that use sound, such as Windows Explorer. If an event has no speaker icon to its left, no sound is currently assigned to that event. To change the sound for an event:

Click the event name in the Program box.
Below Sounds, click the drop-down arrow and choose a sound stored in a WAV file on your computer. You see a list of the sounds that come with Windows Vista. Click the Browse button to find other WAV files, such as the ones you recorded yourself (see the following section). To assign no sound to an event, choose (None) from the Sounds list.
To test out the sound, click the Test button in the Sounds area.

The list of sounds in the Sound area is the list of WAV files (with extension .wav) in the C:\Windows\Media folder ( assuming that Windows is installed on C:). You can also test sounds in the Browse For New Complete Navigation Sound dialog box that you see when you click the Browse button. Select any sound that appears in the window, right-click a sound, and click Play. Windows Media Player opens and plays the sound.

You can save the set of sound associations as a sound scheme. Windows comes with a Windows Default sound scheme, which associates sounds with many events, and a No Sounds sound scheme, in which no sounds are associated with events. You can create your own sound schemes, too; simply associate the sounds you want to hear with the events that you want to prompt those sounds and click Save As.