Symptoms
Your startup sound may sound choppy, contain popping sounds, or pause while it is played. This issue occurs only with some hardware devices and drivers loaded. This issue does not affect the functionality of Windows XP or of Windows Vista or of Windows 7.
Workaround
To work around this issue, use either of the following methods.
Method 1: Turn off the startup sound
Windows XP
To turn off the startup sound in Windows XP, follow these steps:
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Click Start, click Run, type mmsys.cpl, and then click OK.
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Click the Sounds tab.
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Under Program events, click Start Windows.
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In the Sounds box, click (None), and then click OK.
Note Sometimes, there may be no workaround for this issue in Windows XP.
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
304853 Startup sound plays irregularly after upgrade to Windows XP from Windows Me
Windows Vista or Windows 7
To turn off the startup sound in Windows Vista or Windows 7, follow these steps:
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Click Start
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Click the Sounds tab.
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Click to clear the Play Windows Startup Sound check box, and then click OK.
Method 2: Mute the system sounds
Alternatively, in Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can mute all systems sounds. To do this, click the Volume icon in the notification area, and then click to select the Mute check box.
Status
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
