No Sound Events Are Played (262256)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q262256
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

No sound events may be played, even though you have applied a sound scheme or you have associated specific sounds with sound events.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if there is a null value at the root of the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive. In Regedt32, the value appears as:

<No Name>:REG_SZ:

Note that this entry does not prevent sounds from being played if you use the Sounds and Multimedia tool in Control Panel to verify sound associations or if you simply attempt to play sounds (such as .wav files). This problem only affects sounds that are triggered by a sound event.

RESOLUTION

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Delete the null value in the registry. To do so:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Click HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
  3. Check for a value in the right pane that looks like this:

    <No Name> :REG_SZ:

  4. If this value is present, click the value, and then press DELETE.
  5. Quit Registry Editor.
You do not need to restart the computer to make the change take effect.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

By default, there are no values at the root of HKEY_CURRENT_USER. The value described in this article can be created by a third-party program. Although there may be other values at the root of HKEY_CURRENT_USER, it is not typically necessary to delete them to restore your sound events.

Corel Word Perfect Office may cause this problem when the following value is created at the root of HKEY_CURRENT_USER:

PerfectFit Logical Syntax Characters:REG_SZ:"*<>|

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/20/2003
Keywords:kb3rdparty kbenv kbprb kbsound KB262256
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.