I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking or
unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the taskbar or
system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and off? I Googled this
issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP. If there's a reliable 3rd
party application, that would be OK too.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

On Mon, 23 May 2011 11:09:25 -0500, "Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
>left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking or
>unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the taskbar or
>system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and off? I Googled this
>issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP. If there's a reliable 3rd
>party application, that would be OK too.
>
>Thank you!
>
>Jo-Anne

Somehow I got a "multi-media keyboard" and the only part of it I use
is the mute button and the up and down volume buttonss. It's better
than the taskbar imo.

I usually buy keyboards very cheaply at hamfests, but they're not that
expensive new, and hamfests charge 5 or 6 dollars admission, and not
all have fancy keyboards. Still it's worth going to one to see if you
like them. (90 or 95%+ of the people there are men. FWIW 98%+ are
white, even where I live). Almost all are on Sunday mornings, about
8. Get there early.

Not every keyboard with extra buttons has the same things. Some have
only 3 or 4 buttons.

Some, including this one by Microsoft, have 19.

Some might have more even but I don't go shopping.

This also has a Standby button, that I use a lot now, My Cnmputer,
Calculator (that I never think to use. OTOH, it might not be a good
idea to get entrenched in using some of them, since then it will
harder to find a replacement keyboard some day, although I hear you
can wash them in the dishwasher, no heat, no soap.)

In the Web section it has Back and Forward (I just use alt-left arrow
and alt-right arrow.), Stop (I use escape, but it doesn't always
stop), Refresh, (cntl-R) Search (which just started a new window in
Firefox, cntl-N), Favorites, Home (I click on the home icon).

Also Email, Play, Stop, Prev Track, Next Track, and Media. None of
which I ever use, but I don't play CDs or anything but the radio.) I
forget what the last one does, so I pressed it and it brought up
windows media player, but didn't play anything of course.

Sometimes a book slides over the Back key and holds it down and all
kinds of funny things happen.

This one from the hamfest came with ho software, but when I had win98,
some keyboard came with software, so I found that and used it again
and it displays a volume box on the screen when I press mute, up, or
down. IOW, the little vertical rectangle you've been seeing didnt'
show up when I press volume keys on the heyboard, although it still
does when I click on the speaker icon in the systray.

"Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ire0rf$k6i$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
> left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking
> or unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the
> taskbar or system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and
> off? I Googled this issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP.
> If there's a reliable 3rd party application, that would be OK too.
>

A Google search for "mute windows sound by shortcut" produced several
promising results - the top 3 each used a different approach, two used
different third-party utilities (free), the other used a .vbs.

--
Zaphod

Vell, Zaphod's just zis guy, ya know? - Gag Halfrunt

"Alias" <(E-Mail Removed).¡nval¡d> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 05/23/2011 06:09 PM, Jo-Anne wrote:
>> I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
>> left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking or
>> unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the taskbar or
>> system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and off? I Googled
>> this
>> issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP. If there's a reliable
>> 3rd
>> party application, that would be OK too.
>>
>> Thank you!
>>
>> Jo-Anne
>>
>>
>
> I use a keyboard that will do that.
>
> --
> Alias


Thank you, thank you, thank you! It never even occurred to me that my
keyboard might have those controls. I use a Dell Precision laptop; and
thanks to your suggestion, I looked carefully at the keyboard and found
volume up, volume down, and mute--all next to the power button.

Jo-Anne

"mm" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Mon, 23 May 2011 11:09:25 -0500, "Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>>I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
>>left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking or
>>unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the taskbar or
>>system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and off? I Googled
>>this
>>issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP. If there's a reliable 3rd
>>party application, that would be OK too.
>>
>>Thank you!
>>
>>Jo-Anne
>
> Somehow I got a "multi-media keyboard" and the only part of it I use
> is the mute button and the up and down volume buttonss. It's better
> than the taskbar imo.
>
> I usually buy keyboards very cheaply at hamfests, but they're not that
> expensive new, and hamfests charge 5 or 6 dollars admission, and not
> all have fancy keyboards. Still it's worth going to one to see if you
> like them. (90 or 95%+ of the people there are men. FWIW 98%+ are
> white, even where I live). Almost all are on Sunday mornings, about
> 8. Get there early.
>
> Not every keyboard with extra buttons has the same things. Some have
> only 3 or 4 buttons.
>
> Some, including this one by Microsoft, have 19.
>
> Some might have more even but I don't go shopping.
>
> This also has a Standby button, that I use a lot now, My Cnmputer,
> Calculator (that I never think to use. OTOH, it might not be a good
> idea to get entrenched in using some of them, since then it will
> harder to find a replacement keyboard some day, although I hear you
> can wash them in the dishwasher, no heat, no soap.)
>
> In the Web section it has Back and Forward (I just use alt-left arrow
> and alt-right arrow.), Stop (I use escape, but it doesn't always
> stop), Refresh, (cntl-R) Search (which just started a new window in
> Firefox, cntl-N), Favorites, Home (I click on the home icon).
>
> Also Email, Play, Stop, Prev Track, Next Track, and Media. None of
> which I ever use, but I don't play CDs or anything but the radio.) I
> forget what the last one does, so I pressed it and it brought up
> windows media player, but didn't play anything of course.
>
> Sometimes a book slides over the Back key and holds it down and all
> kinds of funny things happen.
>
> This one from the hamfest came with ho software, but when I had win98,
> some keyboard came with software, so I found that and used it again
> and it displays a volume box on the screen when I press mute, up, or
> down. IOW, the little vertical rectangle you've been seeing didnt'
> show up when I press volume keys on the heyboard, although it still
> does when I click on the speaker icon in the systray.


Thank you, mm! With your help, I discovered that I DO have a Mute button on
my Dell Precision keyboard. It never occurred to me that there might be one
on the keyboard. It'll get lots of use now.

Jo-Anne

"Zaphod Beeblebrox" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ire431$ang$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ire0rf$k6i$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
>> left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking or
>> unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the taskbar or
>> system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and off? I Googled
>> this issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP. If there's a
>> reliable 3rd party application, that would be OK too.
>>
>
> A Google search for "mute windows sound by shortcut" produced several
> promising results - the top 3 each used a different approach, two used
> different third-party utilities (free), the other used a .vbs.
>
> --
> Zaphod
>
> Vell, Zaphod's just zis guy, ya know? - Gag Halfrunt
>
>


Thank you, Zaphod! I'm going to add your post to my hard drive for future
reference. In the meantime, Alias and mm pointed out that I could have a
Mute button on my keyboard--and indeed I do. It just never occurred to me to
look there.

Jo-Anne

Depending on your make and model of keyboard, other functions you may find
can include;

Media Player Buttons;
"Previous Track" / "Skip Backwards"
"Stop"
"Play" / "Pause"
"Next Track" / "Skip Forwards"

Internet Functions;
"Back" (Previous Page)
"Forward" (Next Page)
"HomePage" (Open Default Browser)
"Email" (Open Default Email Client)

Close Windows Options;
"Shutdown" (button)
"Sleep" / "Suspend" (button)

If you only have a single "Sleep" or "Shutdown" button - you can change
it's function to Shutdown / Suspend / Hibernate or "Ask me...", from the
"Advanced" (tab) of the Power Options control panel extension.

If you download and install the [free] TweakUI.exe utility for XP from
Microsoft, there's an included "Command Buttons" section that allows you to
configure many of those special keyboard buttons and customise what they
do. Useful if you never use some of their current functions - you can
change what they do, to something you might actually use!

Download the small TweakUI installation file from the link below :
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ertoySetup.exe

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ire53o$ht6$(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Zaphod Beeblebrox" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> message news:ire431$ang$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> "Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:ire0rf$k6i$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
>>> left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking or
>>> unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the taskbar
>>> or system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and off? I
>>> Googled this issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP. If
>>> there's a reliable 3rd party application, that would be OK too.
>>>
>>
>> A Google search for "mute windows sound by shortcut" produced several
>> promising results - the top 3 each used a different approach, two used
>> different third-party utilities (free), the other used a .vbs.
>>
>> --
>> Zaphod
>>
>> Vell, Zaphod's just zis guy, ya know? - Gag Halfrunt
>>
>>
>
>
> Thank you, Zaphod! I'm going to add your post to my hard drive for future
> reference. In the meantime, Alias and mm pointed out that I could have a
> Mute button on my keyboard--and indeed I do. It just never occurred to me
> to look there.
>
> Jo-Anne
>

Thank you, Tim! I do have TweakUI and will now see what else I can do with
it. It's also definitely time that I look seriously at what my keyboard
offers.

Jo-Anne


"Tim Meddick" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:iref6h$mem$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Depending on your make and model of keyboard, other functions you may find
> can include;
>
> Media Player Buttons;
> "Previous Track" / "Skip Backwards"
> "Stop"
> "Play" / "Pause"
> "Next Track" / "Skip Forwards"
>
> Internet Functions;
> "Back" (Previous Page)
> "Forward" (Next Page)
> "HomePage" (Open Default Browser)
> "Email" (Open Default Email Client)
>
> Close Windows Options;
> "Shutdown" (button)
> "Sleep" / "Suspend" (button)
>
> If you only have a single "Sleep" or "Shutdown" button - you can change
> it's function to Shutdown / Suspend / Hibernate or "Ask me...", from the
> "Advanced" (tab) of the Power Options control panel extension.
>
> If you download and install the [free] TweakUI.exe utility for XP from
> Microsoft, there's an included "Command Buttons" section that allows you
> to configure many of those special keyboard buttons and customise what
> they do. Useful if you never use some of their current functions - you
> can change what they do, to something you might actually use!
>
> Download the small TweakUI installation file from the link below :
> http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ertoySetup.exe
>
> ==
>
> Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
>
>
>
>
> "Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ire53o$ht6$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> "Zaphod Beeblebrox" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>> message news:ire431$ang$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>
>>> "Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> news:ire0rf$k6i$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>> I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
>>>> left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking or
>>>> unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the taskbar
>>>> or system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and off? I
>>>> Googled this issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP. If
>>>> there's a reliable 3rd party application, that would be OK too.
>>>>
>>>
>>> A Google search for "mute windows sound by shortcut" produced several
>>> promising results - the top 3 each used a different approach, two used
>>> different third-party utilities (free), the other used a .vbs.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Zaphod
>>>
>>> Vell, Zaphod's just zis guy, ya know? - Gag Halfrunt
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you, Zaphod! I'm going to add your post to my hard drive for future
>> reference. In the meantime, Alias and mm pointed out that I could have a
>> Mute button on my keyboard--and indeed I do. It just never occurred to me
>> to look there.
>>
>> Jo-Anne
>>
>

"Gerald Ross" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Jo-Anne wrote:
>> I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
>> left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking or
>> unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the taskbar or
>> system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and off? I Googled
>> this
>> issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP. If there's a reliable
>> 3rd
>> party application, that would be OK too.
>>
>> Thank you!
>>
>> Jo-Anne
>>
>>
> I see you have the answer to the mute, but anyway look up Wizmo.exe. It is
> a free, tiny program that you can set to do many things by clicking on an
> icon. Examples: reboot, shutdown, standby, hibernate, logoff, set to a
> specific sound volume, mute. It even has a shutdown "dammit" which forces
> an immediate shutdown when windows may sit waiting for a program to
> release its grip on windows. I use several of the commands all the time,
> including the mute function (My ancient keyboard doesn't have such a key).
>
> --
> Gerald Ross
> Cochran, GA
>
> Sing along if you know the words!
>
>

Thank you, Gerald! I'll definitely check out that program.

Jo-Anne

On Mon, 23 May 2011 12:20:49 -0500, "Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>"mm" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On Mon, 23 May 2011 11:09:25 -0500, "Jo-Anne" <Jo-(E-Mail Removed)>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>I've taken to watching videos on my WinXP laptop. I mute the ads by
>>>left-clicking on the volume button in the system tray, then checking or
>>>unchecking the "mute" box. Is there a way to put "mute" in the taskbar or
>>>system tray in a way that I can simply toggle it on and off? I Googled
>>>this
>>>issue but couldn't find anything specific to XP. If there's a reliable 3rd
>>>party application, that would be OK too.
>>>
>>>Thank you!
>>>
>>>Jo-Anne
>>
>> Somehow I got a "multi-media keyboard" and the only part of it I use
>> is the mute button and the up and down volume buttonss. It's better
>> than the taskbar imo.
>>
>> I usually buy keyboards very cheaply at hamfests, but they're not that
>> expensive new, and hamfests charge 5 or 6 dollars admission, and not
>> all have fancy keyboards. Still it's worth going to one to see if you
>> like them. (90 or 95%+ of the people there are men. FWIW 98%+ are
>> white, even where I live). Almost all are on Sunday mornings, about
>> 8. Get there early.
>>
>> Not every keyboard with extra buttons has the same things. Some have
>> only 3 or 4 buttons.
>>
>> Some, including this one by Microsoft, have 19.
>>
>> Some might have more even but I don't go shopping.
>>
>> This also has a Standby button, that I use a lot now, My Cnmputer,
>> Calculator (that I never think to use. OTOH, it might not be a good
>> idea to get entrenched in using some of them, since then it will
>> harder to find a replacement keyboard some day, although I hear you
>> can wash them in the dishwasher, no heat, no soap.)
>>
>> In the Web section it has Back and Forward (I just use alt-left arrow
>> and alt-right arrow.), Stop (I use escape, but it doesn't always
>> stop), Refresh, (cntl-R) Search (which just started a new window in
>> Firefox, cntl-N), Favorites, Home (I click on the home icon).
>>
>> Also Email, Play, Stop, Prev Track, Next Track, and Media. None of
>> which I ever use, but I don't play CDs or anything but the radio.) I
>> forget what the last one does, so I pressed it and it brought up
>> windows media player, but didn't play anything of course.
>>
>> Sometimes a book slides over the Back key and holds it down and all
>> kinds of funny things happen.
>>
>> This one from the hamfest came with ho software, but when I had win98,
>> some keyboard came with software, so I found that and used it again
>> and it displays a volume box on the screen when I press mute, up, or
>> down. IOW, the little vertical rectangle you've been seeing didnt'
>> show up when I press volume keys on the heyboard, although it still
>> does when I click on the speaker icon in the systray.
>
>
>Thank you, mm! With your help, I discovered that I DO have a Mute button on
>my Dell Precision keyboard. It never occurred to me that there might be one
>on the keyboard. It'll get lots of use now.
>
>Jo-Anne
>
Until I read the other posts, I didn't nnotice that you have a laptop.
You can't really buy another keyboard for your laptop and if you do it
will look exactly the same , but I'm glad yours has mute and
volume already!