OL97: Sound Not Played When You Receive a New Message

ID: Q243768

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Outlook 97
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you receive a new message, no sound is played even though you selected Play a sound in Advanced Email Options.


CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the registry entry does not contain the full path for the sound file or no sound is selected for mail notification.


RESOLUTION

To have Outlook play a sound when new mail arrives, follow these steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.


  2. On the Preferences tab, click E-mail Options, and then click Advanced E-mail Options.


  3. Under When new items arrive, click to select the Play a sound check box.


To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Sounds.


  2. In the Events box, click New Mail Notification.


  3. Select a new sound, different from the current selection.


  4. Under Preview, click Play.


  5. Click OK.


If you want to return to the previous sound, repeat steps 1-5 selecting your previous sound file.


MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

Edit the Mail Notification Sound in the Registry

  1. Click Start, and then click Run.


  2. Type regedit, and then click OK.


  3. Navigate to the following key:


    4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\MailBeep\.current
  4. Click .current. In the right pane, double-click (Default) to open the Edit String dialog box.


  5. In the Value data box, type the path and file name of the .wav file you want to use, and then click OK.


  6. On the Registry menu, click Exit, and then restart the computer.


Verify Sound Association

To verify that the sound event is associated with New Mail Notification functions, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Sounds.


  2. In the Events box, click New Mail Notification. The sound event should have a speaker icon beside it to indicate that this event is enabled and associated with a valid .wav file.


  3. Under Preview, click the Play button.


  4. Click OK or Cancel.


Additional query words:

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb


Last Reviewed: October 14, 1999
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