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We are all very familiar with the default Windows notification sounds for specific events. These include the start-up fanfare, the abrupt beep whenever you insert and remove USB devices or receive a new email, and the brief melody when you shut down your PC. However, you can change these default sounds or even remove individual ones that annoy you.

First, open the Control Panel, click ‘Hardware and Sound’, click the green Sound link, then the Sounds tab. Untick ‘Play Windows Startup sound’ at the bottom if you’d prefer your PC to boot up in silence. There’s an easy way to change the sound scheme for all your notification alerts. For example, to hear the sound that plays whenever you insert a USB device into your PC, click the Device Connect option in the Program Events pane, then click the Test button. Now click the Sound Scheme dropdown menu at the top (which is set to

Windows Default), then click one of the other options (for example, Afternoon). Click the Test button again and you’ll notice that the tone is slightly different to the Windows default. You’re other notifications will also change to a similar tone. To turn off a notification sound for a particular event in Windows, click its option (so click Device Disconnect within the Program Events pane, for example), then click the Sounds dropdown menu at the bottom and select ‘(None)’.Click Apply, then OK.