On starting my PC, I find that the volume control has been turned right down to silent since I last had it on. This happens every time I shut down but has only recently started happening?? Any ideas as to what might be going on or how to sort it??Thanks
Clean things up and defrag your disk, update things. Then go to 'Start' and then into 'Control Panel'. Click on 'Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices'. Fart around in there and see what you can do. Computers have a bad habit of resetting things on what seems a whim. I regularly have to reset stuff. It sometimes feels like there's a Gremlin present or some jerk has hacked in and is just trying to wind you up. That can actually happen, as it did on my computer at work once. Can you imagine, two people trying to do things simultaneously, me and the jerk that had gotten in the back door... Anyway, the more fragmented your hard drive is, the more likely things like this can happen. It's all about house cleaning and should be done regularly. Software and hardware is made by the likes of us, human beings, and it always has quirks and faults. Don't let it wind you up too much, speaking from someone that has been there. It's like driving, if you give in you become miserable and uptight and shouting curses at every fool out there. It will only bring on a heart attack or a stroke. Just quietly let it pass and in your mind imagine your Superman melting their tyres with your x-ray vision, or melting their valves...
(I don't need a perscription for those glasses, it's all part of the guise)
A similar thing happened to me a few days ago when I tried to play something on ABCMus (doing my usual final audio check of an ABC tune I was about to upload here) - no sound, but other stuff like mp3 and wav played ok. A quick investigation of the volume control revealed that the MIDI output (which plays ABC files) had been mysteriously muted. And yes, I have my hard drives automatically defragmented daily by Diskeeper. Well, there you go.
I turned off all the Windows sounds a couple of years ago because I didn't want those daft jingles inserting themselves into any sound file I might be recording from the radio or other sources.
... I've just checked, and the MIDI output has turned its volume back to zero again (I didn't do it, honest!), but the other outputs (Play control, Wave, Line, Mic In, CD AUdio) are unaltered at the volume levels I always keep them at. Odd.
There may be a way of controlling the MIDI output from the Registry, but I don't know how.
I did hint at Gremlins. Windows has a bad habit of resetting things ~ with age!!! It can also happen if you add a new program, especially one that uses audio, or you get an upgrade. My wife uses this computer and a lot of her school programs are regularly added and trialed and this sort of thing happens, and worse, when she accidentally asigns some daft program as the one that will open every audio file going...
Yes to having had the 'mute' being reset now and then too, but usually after what I've mentioned, a new program or an upgrade. I have had suspicions that sometimes Internet Security Suites can muck with settings too. I turn all that off and disconnect from the Internet to do any serious audio work.
I have also disabled the bells and whistles, who needs or welcomes them, aside from my blind friends...
If you have external hardware too, that can also make demands and changes on your system. Because this system is a bit of an octopus, I do have to to in to 'Sounds and Audio Devices' to make the occassional change depending on what device or software I'm using. The more software and hardware the more these gremlins are a common complaint, and conflicts can arise, usually minor, though they can seem awful to the uninitiated. The designers like for their bit of kit to be the 'default'...
I wouldn't have a Mac unless it were given to me. Most of my software wouldn't work on a Mac and while I bewail the domination of Microsoft, the other side is just as bolchy and full of it. I was a Mac convert, and they're great kit, but I just couldn't take the attitude ~ one of superiority and pomposity ~ which many Mac owners have shown. It's a bit like folks that have pink poodles, for show, but a Mac is more useful...and...quite nicely designed, sweet stuff despite all the limitations... Offered a lamborghini or an old Ford pickup, I'd go for the latter. Lamborghinis are just too temeramental, and there's little room for company or groceries...
Just a thought, based on a similar problem a while back, but I had to twiddle around for quite some time (yes, officer, I admit it and, OK, I'll come quietly) after my version of ITunes crashed and I had to install a new one. Also, mucking around with CD burner programmes can produce similar unwanted results re. volume control.
It could also be just one piece of software that resets everytime you reboot, or, every once in awhile. As each program is recognized and wakes up they each have their own requirements and settings and can affect different things like audio, and there can be conflicts...
Yes Floss, hardware, especially burners, and possibly also the accompanying software, such as Nero. As said, the more you have the more there's a chance of it developing a mind of its own ~ a gremlin...
I wouldn't accept a Windows PC if it was given to me...*everything* about Mac is *superior* (including the users) Why settle for Microsoft crap when you can have quality gear that actually works ? No contest, IMO. (not trying to start a flame war...I know, I know, "Windows is the Industry Standard", poor things. I sympathize. It must be hell.)
For those Mac owners who peer wistfully over the fence at all that lovely software in the WIndows garden but dare not, for the sake of their cred, actually buy a Windows PC, there's always Boot Camp
My first love, and I'd had computers before, all types, even had ARPA Net, but don't tell anyone, was a Mac. It was the first real fun I'd had, after the couple of text adventures that were circulating on ARPA Net. It was one of those with the little monitor, and it was the first thing I did any serious music on, including the first decent music notation package. However, I also know they can fry, go weird. Unlike those that will praise uncomfortable shoes because they spent a bundle on them, I would complain and get rid of them for something more comfortable. While I like the design, yes, they are lovely computers, I'll take a comfortable old shoe anyday, like the PC here I built. Macs became too elitist and precious, not the computer, the Macophiles themselves... They are the worst advertisement for the product. There's just too much Gucci about them.
Well, this is getting a bit like the 'snobbery of the elite who like classical music' thread....I don't think there's anything Gucci about me (well, maybe some very expensive custom guitars...) it's just that on the occasions I've used PCs or windows software, I invariably lose my temper and want to kill, and eventually break down sobbing...everything is so ugly, so badly designed, just horrible. And no subtlety or manners. I installed Windows once and it told me it had reset my computer to Pacific Time. Never asked me if I wanted that (which I didn't, being in the UK). Made me furious. Mac doesn't do that sort of nasty trick. It politely asks if you'd like it to do something, so you can decline or accept the offer. I know Macs used to crash and freeze, but since OSX that's never ever happened to me. Honestly, there's nothing I don't like about Apple stuff, and nothing I do like about microsoft stuff. And, although Macs are a bit more expensive than PCs, you don't spend half your life trying to fix things and phoning tech support. And the machines last twice as long......Think Different. You know it makes sense........ok, howzat Mr. Jobs ? Have I earned my free Air ?
"PCs or windows software"
Don't mix things.
PC is a kind of computer.
Windows software is a kind of virus.
PCs are fine, as long as you run linux on them.
Gucci? hahahahahaha! I LOVE my Mac! Especially when my relatives are complaining about viruses and how they don't know how to download/upload photos, etc...
I have a hand-me -down laptop, and an older desktop. Never a problem!
We went with Mac because our school district uses them, and my husband is a teacher (I used to teach here, too) and it is much easier to share/send files back and forth.
Gucci, yeah, right. NOT. (especially if you could see my wardrobe, more hand-me-downs)
Hey, I used to lug a Mac around, like you wolf, there's nothing Gucci in this house. There are always exceptions, but ~ a lot fo the botique owners of Macs are, don't you think, giving it a bad association. PCs are loafers and Macs have become 8" heels...
I suddenly imagined you, wolf, in 8" high heels, bright patent leather ones with rhinestones... Grab your Gucci purse and we'll go shopping in Cardiff...
A few school districts were wise enough to go with Macs. There's no doubting their friendlier, for the schools and for the children using them... There are some real crooks pedling PCs and services to our education system over here on these isles, from primary to higher education. It is a neglected crime...
Er, not sure if I should admit it and come out of the closet in public, ceolachan, but I have only had one set of footwear for about five years, made by Dunlop, commonly called wellies...the best (only ?) essential item that civilisation has produced. No good for dancing, but I could manage without cars, computers, and tele, but without wellies ? No. What did people do before wellies ? I mean, this is a wet Welsh mountain...water + mountain = mud...
Remember when a *certain person* complained that some people who "didn't deserve them " were getting good quality concertinas before others, for example that *certain person*. Thanks everybody for your suggestions.
There are good things to be said about 8 inch heels - they do a good job of showing off a good bum. I suppose the same could be said about loafers. Different kind of bum though.
Sounds gone
Sounds gone
On starting my PC, I find that the volume control has been turned right down to silent since I last had it on. This happens every time I shut down but has only recently started happening?? Any ideas as to what might be going on or how to sort it??Thanks
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by concertinaplayer
Re: Sounds gone
What?
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by Phantom Button
Re: Sounds gone
You can sort it by turning the volume up
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by D.J.F.
Re: Sounds gone
Clean things up and defrag your disk, update things. Then go to 'Start' and then into 'Control Panel'. Click on 'Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices'. Fart around in there and see what you can do. Computers have a bad habit of resetting things on what seems a whim. I regularly have to reset stuff. It sometimes feels like there's a Gremlin present or some jerk has hacked in and is just trying to wind you up. That can actually happen, as it did on my computer at work once. Can you imagine, two people trying to do things simultaneously, me and the jerk that had gotten in the back door... Anyway, the more fragmented your hard drive is, the more likely things like this can happen. It's all about house cleaning and should be done regularly. Software and hardware is made by the likes of us, human beings, and it always has quirks and faults. Don't let it wind you up too much, speaking from someone that has been there. It's like driving, if you give in you become miserable and uptight and shouting curses at every fool out there. It will only bring on a heart attack or a stroke. Just quietly let it pass and in your mind imagine your Superman melting their tyres with your x-ray vision, or melting their valves...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
.... get a mac
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by camwebby
Re: Sounds gone
A similar thing happened to me a few days ago when I tried to play something on ABCMus (doing my usual final audio check of an ABC tune I was about to upload here) - no sound, but other stuff like mp3 and wav played ok. A quick investigation of the volume control revealed that the MIDI output (which plays ABC files) had been mysteriously muted. And yes, I have my hard drives automatically defragmented daily by Diskeeper. Well, there you go.
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: Sounds gone
have you recently changed any of the sound settings for the irritating windows jingles like the startup, mail and oops noises?
I've found setting "No sounds" can just act by turning off the MIDI output.
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by spindizzy
Re: Sounds gone
I turned off all the Windows sounds a couple of years ago because I didn't want those daft jingles inserting themselves into any sound file I might be recording from the radio or other sources.
... I've just checked, and the MIDI output has turned its volume back to zero again (I didn't do it, honest!), but the other outputs (Play control, Wave, Line, Mic In, CD AUdio) are unaltered at the volume levels I always keep them at. Odd.
There may be a way of controlling the MIDI output from the Registry, but I don't know how.
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: Sounds gone
I did hint at Gremlins. Windows has a bad habit of resetting things ~ with age!!! It can also happen if you add a new program, especially one that uses audio, or you get an upgrade. My wife uses this computer and a lot of her school programs are regularly added and trialed and this sort of thing happens, and worse, when she accidentally asigns some daft program as the one that will open every audio file going...
Yes to having had the 'mute' being reset now and then too, but usually after what I've mentioned, a new program or an upgrade. I have had suspicions that sometimes Internet Security Suites can muck with settings too. I turn all that off and disconnect from the Internet to do any serious audio work.
I have also disabled the bells and whistles, who needs or welcomes them, aside from my blind friends...
If you have external hardware too, that can also make demands and changes on your system. Because this system is a bit of an octopus, I do have to to in to 'Sounds and Audio Devices' to make the occassional change depending on what device or software I'm using. The more software and hardware the more these gremlins are a common complaint, and conflicts can arise, usually minor, though they can seem awful to the uninitiated. The designers like for their bit of kit to be the 'default'...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
I wouldn't have a Mac unless it were given to me. Most of my software wouldn't work on a Mac and while I bewail the domination of Microsoft, the other side is just as bolchy and full of it. I was a Mac convert, and they're great kit, but I just couldn't take the attitude ~ one of superiority and pomposity ~ which many Mac owners have shown. It's a bit like folks that have pink poodles, for show, but a Mac is more useful...and...quite nicely designed, sweet stuff despite all the limitations... Offered a lamborghini or an old Ford pickup, I'd go for the latter. Lamborghinis are just too temeramental, and there's little room for company or groceries...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
Just a thought, based on a similar problem a while back, but I had to twiddle around for quite some time (yes, officer, I admit it and, OK, I'll come quietly) after my version of ITunes crashed and I had to install a new one. Also, mucking around with CD burner programmes can produce similar unwanted results re. volume control.
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: Sounds gone
It could also be just one piece of software that resets everytime you reboot, or, every once in awhile. As each program is recognized and wakes up they each have their own requirements and settings and can affect different things like audio, and there can be conflicts...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
Yes Floss, hardware, especially burners, and possibly also the accompanying software, such as Nero. As said, the more you have the more there's a chance of it developing a mind of its own ~ a gremlin...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
I wouldn't accept a Windows PC if it was given to me...*everything* about Mac is *superior* (including the users)
Why settle for Microsoft crap when you can have quality gear that actually works ? No contest, IMO. (not trying to start a flame war...I know, I know, "Windows is the Industry Standard", poor things. I sympathize. It must be hell.)
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by wolfbird
Re: Sounds gone
For those Mac owners who peer wistfully over the fence at all that lovely software in the WIndows garden but dare not, for the sake of their cred, actually buy a Windows PC, there's always Boot Camp
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: Sounds gone
My first love, and I'd had computers before, all types, even had ARPA Net, but don't tell anyone, was a Mac. It was the first real fun I'd had, after the couple of text adventures that were circulating on ARPA Net. It was one of those with the little monitor, and it was the first thing I did any serious music on, including the first decent music notation package. However, I also know they can fry, go weird. Unlike those that will praise uncomfortable shoes because they spent a bundle on them, I would complain and get rid of them for something more comfortable. While I like the design, yes, they are lovely computers, I'll take a comfortable old shoe anyday, like the PC here I built. Macs became too elitist and precious, not the computer, the Macophiles themselves... They are the worst advertisement for the product. There's just too much Gucci about them.
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
Well, this is getting a bit like the 'snobbery of the elite who like classical music' thread....I don't think there's anything Gucci about me (well, maybe some very expensive custom guitars...) it's just that on the occasions I've used PCs or windows software, I invariably lose my temper and want to kill, and eventually break down sobbing...everything is so ugly, so badly designed, just horrible. And no subtlety or manners. I installed Windows once and it told me it had reset my computer to Pacific Time. Never asked me if I wanted that (which I didn't, being in the UK). Made me furious. Mac doesn't do that sort of nasty trick. It politely asks if you'd like it to do something, so you can decline or accept the offer. I know Macs used to crash and freeze, but since OSX that's never ever happened to me. Honestly, there's nothing I don't like about Apple stuff, and nothing I do like about microsoft stuff. And, although Macs are a bit more expensive than PCs, you don't spend half your life trying to fix things and phoning tech support. And the machines last twice as long......Think Different. You know it makes sense........ok, howzat Mr. Jobs ? Have I earned my free Air ?
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by wolfbird
Re: Sounds gone
"PCs or windows software"
Don't mix things.
PC is a kind of computer.
Windows software is a kind of virus.
PCs are fine, as long as you run linux on them.
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by Ramiro
Re: Sounds gone
Gucci? hahahahahaha! I LOVE my Mac! Especially when my relatives are complaining about viruses and how they don't know how to download/upload photos, etc...
I have a hand-me -down laptop, and an older desktop. Never a problem!
We went with Mac because our school district uses them, and my husband is a teacher (I used to teach here, too) and it is much easier to share/send files back and forth.
Gucci, yeah, right. NOT. (especially if you could see my wardrobe, more hand-me-downs)
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by wyogal
Re: Sounds gone
Hey, I used to lug a Mac around, like you wolf, there's nothing Gucci in this house. There are always exceptions, but ~ a lot fo the botique owners of Macs are, don't you think, giving it a bad association. PCs are loafers and Macs have become 8" heels...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
I suddenly imagined you, wolf, in 8" high heels, bright patent leather ones with rhinestones... Grab your Gucci purse and we'll go shopping in Cardiff...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sense gone
bright 'red' patent leather...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
wyogal, another exception...
A few school districts were wise enough to go with Macs. There's no doubting their friendlier, for the schools and for the children using them... There are some real crooks pedling PCs and services to our education system over here on these isles, from primary to higher education. It is a neglected crime...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
Er, not sure if I should admit it and come out of the closet in public, ceolachan, but I have only had one set of footwear for about five years, made by Dunlop, commonly called wellies...the best (only ?) essential item that civilisation has produced. No good for dancing, but I could manage without cars, computers, and tele, but without wellies ? No. What did people do before wellies ? I mean, this is a wet Welsh mountain...water + mountain = mud...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by wolfbird
Re: Sounds gone
I'm jealous, I still haven't my own pair of wellies...
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Sounds gone
Remember when people used to talk about Irish music here?
# Posted on July 5th 2008 by mcdevincabe
Re: Sounds gone
Remember when a *certain person* complained that some people who "didn't deserve them " were getting good quality concertinas before others, for example that *certain person*. Thanks everybody for your suggestions.
# Posted on July 5th 2008 by concertinaplayer
Re: Sounds gone
I don’t remember that at all concertinaplayer - but it sounds very intriguing - any hints about that *certain person*? It wasn’t Tanya was it?
# Posted on July 5th 2008 by bb
Re: Sounds gone
No bb, much more recent than that but a long story !
# Posted on July 5th 2008 by concertinaplayer
Re: Sounds gone
There are good things to be said about 8 inch heels - they do a good job of showing off a good bum. I suppose the same could be said about loafers. Different kind of bum though.
# Posted on July 5th 2008 by Sokol
Re: Sounds gone
# Posted on July 5th 2008 by ceolachan