There’s something magical about Windows 95’s boot sound (maybe because of the fact that it’s created by Brian We’re great). I thought it would be simple to use the nostalgic noise as my Windows 11 startup sound, but I was unpleasantly surprised to find that it was actually misleadingly difficult.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants Windows to welcome me with a nice jingle, so this guide will show you how to restore an activation sound to Windows 11 (or Windows 10) and (if you will) replace it with perhaps the best activation sound of The operating system of all.
Turn off fast boot
You must have noticed that when you turn off your Windows 11 computer, you can magically restart it by pressing any key on the keyboard instead of the power button on your computer. This is thanks to the “fast boot” feature in Windows 11, which basically puts your computer to sleep, shuts it down but keeps your session, drivers and the like dormant in a hibernation file, ready to return to action as soon as your computer is turned on.
A fast boot can speed up boot time, although its effects are not significant and some people have even reported that it slows down their boot time. It also prevents Windows from greeting you with jingle because Windows does not think your computer is actually shutting down in the first place.
A quick shutdown of boot can restore your boot sound. To do this, click Start, type control panel
, And then click “Control Panel” in the search results. Select “Power Options”. If you do not see it, change “Show by” in the upper right corner to “Large Icons”.
![How to Add Windows 95 Boot Sound to Windows 10 Power Options 9](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2021/05/how-to-add-windows-95-startup-sound-to-windows-10-power-options-9.jpg)
In the Power Options window, click “Select what the power buttons do,” and then clear the “Enable Quick Boot” check box. If it’s gray, click ‘Change settings not currently available’, then uncheck the box.
![How to add Windows 95 boot sound for fast Windows activation](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/01/how-to-add-windows-95-startup-sound-to-windows-fast-startup.jpg)
Turn on the Windows startup sound
Next, we need to move on to the sound options in Windows 11. Go to Start and type “Change system sounds”. Select the result. Alternatively, in the notification area, in the lower-right corner of the desktop, right-click the speaker icon, and then click “Sound Settings.” In Windows 10, select “Sounds” instead.
![How to add a Windows 95 boot sound to the Windows sound icon](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/01/how-to-add-windows-95-startup-sound-to-windows-sound-icon.jpg)
In the System Sound Settings window, scroll to the bottom of the left pane and select “Additional Sound Settings”. In Windows 10, you should already be in the right window.
![How to add Windows 95 boot sound to additional Windows settings](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/01/how-to-add-windows-95-startup-sound-to-windows-more-settings.jpg)
In the Sound window, click the Sounds tab, and then select the “Enable Windows play sound” check box. Your computer should now play jingle whenever it boots. If you’ve satisfied with Windows 10 boot sound, you can stop now. If you want to pamper your nostalgia and replace it with the jingle of Windows 95 (or any other sound for that matter), keep reading.
![windows-10-startup-play-startup-sound-2 windows-10-startup-play-startup-sound-2](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2016/11/windows-10-startup-play-startup-sound-2.png)
Download Windows 95 boot sound
If you want to add another playback sound to Windows 11 beyond the defaults, you will need to use a “.wav” file or convert an existing audio file to a .wav file. It’s simple to do, and you can use a free online converter like Online conversion or media.io to do this. You can also use VLC Media Player.
If you want to use Windows 95 jingle like I do, you can Download it from here By right-clicking on the small WAV logo and clicking “Save Link As”. If you have a problem downloading from here, give it a try Free orange sounds Instead.
![How to add a Windows 95 boot sound to a Windows 95 sound](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/01/how-to-add-windows-95-startup-sound-to-windows-95-sound.jpg)
Once you have your wav file, it makes sense to change the boot sound from the sound settings window, but for some reason, this option is missing.
Replacing the Windows 11 boot sound
Windows 11 makes it a little difficult to change the boot or login sound. If you open the sound window in which you activated the boot sound, you will notice that there is no login or boot sound entry in the list of system events available for change.
For Windows 10 users, the process works almost the same, but does not need to modify the registry. However, make sure you are running the latest version of Windows 10. Earlier versions cannot add sounds directly from the sound settings window.
To add the login / boot option to the list, you will need to edit the listing. Type Win + R And type regedit
. Click OK to open Registry Editor.
![How to add Windows 95 boot sound to Windows registry](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/01/how-to-add-windows-95-startup-sound-to-windows-registry.jpg)
Navigate to the following area:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/AppEvents/EventLabels/WindowsLogon
![How to add a Windows 95 boot sound to log in to](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/01/how-to-add-windows-95-startup-sound-to-windows-windows-logon.jpg)
Double-click “ExcludeFromCPL” and change its value to 0 (zero). This prevents Windows from hiding the setting from you.
![How to add Windows 95 boot sound to Windows Change Exclude](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/01/how-to-add-windows-95-startup-sound-to-windows-change-exclude.jpg)
Click OK and exit Registry Editor. Now, go back to the sound settings (Start -> type “Change system sounds”, select “Change system sounds”). Open the Sounds tab.
Now, below the Windows section in the list, scroll down until you see “Log in to Windows”.
![How to add Windows 95 boot sound to configure Windows login](https://www.maketecheasier.com/assets/uploads/2022/01/how-to-add-windows-95-startup-sound-to-windows-windows-logon-setting.jpg)
There are two ways to add the Windows 95 boot sound as an option in the Sounds drop-down box. First, select “Browse”. Navigate to and select your sound.
Alternatively, open File Explorer and add your boot audio file to “C: Windows Media”
Replace C with the letter of the drive where Windows is installed. Each method will add your sound to the list.
Select the Windows 95 boot sound as the login sound and click Apply. Obviously you will need to restart the system to experience the nostalgia of the classic operating sound.
Common questions
1. Why does my sound not appear in the list?
First, make sure you have a .wav file. Depending on where you downloaded the file, it may be .mp3 instead. You can always convert it.
Second, check that the sound file does work. Play it on the media player of your choice. If it’s damaged somehow, Windows may not recognize it
2. How do I change other system sounds?
Follow the same procedure as with changing the boot sound. However, select the system event from the list of sounds you want to change. Then, just select which custom sound you want to use. Feel free to be creative. You should not use only old Windows sounds. Just make sure you use short WAV clips.
3. Why does Windows 11 not have a boot sound by default?
Microsoft has chosen to disable boot sound from Windows 8. Many users just did not like playing sound when they turned on their PCs. In addition, sleep and coma conditions have become more popular.
Of course, this is why you also have the option to turn on the boot sound in the sound settings.
4. Why do not play any sounds when I turn on my computer?
While this may seem obvious, make sure your speakers are turned on. If you use Bluetooth speakers, you probably will not hear a startup sound because your computer does not connect to Bluetooth devices immediately.
Also, check that your speakers are working. Play any audio you like on your computer to make sure everything is fine. You can also use our troubleshooting guide if you are having problems with Windows Sound.
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