4. Choosing Your System Sounds
Windows 7 plays sounds in response to a wide variety of
events, such as when you log on, when you open or close programs, or
when you type an asterisk. Programs you install, such as America Online,
can have their own sounds as well. You can configure all of these sounds
and manage them collectively using sound schemes. A sound scheme is
simply a set of sounds that you want to use together.
Windows 7 has two standard sound schemes: No Sounds, which turns
off all program sounds except the Windows Startup sound played when you
log on; and Windows Default, which is configured to use the standard
Windows sounds. Other sound schemes available typically depend on the
Windows 7 edition your computer is running and the extras you’ve
installed. Some of the available sound schemes include Afternoon,
Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage,
Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata.
4.1. Selecting a sound scheme
You can configure your system to use an existing sound scheme by
completing the following steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select
Personalize. (On Windows 7 Starter, select Control Panel→Hardware
and Sound.)
Click the Sounds link to display the Sound dialog box with
the Sounds tab selected, as shown in Figure 6. (On Windows 7
Starter, choose Change System Sounds under Sounds.)
Use the Sound Scheme listbox to choose the sound scheme to
use.
Click OK to save your settings.
4.2. Customizing your sound scheme
You can configure your system to use a customized sound scheme
by completing the following steps:
Right-click an open area of the desktop and then select
Personalize. (On Windows 7 Starter, select Control Panel→Hardware
and Sound.)
Click the Sounds link to display the Sound dialog box with
the Sounds tab selected, as shown in Figure 3-15. (On Windows 7
Starter, choose Change System Sounds under Sounds.)
In the Program Events list, sounds are organized according
to the program to which they relate and the related event that
triggers the sound. To preview a sound for a particular event,
select the event in the Program list and then click the Test
button.
To change the sound for an event, select the event in the
Program Events list and then use the Sounds list to choose an
available sound. You can also click Browse to select other sounds
available on the system. The sound files must be in Microsoft .wav format.
To save a changed sound scheme, click Save As, type a name
for the scheme in the field provided, and then click OK.
Click OK to close the Sounds dialog box.
