How to Change Windows Start-up Sound.
The Windows startup sound may be the most familiar sound you hear when your PC boots up. However, if you are like me using Windows since time immemorial, chances are you are very tired of it. So you might want to change that with an intro to your favorite song, or a soundtrack for your favorite game. So let’s get started. Here’s how to change the Windows startup sound.
Read the 8 Best Offline Dictionaries for Windows PCs in 2020
First method – use Registry Editor
Since Microsoft made changes to the Windows 8/10 architecture, there is no direct way to change the startup sound in the sound settings. However, you will still get it back with a little registry tweak. If you don’t know what the Windows Registry is, consider it as a huge database of settings for programs, hardware, user settings, operating system configurations, and more.
Follow the steps.
Go to Start and find Registry Editor. Now click on “Run as administrator” (important).
We are now going to display the Windows login and logout option in the event shortcut menu. To do this, select HKEY_CURRENT_USER AppEvents EventLabels.
In the EventLabel menu, scroll down to find two options. WindowsLogoff and WindowsLogon.
To make both of these options appear in the sound settings, we’ll change the attributes. Click any of the options and double-tap to open ExcludeFromCPL.
You will now see a dialog box. Change the Value from 1 to 0 and click OK. When you go to the sound settings option, you should be able to see the WindowLogon and WindowsLogoff options.
Next, let’s open up the settings to change the default system sounds. Go to the start menu and find sound. You will see the option “Change system sounds”, click and open it.
You will see another pop-up window for sound settings, look for program events. Scroll down and select Windows Login. Click on the browser and select the .Wav audio file you want to replace as Windows startup sound. If you have an mp3 file, you have a variety of options to choose from that make it easy to convert your mp3 file to Wav. You can use an online converter since you will be using your computer mostly. Then click Apply, OK and reboot the system. Voila, that’s all.
There is no limit to the file size per se, I tried with an 8MB file. Also experimented with length and it was able to play over 8 seconds, but since we get the login screen in about 8 seconds keep the audio length 6-8 seconds and the ideal .Wav file size is less than 1MB
You can do the same for the Exit Windows option in the same menu.
Use the Winaero Tweaker app
If you are one of those people who do not want to repeat the difficult steps of the previous method, there is a much easier and faster option. Using the Wiinaero Tweaker app gives you the ability to change the startup sound with one click. All you have to do is download and install the app and switch to the startup sound option in the sidebar. You have three options: you can play the current startup sound, replace the sound, or return it to the default sound.
To change the startup sound, click on Replace startup sound.
At this point, navigate to the location of your .Wav file, which in my case is on the desktop. Select and press OK. Finally, to complete the process, you can either reboot the system immediately, or wait to hear the changes on the next reboot.
The process has one limitation, that is, it only lets you change the startup sound. So, if you want to change the logout sound as well, the first way is the best way.
Get Winaero Tweaker
Concluding remarks
So these were two easy ways to change the Windows startup sound. In my opinion, if you don’t want to download and install additional software, the native method works great. I know that using the Windows Registry Editor you can slightly change and enable the sound setting, but once you enable this setting, changing any sound becomes very easy. If you want a simple one-click option, Winaero Tweaker is the way to go. It also lets you customize other Windows features and look.
Also read how to fix “Windows 10 Start Menu Not Working”