Q2007 Sounds

If you're making the change to your Windows sound scheme, and it's not "taking," I wonder if the change is actually getting saved. BTW, in this case, I believe it's a Windows issue, not a Quicken issue. That is, unless Quicken is modifying the Windows sound scheme based on the sound settings within Quicken itself. I turn off Quicken sounds within Quicken, as I can't stand that cha-ching every time I enter a transaction. IIRC, Quicken is the only program for which I have sound turned off. Unfortunately it's all or nothing for sound settings within Quicken, but that makes sense considering there's more granularity in Windows sound settings.

Regards,

Margaret

Hi, Margaret - and Bert.

Sounds in Quicken! This is actually a 3-part problem. It's one part Quicken and two parts Windows. ;^}

First, in Quicken, turn on sounds, of course. This is in Edit | Preferences | Quicken Program | Setup, just where you might expect it. But, as you say, there is no "granularity" here. There's no option in Quicken to change "that cha-ching" to a chime or a siren, for example.

Second, in Windows, click Start | Control Panel | Sounds. (In some Windows versions, this is slightly different; I'm running the beta version of the upcoming Windows Vista and instead of Sounds, I click Audio Devices and Sound Themes, and then the Sounds tab.) There's a drop-down list of Sound Schemes; you probably are using the default, but if you've customized your scheme, your list might be different. The top Program Event here is Windows and it has many sub-events under it. At the end of that long list you may see other major headings, but somewhere near the bottom should be a Quicken heading with about 8 events under it, including Click, Delete and Open Program. Click on the Record event and see what is entered in the Sounds box below, just above the OK button. Mine shows qrecord.wav, which is the default, I think. Click on that Test button to hear the sound and see if it is what you expect. Then, if you like, click the drop-down arrow to select a different sound (you can test each one until you find what you want) or choose the top choice, which is (None). If you don't like any of these choices, click the Browse button to search your whole computer for other sounds.

Third, sometimes Quicken does not appear at all in that list of Program Events in the Sounds screen. That is very disconcerting to users who are told to do what I just said. Other Quicken users tell them to just look in Sounds under Quicken. The helper sees Quicken there on his/her screen and can't imagine that the other user can't see it there, too! The user sees nothing and doesn't know what the helper is talking about. Each thinks the other is hallucinating. :>(

Solving this third situation is harder. Recent Windows versions (since Windows 2000) have stronger protection against unauthorized installation and use of programs on the computer. Since I'm a one-man, one-computer kind of guy with no net but the Internet, I've never had to get involved with multiple users, permissions and that sort of controls, so I don't understand a lot of these restrictions. But other users here can explain how you must install Quicken while running as Administrator or, later, use Quicken as the User who installed it. If you have no sounds, you will need to either reinstall Quicken or edit the Windows Registry. Back in 2002, we worked out the solution in this newsgroup, but I've forgotten the details. The basic idea is that the Sounds key in the Registry, including subkeys for all the sound events, must exist in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Quicken. One way to create that key there is to find that ..\Apps\Quicken key for another user in the Registry, Export the key to a .reg file, then Import that into HKCU. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then don't try it; get a geek friend to help you. (The good news is that you probably can keep that .reg file and use it next time you upgrade or reinstall Quicken; that's what I've done.)

Such a small problem that can be either very easy to fix - or very hard.

RC

R.C. - Turning off the "Open Program" sound within Windows via the Control Panel is what I am talking about that doesn't keep the setting after choosing "none" for the event. I upgrade to every release of Quicken every year and I always turn off the "Open Program" sound and have never had a problem with it until now (immediately after upgrading to 2007).

So, in a nutshell, I had Quicken 2006 loaded and had the sound turned off (I keep all of the other sounds on). 10 minutes later after upgrading to Q2007, I immediately go into Control Panel / Sounds to turn off the Open Program sound, and Windows will not retain the setting to "None".

Just for kicks, I tried changing some default Windows sounds in other category's, and they keep the changes with no problem. It's ONLY the sounds within the Quicken Category that don't save.

Hi, Bert.

I don't have Q2007 yet, so I hope that Margaret - or somebody else - can explain this one.

Which Windows version are you running?

RC

I'm running XP, SP2 with all the latest updates.

If you go into the Control Panel and turn off the sound then exit the Control Panel and go into it again, does the setting say None or qopen? If it reverts to qopen then that's a Windows problem. If it doesn't then start Quicken. Do you hear the sound? If so get out of the Control Panel and enter it again and check. Was Quicken the one responsible for resetting it?

Also have you tried simply renaming that wav file? That oughta stop the sucker!

Bert wrote: R.C. - Turning off the "Open Program" sound within Windows via the Control Panel is what I am talking about that doesn't keep the setting after choosing "none" for the event. I upgrade to every release of Quicken every year and I always turn off the "Open Program" sound and have never had a problem with it until now (immediately after upgrading to 2007).

So, in a nutshell, I had Quicken 2006 loaded and had the sound turned off (I keep all of the other sounds on). 10 minutes later after upgrading to Q2007, I immediately go into Control Panel / Sounds to turn off the Open Program sound, and Windows will not retain the setting to "None".

Just for kicks, I tried changing some default Windows sounds in other category's, and they keep the changes with no problem. It's ONLY the sounds within the Quicken Category that don't save.

If you go into the Control Panel and turn off the sound then exit the Control Panel and go into it again, does the setting say None or qopen? If it reverts to qopen then that's a Windows problem. If it doesn't then start Quicken. Do you hear the sound? If so get out of the Control Panel and enter it again and check. Was Quicken the one responsible for resetting it?

Also have you tried simply renaming that wav file? That oughta stop the sucker!

-- Andrew DeFaria Tell a man that there are 400 billion stars and he'll believe you. Say a bench has wet paint and he has to touch it.

really not that difficult or dangerous - especially this change. I do things like this all the time...

Let's see. I have some time to play... In my registry I see qopen under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Quicken\Open Program\.Current

and perhaps:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Quicken\Open Program\.Default

It's a string variable containing the pathname to the wav file of empty if none. Therefore the following reg file, if double clicked from the Explorer should work:

Since everyone is now grasping at straws, I'll take a wild shot too.

It may be that some Q2007 background process has the registry entry locked. Try shutting down, logging into Windows in Safe Mode and then changing the sound via Control Panel. Then shutdown and restart normally.

Also, I didn't completely understand your answer to Andrew's procedure. Does the sound setting fail to take at all, i.e. if you set it to null, exit Control Panel, then re-enter Control Panel (1) is it already back to qopen or (2) does it revert to qopen only *after* you reopen Quicken?

You might also consider posting this issue in the Quicken Forum, if you haven't already done so. There you might get an Intuit employee who knows firsthand if any Q2007 changes might cause this effect.

The sound setting fails to take place at all. In other words, I can change the sound to "None", click "Apply", the go right back into the setting and it has reverted back to the qopen sound file.

Keep in mind, all other entries (other than Quicken) work properly and I can change them at will.

Thanks, Bert

I just have to step in after nine posts in this thread plus one other one hanging from an earlier reply, because.... (please pardon my naivete, no disrespect intended, I benefit greatly and often from the opinions and insight of John Pollard, R. C. White, Andrew DeFaria, Margaret Wilson, et al)

Why sounds at all? Isn't the opening screen and/or password dialog box (if password used) sufficient notice the program opened? Does one not know one has just hit/clicked enter or whatever makes the latest entry shoot up into the register? Are a few seconds of sound interrupting the soft (or not) music in the background really necessary to boost confidence yet another transaction/operation has been successfully completed? When Quicken disappears - with or without inviting you to back up - are there lingering doubts that the app is still around?

Thank you. May we all have peace and quiet when we need them.

Jay

If this is true then this is outside of Quicken's control and a Windows problem. Most likely the permissions for that registry key are set such that your user cannot modify it. Did you try regedit? Did you try double clicking the reg file I provided? Did you try renaming the wav file?

Some people like sounds. If you don't like it then turn them off. I happen to enjoy them.

"Bert" wrote

Are you logged on as either an administrator, or the user that installed Quicken?

Bert wrote: The sound setting fails to take place at all. In other words, I can change the sound to "None", click "Apply", the go right back into the setting and it has reverted back to the qopen sound file.

Keep in mind, all other entries (other than Quicken) work properly and I can change them at will.

If this is true then this is outside of Quicken's control and a Windows problem. Most likely the permissions for that registry key are set such that your user cannot modify it. Did you try regedit? Did you try double clicking the reg file I provided? Did you try renaming the wav file?

-- Andrew DeFaria Ask not for whom the bell tolls. Let the machine get it.

There's only one (1) user on my system, and it's the one I use (which is also the user that installed Quicken).

Bert,

Could you confirm whether or not the account you use has administrator privileges (Control Panel -> User Accounts then look for "Computer administrator" under the account name). If it does, that would definitely eliminate any update permission issues.

I'm still not totally convinced that this isn't a Q2007 issue, especially after Bert's latest response. Has anyone who has Q2007 running under Windows XP confirmed that they can turn off the qopen sound? If not, could we please have a guinea pig so that Q2007 can be conclusively eliminated as a suspect.

There are also a couple of areas that I don't completely understand that no one has mentioned: sound schemes and registry locking. Either might explain why only Quicken sounds are affected.

(1) Windows has sound schemes. I run with a single user account with administrator privileges and I have 3 sound schemes under the Sounds tab of the Sounds and Audio Properties form: an unnamed scheme (my active scheme - the only one I ever use), another named No Sounds, and one named Windows Default. When I bring up this form the Sound Scheme field is selected and it's quite easy to inadvertently change the scheme, especially with a wheel mouse. I'm not sure what effect it has on Quicken if you change the sound scheme (especially between installation of two Quicken releases).

My account named "Administrator", which I seldom use, has only the No Sounds and Windows Default sound schemes, the latter of which is active. Neither has any Quicken sound entries. So it's my guess that Quicken installs its sound entries under the currently active sound scheme of the account that does the Quicken installation. Even if you installed Q2007 and a prior release under different sound schemes that shouldn't cause your problem unless there are quirks in Control Panel or Q2007. Both probably should just use the current sound scheme.

A big assumption above is that Q2007 behaves like prior releases, which it may not! You really need to browse your registry and confirm that you have only the qopen.wav entries shown in Andrew's program. [You can safely ignore any Most-Recently-Used list entries (look for "MRU" or "mrulist" in the entry)]. If you find any additional entries this is a likely source of your problem.

(2) Locking of registry entries. I know nothing about how Windows locks and unlocks its registry entries. But I do know that locks on Windows files are sometimes not released properly even if the process that used the file terminates. The symptom is that you can't delete the file. Sometimes a simple reboot lets you delete it, sometimes a Safe Mode reboot works, and sometimes you have to boot in command prompt mode.

Have you tried turning off one of the other Quicken sounds? If you can do this successfully it begins to look like a locked, corrupted or possibly a duplicate entry for your qopen sound.

If you have a registry locking issue Andrew's program will probably bypass the lock. If that doesn't work Control Panel and/or Andrew's program might work if you boot in Safe Mode.

As a last resort you can boot into Safe Mode with Command Prompt mode and type "regedit" to edit the registry directly. To exit this mode type "exit", then Ctrl-Alt-Delete and select Shutdown.

Before you use Andrew's program or try to edit the registry you should probably browse it to see what qopen.wav entries you have. Post back if you want to do this and need help with it.

Based on my limited knowledge of Windows and Quicken, access permissions, sound schemes, registry locking, corrupted or duplicate registry entries and anomalies in Q2007 are the only things that can cause your problem. There may be other possibilities that people in one of the Windows NGs might be aware of.

Jerry

My account most definitely has admin privileges.

My reg file info:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Quicken\Open Program\.Current HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Quicken\Open Program\.Default

Both of these have entries pointing to the qopen.wav file (even after attempting to turn it off via Control Panel | Sounds. I also have 3 sound schemes, and even saved one as my "Custom Theme" to try and edit it from there - no luck.

I have tried changing all sounds with Quicken, and they all yield the same results.

I checked my permissions and my account is set for Full Control over all of the reg entries.

I would be very curious to see if anyone else running XP and Q2007 is having the same issue.

Thanks, Bert

What does that mean? What reg file are you speaking of? My "reg file" is an export from my registry (plus an editing of it to eliminate the wav file name). What is set in your registry (not your reg file). If it's blank then it should show as "none" in the Control Panel applet.