The sounds associated with different events in Windows 95 are selected via the Sounds Properties dialog, accessed with the Sounds icon in Control Panel. In order to be listed in the Sounds drop-down list box, the .wav file must be located in the Windows\Media folder (usually C:\WINDOWS\Media). It is perfectly OK to use files located in other folders, but you need to press the Browse button to navigate to the location desired. Note that both dialogs have a Preview button to play the highlighted sound; this makes it easy to quickly preview sounds while making selections.
Adding new sound events
To add new sounds to the Sounds Properties dialog (accessed from the Sounds icon in Control Panel), you must use the registry editor (Regedit.exe). The event IDs are under HKEY_USERS\.Default\AppEvents\EventLabels\
.
For example, the Open program sound in the Windows group in Sounds Properties is under HKEY_USERS\.Default\AppEvents\EventLabels\Open
with a default value defined as "Open program".
The EventIDs are used under HKEY_USERS\.Default\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default
. The corresponding wav files for each sound scheme are subkeys under each EventID. In addition to the .Default subkey there are subkeys called Explorer, MPlayer and SndRec32. Under Explorer is a key called EmptyRecycleBin, and under it a .current key whose default value contains the path to the sound you have chosen for Empty Recycle Bin under the Windows Explorer group in the Sounds Properties dialog.
To add new sounds to Explorer, add a new key under HKEY_USERS\.Default\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Explorer
called Open, and another called Close. Then under each of these new keys add a key called .current. Define it's default value as the path to the wav file you want to use for each new sound.
Now go to the Start button, click Run and enter Explorer to try your new creations!
Create an Hourly Chime
This trick requires that you have the System Agent (from Microsoft Plus!) installed.
First, open System Agent by double-clicking its icon on the Taskbar (or right-click and select Open). Select Program | Schedule a New Program. For 'Program' enter the following:
SNDREC32.EXE "My chime sound.wav" /play /close
Substitute the name of your favorite .wav for the file name. You must enter the complete path to the selected .wav file, eg: "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\Chime.wav". Using the double-quotes around the file name as shown will allow the use of a long file name (you should always do this when entering file names on a command line for a program with long file name support).
Uncheck the 'Log Results' checkbox. Enter a description, such as 'Hourly Chime'. Leave the 'Start in' field blank. Under 'Run' select Minimized.
Now click the 'When To Run' button. In the 'Run' section select 'Hourly'. In the 'Start at' section select 0 minutes after the hour, and uncheck the 'Wait until I haven't used my computer for' checkbox. In the 'If the program is running and I start using my computer' section, select the 'Continue running the program' radio button.
Finally, click the 'Advanced" button. In the 'Deadline' section select 1 minutes after the hour. Uncheck the 'If the program is still running...' and 'Notify me if the program never started' boxes. Lastly, uncheck the other two boxes in the 'Run repeatedly between the start time and the deadline' section.
Now click 'OK' to close the Advanced Options dialog, and 'OK' again to close the 'Change Schedule of' dialog. If you see a message box asking if you want to postpone running this program until its next scheduled time, click 'No' to play the sound immediately or 'Yes' to wait until the hour to hear your handywork.
NOTE: Clever use of the 'Run the program every n minutes' option in the 'Run repeatedly between the start time and the deadline' section of the Advanced Options dialog would allow you to have the chime sound every half hour, every quarter hour, or as often as you like!