# How to completely disable notebook speakers, but still have working headphones



## 1101

Alright I want to completely disable my notebook's built in speaker system but still be able to hear sound from its headphone jack, EVEN WHEN HEADPHONES ARE *NOT* PLUGGED IN. Sorry for the caps but I need to emphasize this because people for whatever reason seem confused by the idea. It is annoying when you are listening to music and then accidentally unplug your headphones to have music blast at you especially when other people are around. So basically I want it so my computer cannot physically play sound at all, ever, unless a pair of headphones is plugged in. Note that I do not want to have to physically disconnect the speakers on the off chance I need them to work again.

I am using:

An Asus x83v computer
windows xp
realtek HD audio driver

There is no option anywhere on my computer (even under the bios menu) to selectively disable on the built in speakers and I am fairly certain that my realtek driver bundles all audio devices together and will not allow independent manipulation of any of them. I have looked through all the settings in the realtek menu as well as volume control (even with advanced controls enabled). There is no listing under device manager for my notebook's built in speakers so I cannot disable them from there. However my system is able to detect when I plug in or remove my headphones (as a little message blip pops up when i do so) so there must be some way to tell it to shut the hell up if the headphones are unplugged (even if that means downloading some background app, through this is not a preferable option).

It has been suggested that I download so called 'Microsoft sound driver' but have not been able to find this driver anywhere. If anybody knows a sound driver that would let me manage my headphone and speaker volume separately that would be great. Otherwise please let me know of a solution if you know of any.

Edit:
In an effort to keep this thread alive I would like to point out that it is now:
*MORE THAN ONE PAGE*


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## bkribbs

1101 said:


> Alright I want to completely disable my notebook's built in speaker system but still be able to hear sound from its headphone jack, EVEN WHEN HEADPHONES ARE *NOT* PLUGGED IN. Sorry for the caps but I need to emphasize this because people for whatever reason seem confused by the idea. It is annoying when you are listening to music and then accidentally unplug your headphones to have music blast at you especially when other people are around. So basically I want it so my computer cannot physically play sound at all, ever, unless a pair of headphones is plugged in. Note that I do not want to have to physically disconnect the speakers on the off chance I need them to work again.
> 
> I am using:
> 
> An Asus x83v computer
> windows xp
> realtek HD audio driver
> 
> There is no option anywhere on my computer (even under the bios menu) to selectively disable on the built in speakers and I am fairly certain that my realtek driver bundles all audio devices together and will not allow independent manipulation of any of them. I have looked through all the settings in the realtek menu as well as volume control (even with advanced controls enabled). There is no listing under device manager for my notebook's built in speakers so I cannot disable them from there. However my system is able to detect when I plug in or remove my headphones (as a little message blip pops up when i do so) so there must be some way to tell it to shut the hell up if the headphones are unplugged (even if that means downloading some background app, through this is not a preferable option).
> 
> It has been suggested that I download so called 'Microsoft sound driver' but have not been able to find this driver anywhere. If anybody knows a sound driver that would let me manage my headphone and speaker volume separately that would be great. Otherwise please let me know of a solution if you know of any.



according to http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows/41199-disable-speakers-but-not-headphones.html

"you should be able to use the realtek audio manager to select the headphone socket / jack as the default audio output and do it that way"


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## 1101

There is no such option anywhere in the realtek manager. I should point out that that the realtek manager is this teal colored cartoonish pop up thing. It looks like this:
http://mslinn.com/sites/mike/bear/images/realtek4.png
Only mine does not have nearly as many options as the one pictured in the link (btw I have the latest version for my system).


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## bkribbs

1101 said:


> There is no such option anywhere in the realtek manager. I should point out that that the realtek manager is this teal colored cartoonish pop up thing. It looks like this:
> http://mslinn.com/sites/mike/bear/images/realtek4.png
> Only mine does not have nearly as many options as the one pictured in the link (btw I have the latest version for my system).



do you have to have certain cards to use realtek? if you give me a link where i can download it, ill try to see if i can find the settings if they are there or help


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## 1101

Here's the site download 
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...=3&GetDown=false#High Definition Audio Codecs
im using the one for xp


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## bkribbs

1101 said:


> Here's the site download
> http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...=3&GetDown=false#High Definition Audio Codecs
> im using the one for xp



ok i am going to sign off for the night, but i  will mess with it once i get  back up and see what i find!


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## bkribbs

OK, I feel like an idiot. I have installed it, but I cannot figure out how to access it?


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## 1101

For me there is a little orange megaphone icon in the lower right corner. I can also access it from start>settings>control panel> realtek hd sound effect manager. Just an aside I use the classic view of the control panel (its probably buried in the regular view).


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## bkribbs

1101 said:


> For me there is a little orange megaphone icon in the lower right corner. I can also access it from start>settings>control panel> realtek hd sound effect manager. Just an aside I use the classic view of the control panel (its probably buried in the regular view).



yeah i use classic view also, but it isnt there. i have tried installing twice and it just doesnt show up.


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## G25r8cer

Control Panel - Sound

Right click which device you want and select "Default". Or right-click the speaker and click "disable". You should NOT have to use the Realtek manager to disable or enable sound devices. Windows has that feature built in.


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## 1101

@bkribbs
I think it only installs correctly when you have no other audio dirver

@G25r8cer
I went to start>settings>control panel> sounds and audio devices

I assume your talking about the audio tab under sound playback. The only available choice is realtek, there is no built in feature available. Can you tell me exactly where you are seeing this option because I do not see it anywhere.

@Everyone
btw if this is at all relevant my computer originally had vista on it. I downgraded to xp and had to install third party drivers for enet, video, and audio. So it is likely that no where on my computer is any sort of default driver.


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