Windows 10 beeps and boops call for the silent treatment
Q: My new Windows 10 computer makes a lot of noise. Not bad noise, just system sounds and alerts of all kinds. Beeps when I adjust the volume, boops when I get a new email message. Is there a way to turn these off without muting my entire computer? I still want to listen to music and watch videos.
A: All versions of Windows make these type of noises, but Windows 10 seems especially noisy. Or maybe it’s just that we got used to Windows 7, and the new system sounds that Windows 10 makes are more noticeable.
Sometimes these sounds are helpful, but I find them to be somewhat intrusive and bothersome, so I turn most of them off.
To make changes to your alerts, open the Control Panel and search for Change System Sounds, and click on it when it appears.
In the window that pops open, you will see where you can disable all sounds from the drop-down menu, or you can go to each individual option and either change or disable the sound for specific events.
When you make changes to individual sounds, it will create a preset called Windows Default (modified), which you can save to a different name if you like.
If you end up changing your mind, you can use that drop-down and select Windows Default. That will let it change all back to the original settings.
Q: I am replacing the hard drive in my desktop computer and will be reinstalling my operating system. Do I have to partition the new drive before installing Windows?
A: Back in the good old days, it was often necessary to partition and format new hard drives before you could do anything with them.
These days, you usually don’t have to do that. The install process for Windows, as well as other operating systems, will take care of making the necessary preparations for you.
If you’re wanting to set up separate disk partitions, you can do that within Windows after you complete the install using Disk Management.
You should be able to find any number of tutorials online if that is something you want to do.