You have external speakers, right? First of all you need to throw away the little speakers and get good quality amplified sound speakers if you plan to play music from a CD with  your computer. Having good quality speakers can really add to your enjoyment of using your computer. A good sound mike is not a bad idea either if you would like to create some custom sound wave files to use with Windows.  And of course a good sound card installed in your computer is also a requirement to producing quality sound.

Let’s talk about email sounds.  You should be hearing a chime sound through your external speakers when your email arrives.  If you are not hearing any sound (and want to) then check the following:  (The following assumes you have a sound card installed)

 (1) See that the speakers are plugged into the proper place in the back of the sound card. Try all locations that the plug fits in the sound  while your CD is playing until you find a hook up that makes the speakers play music.

 (2) Speakers have to be turned on at the speakers on some units. Some have more than one switch.  Especially those that use batteries.  Don't forget to turn off any battery powered ones when you are through using them.  The next day you will have to buy another set if you forget to turn them off.  

 (3) In Windows click on the volume icon on the task bar, set the volume at least to 50% or more while testing.  

(5) Keep you e-mail box active but minimized and you should hear any incoming mail even when while surfing the net or using other software.

(6) If you are using Win 3.x, go figure.  You will have to tell me. Call me and teach me something.

Still not getting any sound, after checking all the settings I have already mentioned?

(7) From the Internet Explorer mail, select mail, options, read, see if sound is checked.
If all of the above are done then proceed to next step.

 (8) Click on Start button, settings, open control panel, sound, scroll down
and highlight New Mail Notification -- name box should read c:\windows\chimes.wav
click on Play button next to the preview box ... you should hear a chimes.wav
sound.     If you see none in the name box that may be your problem.  Click
on Browse and search for the chimes.wav and select it and be sure to click
OK.   Still no sound?  DO YOU HAVE SPEAKERS HOOKED UP TO
CORRECT HOLE IN CARD!!!!!  Any other ideas?

 (9) Yes,  go buy a new sound card.  Quit wasting time with all this technical stuff.

Missing New Mail Notification

If you tried all the settings mentioned in sound tips and still do not have sound from arriving email, then try going to My Computer icon, Control Panel, Sounds, scroll down to New Mail Notification, Chimes.wav or a "theme.wav" should be visible in the Name box and a picture of a speaker in the preview window. Next click the arrow to the right side of the preview window – you should hear a chimes sound – if not, then you don’t have all your sound speakers plugged in correctly, turned on, or other settings are not done. If you do hear the chimes sound through the main speakers, then your next step is to change the sound to a different sound and then later back to the chimes.wav or your preferred sound.

To select other sounds click the down arrow in the Name box, select another sound and test by clicking on the right arrow next to the preview box. Once you have selected a different sound then click OK to accept the new settings.

Reopen email and send yourself a test email. If you hear the new sound you selected when the email comes in then you can keep the new sound or go back through the above steps to select the chimes.wav or other sound you would like to have. If you need to browse for sounds click the browse button while at the sound properties page. Browse should take you into a folder, such as Media, which contains a collection of sound files. Any small sound files may be used if they end with the extension name of .wav

If you install Microsoft Plus, you will have lots of sounds to choose from in the themes provided by the Microsoft software. 

Changing sounds for any Windows event using a wav sound file that has arrived as an email attachment:

Are you tired of the "obnoxious"  beep in Win95 when you click in the wrong place with the mouse pointer?  Would you like to change that beep to something else?

Sorry, this process has many steps and may not be for the inexperienced user:

Well, you don't have to put up with sounds in Win95 that you don't like.  If you really want another sound that can be used in place of the beep then the next problem is explaining how you get the file from one place to another so you can try it.

If you don't know where the files are that Windows uses for sounds you can do a search with the Find function that is on the menu above the Start button.  Just type in *.wav and select C: and click find.  Observe what directories the files are in.   You should see the
following:

Of course you can listen to the wav files ahead of time by double clicking on each one and let your computer play them.  OK, so you listened to them and they aren't that special.  Well, this is more of a practice exercise in Win95 that gives you an edge on other users anyway.  If you don't have time and don't want the challenge, OK, don't read past this line.  Nothing ventured on your computer nothing gained on your computer.  You learn to use the computer by trying to do new things, right.  I know, you are saying, "Who needs it anyway.  I like the beep I have."  That's OK, we are not going to erase the old beep, just use another one for awhile.  You can always change back to the old beep if you don't lose these instructions.

Well, now that you have read this far you must have accepted a challenge either to try to understand this writing or you want to work with sounds.

In this example someone has sent you a wav file attached to an email.

Steps for getting an attached file from an e-mail attachment to your hard drive and into the correct folder.   If you want an attached "you’ve got mail" sound file to practice with then email me and I will send you one.

(1) Notice as you read an e-mail that your From and Subject bar is highlighted and a paper clip icon(attached file)  is showing to the left end of the bar.

(2) Double click on the highlighted bar.

(3) File attachment icon now shows at the bottom window of the e-mail.

(4) Point to the icon of the attached file and click.  Icon is now highlighted.

(5) Click on right button of the mouse.

(6) Click on save as.

(7) Double click on My Computer.  

(8) Double click on drive (c:).

(9) Click on right down arrow until you find the Windows folder.

(10) Double click on Windows.

(11) Double click on Media.

(12) If Media shows in Save in box, then click save.

(13) File is now listed in window with other Wave files.

(14) Close (x) after saving.

So we have saved an attached sound file to the Media folder in Windows.

(1) Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Sounds.

(2) You should be able to click on each event listed and see name of wav file being used or at least preview the sound by clicking on right arrow.

(3) Make your way to default sound until it is highlighted.

(4) Click Preview arrow to see if this is the sound you want to replace.

(5) Click Browse to look for replacement wav file.

(6) Media folder list appears in window with all wav files shown.

(7) Click on  ___.wav for sound to preview.

(8) Name of file appears in File name box.

(9) Click preview to be sure of choice.

(10) Click OK to keep the file or cancel to not change the file.

(11) If you click OK to keep the sound, you are returned to Sounds tab page.

(12) File should appear in window and can be previewed again.

(13) Click apply and go change another sound if you want.

(14) Click OK.

(15) Click (x) on Control Panel

(16) To test your new sound, click on the Volume icon on the task bar and adjust the sound, as you adjust the sound you should hear one of the sounds you selected.  If not you probably forgot to click Apply or OK at step 10 or beyond.  Also look at the mute box in the volume setting to be sure there is no check mark there.

If you don't have your Win95, a CD ROM, 16 Mb RAM or more, sound card, external speakers, one of the Quick Shot mikes yet, you may not be enjoying your computer as much as you could be.  Go into a computer store say "Hey Dude, I need all that stuff that Cowboy Jerry was talking about in his tech tips on sound."  They will fix you right up.

Page 2 Sound Tips