Jon's Tech-Talk
Removing the Windows XP Start Sound
(Posted 3/30/06) - This sound occurs whenever Windows Explorer changes directories, even when the file-manager is invoked by a process running in the background!
The Windows XP Start WAV file default is a 'shhk-click' sound that can be quite annoying when the file-manager is invoked by an application running in the background. You hear the sound at the oddest times. Its especially distracting when you are listening to or recording music!
Here are instructions for turning off the sound. For XP select Start, then Control Panel, then Sounds and Audio Devices (I use Classic View). Then select the Sounds tab.
Scroll down to Windows Explorer on the select tab until you see the sound-type entry 'Start Navigation.' Click on the entry and you will see the associated sound filename in the sounds: selector. The default entry is 'Windows XP Start.'
Click on the selector for sounds and scroll to the very first entry which is 'none.' Select that entry to turn off the Windows XP Start sound.
Click the Apply button to make it permanent.
I found this little tidbit by doing a search for all XP sound files then clicking on each file to play it. I discovered the 'Windows XP Start' sound was the culprit sound that was interjecting at odd times. Then I just cycled through all the apps in the sounds menu looking to see who used Windows XP Start. Turned out it is the Windows file-manager: Explorer. I surmised that one or more background applications running on my XP system(s) invoke the file-manager, which fires off a 'shk-click' through my PC's / Notebook's speakers at unexpected times.