Vista beta testers mad about forced startup sound

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Folks testing Microsoft Windows Vista have been emailing me today complaining that in Vista the startup sound that goes off everytime the OS starts up will be forced.

Today in Windows XP you can turn off the startup sound, but from what the beta testers have been told that startup sound will be forced to stay on.

I’ll call Steve Ball tomorrow (he runs the audio team) to find out if he can clarify this. Translation: I have not gotten Microsoft’s side of the story on this one. Will let you know when I hear from them.

Published by Robert Scoble

I help entrepreneurs build their technology business' story, help with getting ready for investors, with other launch plans, and many other strategic things that can help your new startup. Call to talk: +1-425-205-1921 (text first).

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97 thoughts on “Vista beta testers mad about forced startup sound”

  1. And considering the amount of times WV has to be restarted at this stage (I’m holding my harsher comments for Vista RTM), I guess this must be *really* annoying!

    🙂

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  2. And considering the amount of times WV has to be restarted at this stage (I’m holding my harsher comments for Vista RTM), I guess this must be *really* annoying!

    🙂

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  3. Actually I have noticed it goes off twice. Once when you start the machine and once when you login. Maybe they should change the sound. Something soothing with hidden messages.

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  4. Actually I have noticed it goes off twice. Once when you start the machine and once when you login. Maybe they should change the sound. Something soothing with hidden messages.

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  7. It’s true, the startup sound that plays when you login can be disabled, but for some rather idiotic reason MSFT have made the startup sound play when the Windows Welcome (Logon) screen appears also.

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  8. It’s true, the startup sound that plays when you login can be disabled, but for some rather idiotic reason MSFT have made the startup sound play when the Windows Welcome (Logon) screen appears also.

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  11. Yeah I noticed people freaking out about this. I personally am more upset about not getting a Vista build in forever, considering 5472 is pretty much useless to me because of Wireless Network issues that were fixed in builds after that 😦 I want to test Vista, but I do not want to use older bits.

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  12. Yeah I noticed people freaking out about this. I personally am more upset about not getting a Vista build in forever, considering 5472 is pretty much useless to me because of Wireless Network issues that were fixed in builds after that 😦 I want to test Vista, but I do not want to use older bits.

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  17. I’m amazed that Podtech is cool with you fielding Microsoft’s customer concerns still, even more so by the amount of promotion you give Microsoft every day in your posts. Yes, Podtech are not their competitors, but it still strikes me as odd.

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  18. I’m amazed that Podtech is cool with you fielding Microsoft’s customer concerns still, even more so by the amount of promotion you give Microsoft every day in your posts. Yes, Podtech are not their competitors, but it still strikes me as odd.

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  19. Oh, for God’s sake it can’t possibly be by design… It’s a beta, and with Microsoft’s so-called stable products being so buggy, what do you expect? Just be happy it doesn’t force an automatic reboot every 30 minutes 🙂

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  20. Oh, for God’s sake it can’t possibly be by design… It’s a beta, and with Microsoft’s so-called stable products being so buggy, what do you expect? Just be happy it doesn’t force an automatic reboot every 30 minutes 🙂

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  21. this seems pretty simple and a stupid thing to be worrying about considering vista is how far behind it’s competitors? considering how many exploits they need to fix? i can go on and on. but worrying about whether or not a sound clip is played seems pretty stupid considering all there is yet to be done on the OS

    now, dont get me wrong, that would be annoying.

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  22. this seems pretty simple and a stupid thing to be worrying about considering vista is how far behind it’s competitors? considering how many exploits they need to fix? i can go on and on. but worrying about whether or not a sound clip is played seems pretty stupid considering all there is yet to be done on the OS

    now, dont get me wrong, that would be annoying.

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  23. Let me second Cory’s message–let’s get some perspective. We’re talking about an aesthetic triviality, here. I want to know if my OS is secure and stable, not whether I control the ‘ding’ I hear when it starts up.

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  24. Let me second Cory’s message–let’s get some perspective. We’re talking about an aesthetic triviality, here. I want to know if my OS is secure and stable, not whether I control the ‘ding’ I hear when it starts up.

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  25. I highly doubt this functionality is final considering they are still using the XP startup sounds. Clearly they are planning on doing something different in future builds.

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  26. I highly doubt this functionality is final considering they are still using the XP startup sounds. Clearly they are planning on doing something different in future builds.

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  27. Trivial, and not final (unless they are truly sadistic), but yet more Vista woes and bad PR, Beta 2 was a trainwreck and they will need to cycle in a new round I’d bet, and delay it even further and then the Corps will wait 12-18 months before deploying, this with all the features, most wanted half cut. And what after Vista? Will my grandkids still be using XP?

    I still find it funny, once Microsoft stopped shipping OS software, they invited in the bloggers. 😉

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  28. Trivial, and not final (unless they are truly sadistic), but yet more Vista woes and bad PR, Beta 2 was a trainwreck and they will need to cycle in a new round I’d bet, and delay it even further and then the Corps will wait 12-18 months before deploying, this with all the features, most wanted half cut. And what after Vista? Will my grandkids still be using XP?

    I still find it funny, once Microsoft stopped shipping OS software, they invited in the bloggers. 😉

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  31. Ok, so they did copy another thing from the Mac:
    You can’t turn off the startup sound on a mac either….

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  32. Ok, so they did copy another thing from the Mac:
    You can’t turn off the startup sound on a mac either….

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  33. You can turn it off mttsmnw, if you mute the sound before you log off 😉 Probably Redmond never caught that.

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  34. You can turn it off mttsmnw, if you mute the sound before you log off 😉 Probably Redmond never caught that.

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  35. AS much as it sucks, couldn’t you just replace the wav file with a silent wav file? (I know it’s not the point here, but it’s a suggestion for those desperate to lose the sound).

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  36. AS much as it sucks, couldn’t you just replace the wav file with a silent wav file? (I know it’s not the point here, but it’s a suggestion for those desperate to lose the sound).

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  37. @Christopher – how do you figure beta 2 is a trainwreck? I’ve been running it for 2 months and think it is great. The issues I have had are pretty minor – it’s a BETA y’know…

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  38. @Christopher – how do you figure beta 2 is a trainwreck? I’ve been running it for 2 months and think it is great. The issues I have had are pretty minor – it’s a BETA y’know…

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  39. well if there was ever a need for another reason to switch from a PC to a Mac…

    this is it!!

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  40. well if there was ever a need for another reason to switch from a PC to a Mac…

    this is it!!

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  43. I’m sure there is or will be some way to disable this feature, I mean think of how many features there are in windows xp that can be diabled (if you have the time or can be bothered enough to).

    But whether or not that is allowed by MS is a different matter.

    Funny thing what “mttsmnw” said about how they did copy another feature off the mac. indeed! how dare someone even suggest that! (I didn’t say that, that was MS talking:D )

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  44. I’m sure there is or will be some way to disable this feature, I mean think of how many features there are in windows xp that can be diabled (if you have the time or can be bothered enough to).

    But whether or not that is allowed by MS is a different matter.

    Funny thing what “mttsmnw” said about how they did copy another feature off the mac. indeed! how dare someone even suggest that! (I didn’t say that, that was MS talking:D )

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  51. The Windows startup sound has changed with virtually every release of Windows – this hardly makes it a trademark of Windows, unlike the Windows Flag (which, I notice, glows in the centre of the screen *every* time I start Windows).
    The sound most people associate with Windows is probably the ’95 startup sound 😀

    Therefore I can’t see any benefit of forcing the sound to play. I will be very annoyed if it plays when the computer is muted though.

    For those who want to turn it off, though – can we not just delete /rename/replace the appropriate WAV file??

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  52. The Windows startup sound has changed with virtually every release of Windows – this hardly makes it a trademark of Windows, unlike the Windows Flag (which, I notice, glows in the centre of the screen *every* time I start Windows).
    The sound most people associate with Windows is probably the ’95 startup sound 😀

    Therefore I can’t see any benefit of forcing the sound to play. I will be very annoyed if it plays when the computer is muted though.

    For those who want to turn it off, though – can we not just delete /rename/replace the appropriate WAV file??

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  53. It’s not possible to turn off this sound by deleting a wav file. In fact, you can delete every last wav file on your hard drive and this sound will still play.

    In order to turn off the sound it’s necessary to hack (modify) a system file (authui.dll) by removing an audio resource using a special tool. Security permissions must also be changed to allow this modification.

    This information is only valid for the currently released beta build (5472).

    Please don’t try modifying this, or any system file, on any computer that contains valuable data. This information is supplied without warranty of any kind.

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  54. It’s not possible to turn off this sound by deleting a wav file. In fact, you can delete every last wav file on your hard drive and this sound will still play.

    In order to turn off the sound it’s necessary to hack (modify) a system file (authui.dll) by removing an audio resource using a special tool. Security permissions must also be changed to allow this modification.

    This information is only valid for the currently released beta build (5472).

    Please don’t try modifying this, or any system file, on any computer that contains valuable data. This information is supplied without warranty of any kind.

    Like

  55. I think of Windows Vista, like WindowsME a crummy OS flanked by two better ones. I think I will wait for a few more years.

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  56. I think of Windows Vista, like WindowsME a crummy OS flanked by two better ones. I think I will wait for a few more years.

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  58. I really hope this isn’t true. If it is, we’ll never deploy Windows Vista in a clinical environment or care setting. We currently have Windows 2000 PCs running in very sensitive care environments that need constant reboots — if the system is forcing the startup sound to play, regardless of other settings, that could be very disruptive to a care environment without us have to take unnecessary steps to mitigate the noise. Microsoft, _think_ about your users not yourselves!

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  59. I really hope this isn’t true. If it is, we’ll never deploy Windows Vista in a clinical environment or care setting. We currently have Windows 2000 PCs running in very sensitive care environments that need constant reboots — if the system is forcing the startup sound to play, regardless of other settings, that could be very disruptive to a care environment without us have to take unnecessary steps to mitigate the noise. Microsoft, _think_ about your users not yourselves!

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  60. Re: quibble as to whether the start up sound is worthy of mention. It is, IMHO, because it is emblematic of Microsoft’s glaring disregard of the _simplest_ user interface rules. It’s important because if they cannot possibly get _this_ right, how can I possibly believe they’ve learned _any_ lessons?

    Also, keep in mind they’ve had to exert effort to change the functionality, if only in the functional design.

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  61. Re: quibble as to whether the start up sound is worthy of mention. It is, IMHO, because it is emblematic of Microsoft’s glaring disregard of the _simplest_ user interface rules. It’s important because if they cannot possibly get _this_ right, how can I possibly believe they’ve learned _any_ lessons?

    Also, keep in mind they’ve had to exert effort to change the functionality, if only in the functional design.

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  62. There exists a way to prevent the OS to play the startup or logoff sound: switch off your speakers…
    But honestly, event if MS suppresses this option, I guess somebody will quickly find the registry key allowing to tweak it.

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  63. There exists a way to prevent the OS to play the startup or logoff sound: switch off your speakers…
    But honestly, event if MS suppresses this option, I guess somebody will quickly find the registry key allowing to tweak it.

    Like

  64. We currently have Windows 2000 PCs running in very sensitive care environments that need constant reboots

    Hope those machines aren’t providing any life sustaining services.

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  65. We currently have Windows 2000 PCs running in very sensitive care environments that need constant reboots

    Hope those machines aren’t providing any life sustaining services.

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  66. Scoble, the first startup sound played on after the boot-splash will be a different sound then what is played when you finally login to Windows once we get the full Vista audio integrated into the betas.

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  67. Scoble, the first startup sound played on after the boot-splash will be a different sound then what is played when you finally login to Windows once we get the full Vista audio integrated into the betas.

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  68. First people bitch if the audio doesn’t work, then they bitch if you can’t turn it off. You people, honestly. [author stands arms akimbo]

    If it turns out you can’t turn off the boot splash sound, I’m guessing it’s because they plan to also plan to sell “Micro-Soft Earplugs.” 😉

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  69. First people bitch if the audio doesn’t work, then they bitch if you can’t turn it off. You people, honestly. [author stands arms akimbo]

    If it turns out you can’t turn off the boot splash sound, I’m guessing it’s because they plan to also plan to sell “Micro-Soft Earplugs.” 😉

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  70. Has all sense of common-sense vanished? Or were people’s speakers manufactured without a power button?

    Seriously though, we shouldn’t expect perfect quality in a beta product. Besides, anyone remember this?

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  71. Has all sense of common-sense vanished? Or were people’s speakers manufactured without a power button?

    Seriously though, we shouldn’t expect perfect quality in a beta product. Besides, anyone remember this?

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  72. Actually, such annoyances like this ARE a reason not to run the system and or annoy you each time you start the system.

    And I bet the market for replacement UIs will come very very soon.

    Hell, we even got somebody to do a way for the tablet enhancements of MS to work on non US versions via patching executables.

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  73. Actually, such annoyances like this ARE a reason not to run the system and or annoy you each time you start the system.

    And I bet the market for replacement UIs will come very very soon.

    Hell, we even got somebody to do a way for the tablet enhancements of MS to work on non US versions via patching executables.

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  74. Pingback: 99 Vista Bugs & Security Ain’t One of Em at Cory Holt’s Weblog
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  78. My sound doesn’t even work in Vista (creative live! 5.1) so i don’t get to hear any sounds! seems like a good thing from the articles description..

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  79. My sound doesn’t even work in Vista (creative live! 5.1) so i don’t get to hear any sounds! seems like a good thing from the articles description..

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  82. It’s amazing how many of these testers haven’t read the previous post on this blog about the “spiritual marketing” start up sound. Yeah, it’s for real and they want to make it permanent. And for some of us, it may just be the last straw.

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  83. It’s amazing how many of these testers haven’t read the previous post on this blog about the “spiritual marketing” start up sound. Yeah, it’s for real and they want to make it permanent. And for some of us, it may just be the last straw.

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  86. Open registry editor and go to
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlServiceGroupOrder]
    Look for “AudioGroup”, move it to the bottom of the list, now the startup sound can’t play because the “Windows Audio Service” doesn’t start until all the other services have started!
    This works great for me so far.
    Don’t forget to export and save this key before changing it!!!!

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  87. Open registry editor and go to
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlServiceGroupOrder]
    Look for “AudioGroup”, move it to the bottom of the list, now the startup sound can’t play because the “Windows Audio Service” doesn’t start until all the other services have started!
    This works great for me so far.
    Don’t forget to export and save this key before changing it!!!!

    Like

  88. Think yourselves lucky My motherboard sound card will not work so I have no sound! got bits to work by changing the compatibility of setup.exe to XP SP2 and then the same for the EXE once installed but the ADI codec did not install. ASUS has no Vista drivers not even beta’s. The whole exersize was to check out an application I have written that uses speech output for the visually impaired. Same with my TV card no drivers although Microsoft did detect and update the Video & sound capture drivers.

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  89. Think yourselves lucky My motherboard sound card will not work so I have no sound! got bits to work by changing the compatibility of setup.exe to XP SP2 and then the same for the EXE once installed but the ADI codec did not install. ASUS has no Vista drivers not even beta’s. The whole exersize was to check out an application I have written that uses speech output for the visually impaired. Same with my TV card no drivers although Microsoft did detect and update the Video & sound capture drivers.

    Like

  90. Hmm, that’s funny. I don’t have an AudioGroup in there.

    And stop saying to turn off speakers. Duh, we have them on to play other sounds, that’s why we turn them on. Some people use computers to play media files, and games. You think?

    It’s the annoying, LOUD, same sound every time you just boot the thing, and it’s getting on our nerves. Yea, wait till it’s booted to turn them on, DUH. But it is a bug that we can’t turn it off and needs to be fixed. PERIOD.

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  91. Hmm, that’s funny. I don’t have an AudioGroup in there.

    And stop saying to turn off speakers. Duh, we have them on to play other sounds, that’s why we turn them on. Some people use computers to play media files, and games. You think?

    It’s the annoying, LOUD, same sound every time you just boot the thing, and it’s getting on our nerves. Yea, wait till it’s booted to turn them on, DUH. But it is a bug that we can’t turn it off and needs to be fixed. PERIOD.

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  92. If only I was so lucky to be one to post a complaint ’bout this – oh yeah I am…. Windows Vista doesn’t even recognize my on-bored (Pun intented) audio device . On sug’s on driver sites?

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  93. If only I was so lucky to be one to post a complaint ’bout this – oh yeah I am…. Windows Vista doesn’t even recognize my on-bored (Pun intented) audio device . On sug’s on driver sites?

    Like

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