Windows Volume control problem

[mikehende]

I have been having a problem with the volume control for a while not but the problem is intermittent and is the main reason why I can't track down the problem. When it first began, it would happen every once in a while but now it is happening more frequently, the Wave and the Volume Control sliders are down almost to the bottom so whenever I ned to liasten to anything over my speakers I have to go in and manually raise the sliders, any fixes for this please?

[dbarrow]

What sound card and software?
This is usually set by the sound software which saves the last user setting on exit.
Either, it is not saving on exit, or not loading the saved setting at startup, ie: on my machines with the Turtle Beach sound card, I have to have an exclusion in AdWatch or it will block the last saved sound file from executing on startup.

Another area where it could be...
Do you have any problem or delay loading Windows on startup?
Sound settings are saved as reg keys.
IF Windows has problems loading from the reg hives in System32\Config, it will default load the backups from the Repair or restore folder, thus you may be loading old defaults.

Other software that uses sound settings can change them...
My TV tuner card always mutes WAV and changes the input to line in after using it.
Do you have any software that uses sound that will launch it at those levels or changes any defaults? ie: I have seen Media Player, with the sound level turned down on the slider there, adjust the WAV volume levels when you go to use something else and you will find them low.

If you can't pin it down specifically, uninstall the sound card and then re-install it with the most current software and drivers. Sound and video drivers cause more conflicts and problems than anything......

[mikehende]

Windows XP Home Edition. I have had an EMU0404 pro soundcard for a year or so and this problem only started happening recently with the Dell integrated soundcard, I do switch between soundcards every now and then so from what you're saying I am guessing that the EMU may be conflicting with the integrated's settings? I will try reinstalling the integrated soundcard but if this happens again then I will have to try to pin it down especially if changing usage between the 2 soundcards is the cause of the problem becuase this means that the problem will always occur, appreciate the help, will let you know how it goes.

[casey]

I don't know if this will help but just a short while ago I posted on here that I listened to the radio on my computer every day and whenever I would start it I would have to adjust the volume because it was always at the top. It took a while for me to realize that the sound on realplayer was the culprit. I would sign on and realplayers sound was at the max and I would turn it down with the computers volume control. The next time I would do the same thing until I found the sound on the app was turned up. Once I adjusted the apps volume it comes on fine. Just something to think about.

[mikehende]

Casey, you hit the nail on the head!! First of all, Dbarrow, your advice was very useful as I never had to uninstall "integrated" soundcard drivers before but did so and reinstalled the latest drivers last night so again I learned something new [thanks]. Back to Casey, Musicmatch is my default app for testing music, after reading your post, I checked and noticed that MM's volume was set low so I moved it up to a specific point and then opened a closed it a few times and everytime windows volume control would be at the exact point I had set it then with the volume control visible on the screen, I moved MM's volume slider up and down and noticed that the windows volume sliders moved at the same time so yes, the default application's volume is what controls windows volume!

I had posted this same question on some of the other forums I belong to and never got a solution until now so this is exactly why I post the same questions on different forums as I never know where and who is going to come up with something, thanks a million guys!

[dbarrow]

As I suspected, third party app hijacks priority and decides it will own your controls. I find that really annoying and often refuse to use certain apps ... like Real Player ... that think they own you and your machine.
Worse yet, there is no way around it...
If you decide to use the program, you're stuck with what it does with no way to change it.

If you don't have it ... get Winamp
Still free and still the best ever app for playing music and/or TV
Gadzillion free plugins of all kinds including some of the best mixers and controls to custom tailor your sound.
Possibilities in Winamp are almost limitless as it is a huge open source project with thousands of people constantly improving it.

Burn cds, create and manage playlists, load them to USB flash sticks , it does it all ... with no DRM fights!
If you find something it can't do ... look for extensions and plugins and you will probably find it!

[mikehende]

Appreciate the referral and yes, I would have to say winamp is the most "versatile" music/video software out for the exact reasons you've stated. Thing is, I have many softwares and use each for different specialized things, in my opinion winamp is great being a "free" and overall software but when if you wish to do detailed stuff like I sometimes do then you have to use more specilaized softwares.:)