Voice commands may be unintentionally issued to Windows Speech Recognition when you play an audio file in Windows Vista

When you play an audio file in Windows Vista, voice commands may be unintentionally issued to Windows Speech Recognition. This problem may also occur if an audio file plays when you visit a Web site.

This problem may occur when the audio file plays through speakers. This problem occurs because the microphone transmits voice commands from the audio file when the speakers are turned on.

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Turn off the speakers or the microphone

To resolve this problem, turn off the speakers or the microphone.

Method 2: Turn off Windows Speech Recognition

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To resolve this problem, stop playing the audio file, and then configure Windows Speech Recognition so that it will not start by voice command. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , type regedit in the Start Search box, and then click regedit.exe in the Programs list.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry entry:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Speech\Preferences
3. In the Edit menu, point to New, click DWORD (32-bit) Value, type ModeForOff, and then press ENTER.
4. Double-click ModeForOff, type 1, and then click OK.
5. Restart the computer.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

When this problem occurs, User Account Control guarantees that the voice commands are limited by the rights and permissions of the current user account.

Windows Speech Recognition uses the following modes:

• Set the ModeForOff value to 0 to configure Windows Speech Recognition to do the following:
  • To sleep when the computer is running on AC power
  • To turn off when the computer is running on battery power
  Note A ModeForOff value of 0 is the default setting for Windows Speech Recognition.
• Set the ModeForOff value to 1 to configure Windows Speech Recognition so that it will not start by voice command.
• Set the ModeForOff value to 2 to configure Windows Speech Recognition to sleep when the computer is running on either AC power or battery power.

For more information about how to use Windows Speech Recognition to operate windows and programs in Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft Web site: