Question Hello: I have XP Home,and for some reason,my volume control icon is missing from my taskbar.When I opened "Sounds and Audio Device Properties",and checked the "place volume icon in the taskbar",I get a pop-up announcing that "Windows cannot display the volume control on the taskbar because the volume control program has not been installed.To install,use add/remove programs in the control panel"
Where do I find this volume control program to install it?
This may all be my fault,as I have been trying to remove some freeware that stubbornly refuses to be unistalled,and also,I have been trying to modify the Startup menu so Thunderbird (which I recently installed to replace Outlook Express) would launch at Windows startup,but all that is another story.
Anyway,I sorely miss the volume control icon!
Before I sent this,I found what I thought was the solution in Windows Help and Support files:
Volume Icon Is Not Displayed in the Notification Area, and You Receive an Error Message When You Try to Add It
View products that this article applies to.
Article ID : 319095
Last Review : January 23, 2004
Revision : 1.0
This article was previously published under Q319095
SYMPTOMS
On a Windows XP-based computer, you may experience one or both of the following behaviors: • The Volume icon is no longer displayed in the notification area at the far right of the taskbar.
• When you try to add the volume control icon to the notification area (in the Sounds and Audio Devices utility in Control Panel, click to select the Place volume icon in the taskbar check box on the Volume tab), you receive the following error message:
Windows cannot display the volume control on the taskbar because the Volume Control program has not been installed. To install it use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel.
As a result, you cannot start the Volume Control program and adjust the volume and sound level settings of your computer.
CAUSE
This behavior can occur if the Sndvol32.exe file is damaged or missing.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, extract a new copy of Sndvol32.exe from the Windows XP compact disc to the system_root\System32 folder on your computer's hard disk. To do this, follow these steps: 1. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. Press and hold down the SHIFT key as you insert the CD-ROM to prevent it from starting automatically.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
4. Type the following lines at the command prompt, pressing ENTER after each line, where CD-ROM drive is the drive letter of the computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD-ROM, and system_root is the path and folder name where the Windows system files are located (generally C:\Windows):
CD-ROM drive:
cd i386
expand sndvol32.ex_ system_root\system32\sndvol32.exe
Note that there is a space between "ex_" and "system_root" in this command.
For example, if your computer's CD-ROM drive is drive E, and the folder that contains the Windows system files is C:\Windows, type the following lines at the command prompt (pressing ENTER after each line):
e:
cd i386
expand sndvol32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\sndvol32.exe
5. Type exit to quit the command prompt.
6. Verify that you can start Volume Control and that the Volume icon is displayed in the notification area (if you selected this option).
MORE INFORMATION
By default, the Volume icon is not displayed in the notification area in Windows XP.
For additional information about how to display the volume control icon in the notification area, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
279435 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279435/EN-US/) HOW TO: Display the Volume Icon in the Notification Area in Windows
For additional information about icons that are displayed in the notification area, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
310578 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310578/EN-US/) Windows System Tray Icons
For additional information about how to troubleshoot sound problems, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307918 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307918/EN-US/) HOW TO: Resources for Troubleshooting Sound Problems in Windows XP
APPLIES TO
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition
The only thing is that when I follow this procedure,I get a response that says:
"Can't open input file sndvol32..."
Please advise,
thanks!
Answer Hi Michael,
Have you tried going to Start, Programs, Accessories, Windows Explorer, click the "+" sign next to My Computer, "+" next to Local Drive - C, "+" next to Windows, click the word System32, on the right side of the screen - double click sndvol32.exe. That should install it.
Check out the following with information regarding this problem:
Have you uninstalled any programs recently? That could be causing this problem. Do you have a SoundBlaster sound card, if yes, check out the following:
Once installed, enable Tea Timer. Open the Spybot Search & Destroy, click the "+" sign next to Tools on the left side of the screen, click System Startup, then on the right side of the page check HK_CU Run Spybot Tea Timer.
The Resident TeaTimer is a new tool of Spybot-S&D which perpetually monitors the processes called/initiated. It immediately detects known malicious processes wanting to start and terminates them giving you some options, how to deal with this process in the future.
