# Volume bar not showing up on my monitor



## unicron

The green volume bar indicator doesn't display on my monitor when I adjust the volume anymore. How do I fix this? I recently installed trial versions of AnyDVD, CloneDVD2 and DVDFab Platinum if this helps. I have a HP WinXP Media center edition PC.


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## Christian Darrall

You mean the volume indicator, when you turn the volume up and down,

well make sure  that the jack plug that the speakers plug into is in the right socket,

make sure that everything is in the right position,

Some sound devices actually scan to see weather a sound output device is visible (speakers). if there not, then it might not show it.

See if there is a driver for the moniter and also have you dropped it of bangged the moniter in anyyway, as this might stop functions on the moniter from working, 

you have the same prob as me and i havn't found an exact fix yet

Chris


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## foreyes

Green volume bar? I'm not quite certain what you are asking, but if you can't see the sound icon on your taskbar, it might have been hidden by one of those programs. To get it back, go to Start->Settings->Control Panel->Sounds and Multimedia (path might be slightly different based on your setup). Under the Sounds tab should be a checkbox for "Show volume control on the taskbar." Make sure that is checked, click Apply, then OK and hopefully that helps.


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## PC Hobbyist

*I know that green bar...*

I see that you have an hp computer and since you are referring to a green volume bar, then it sounds like it's the volume bar that appears on the screen whenever you adjust the volume from the keyboard.

Well this is what you can do.

The easiest thing is to go to Control panel - keyboard (at least that is it in win xp, I don't know if in xp media edition it is the same)
Select the "buttons" tab
Select the "global preferences" button
Now adjust the amount of time to display the volume and button messages
If for some reason, you do not see a "Buttons" tab in Control panel - Keyboard:

Then you have a known driver incompatibility problem with certain hp keyboards and some windows updates. You can fix that by going to hp.com and finding your specific pc model and download the updates for the keyboard driver. Click here to enter your model info or click here to read hp info on the problem to see if your pc is included.

It could be that you need the NET Framework 1.1 installed in order to update the driver. If you indeed end up having to update the driver let me know and I'll help you through it.


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## unicron

Thanks for the response guys. It's not the sound icon that I'm talking about.  When I press the up/down audio buttons on my keyboard, a visual indicator displays on screen showing the sound level.  Here's an illustration:

EDIT: I wrote this message before "PC Hobbyist's" post






[/IMG]


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## unicron

I don't see a "buttons" tab, so I guess I'll try the update.  Thanks.  I've had this computer for the past 7 months and had been fine up until a few hours ago.


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## elmarcorulz

I know what you mean. I had the green bar when i had vista, then had it with Media Centre edition, now that im back with XP, i dont have it. Im gonna keep looking for a patch though.


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## unicron

PC Hobbyist said:
			
		

> Then you have a known driver incompatibility problem with certain hp keyboards and some windows updates. You can fix that by going to hp.com and finding your specific pc model and download the updates for the keyboard driver. Click here to enter your model info or click here to read hp info on the problem to see if your pc is included.
> 
> It could be that you need the NET Framework 1.1 installed in order to update the driver. If you indeed end up having to update the driver let me know and I'll help you through it.



The update worked, thanks PC Hobbyist.  I don't like the new update, unfortunately.  The audio level display is located on the bottom left of the screen rather then bottom center.  And it's using thin bars instead of the thick ones as before.  One other thing, one press of the keyboard's volume button somtimes shows up on the monitor as three bars, and other time it's just one bar.  This the biggest problem I have with the new update.  This is awful.  Is there any way to change it back to the way it was before?


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## PC Hobbyist

unicron said:
			
		

> ...The audio level display is located on the bottom left of the screen rather then bottom center. And it's using thin bars instead of the thick ones as before. One other thing, one press of the keyboard's volume button somtimes shows up on the monitor as three bars, and other time it's just one bar. This the biggest problem I have with the new update. This is awful. Is there any way to change it back to the way it was before?


 

I don't know of a way to change it back. The only thing I can think of is that either the update was not specific for your keyboard or it has now been updated to be that way (especially if they just made one general update for everyone). 

On my keyboard (hp wireless multimedia) it has always been thin bars on the bottom left of the screen (before and after updating), but it only changes one bar at a time (well, sometimes two, but almost always only one).

I noticed that on the hp website, they seem to have one update for all hp PCs made after 2003. At least that is all I could find. You might want to either check the specific webpage for your pc model and see if there is a keyboard driver update there that is different than the one you just installed. If so, then use that and see if it helps. If not, then you might have to contact hp for more info. 

Let me know how it works out.


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## unicron

elmarcorulz said:
			
		

> I know what you mean. I had the green bar when i had vista, then had it with Media Centre edition, now that im back with XP, i dont have it. Im gonna keep looking for a patch though.



It sucks not having the volume level indiator on screen doesn't it, lol. 


EDIT: Well the new update worked until I restarted my computer.  It's once again gone.


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## PC Hobbyist

unicron said:
			
		

> Well the new update worked until I restarted my computer. It's once again gone.


 
Go to control panel - keyboard - buttons tab - global preferences

make sure there is no check mark next to "hide the display label"
increase the display time to 2 or 3 seconds and see if that helps.
I would still check your specific model for driver updates at the hp site. Maybe there is a more appropriate driver for your keyboard.

What type of HP do you have? I can look and see if I find something too.


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## unicron

Thanks for the help PC H, my computer is the HP Media Center m7250n

I checked the global prefences, and it's set the same as your post.


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## unicron

I looked up software and driver updates by model and there was only one option.  I downloaded and installed it, and it sorta worked, but now I'm back with the same problem as before.  The only thing I have to show for it is the new "button" tab.


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## unicron

I re-installed the update and it's working again...for now.

Well, I must leave my computer now.  Thank you so much for the help  PC H.  I'll come back to solving this problem later tonight.


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## PC Hobbyist

unicron said:
			
		

> I looked up software and driver updates by model and there was only one option. I downloaded and installed it, and it sorta worked, but now I'm back with the same problem as before. The only thing I have to show for it is the new "button" tab.


 
I checked your model and yes, the updated driver they provide (sp26572.exe) is the same one they provide for all hp pcs made after 2003.

I would contact hp and tell them your updated driver is not working properly.

A thought just came to mind. I wonder:

if you have .NET Framework 1.1 installed and if not, then
if the updated driver is not working 100% properly because of that
I don't know.  May that is not the reason. I just know in my case it did make a difference. However, in my case, I couldn't even update (kept getting error when opening sp26572.exe) until I installed .net framework.


*EDIT:* If you want to check what version of .NET framework is installed in your computer, do this: 
1. Go to C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework and open the folder with the highest number version (for example v1.1.4322)
2. Find the file Mscorlib.dll
3. right-click then properties - version tab

Now look at this *microsoft article* and using the table there see what you have (for example version 1.1 with service pack 1) - that's what I have.


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## unicron

Thanks for your help, PC H. Sorry for not responding sooner, I've been really busy.

I followed your instructions to check the .NET Framework version and it is indeed 1.1. with Service Pack 1.

It's likely I'll end up contacting HP sometime this weekend.  I just wanted to post my problem in this forum first to see if anybody had a solution.

Your solution you posted should have solved my problem, but for whatever reason, the update does not work once I turn off and on the computer.

I was planning on reformatting my hard drive at the end of the month.  I may do this earlier however.  This will, I'm sure, bring back the volume bar.  Hopefully this time it won't disappear on me.


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## PC Hobbyist

*That's fine, but read this first.*

Hi Unicorn. Well I hope you get the problem sorted out. I did want to mention that *reformatting the hd and reinstalling windows* *might not fix your problem*. The thing is that the keyboard driver runs into compatibility problems with certain windows updates. I believe specifically with one of them. So, if you reinstall windows, and soon there after, the automatic update installs that certain windows update, you will probably be right back to where you were with the problem.  Just thought I'd let you know to save you some time and possible frustration. Good luck clearing it all up with hp.


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## unicron

Hi PC H

I was planning on reformatting my hard drive anyways, but yes, updating windows would likely bring back my original problem.  This way, I at least know for sure it's the windows update that's causing it.

The file (Microsoft's MS06-015 Security Update - KB908531), that's suppose to have compatibility problems with my HP keyboard is not listing in my Windows update history.


From HP site:

" Fixes 

# Provides additional support for Quick Resume Technology, allowing system to Resume from Away Mode via any key press.
# Resolves issue where the Buttons tab is missing from the Keyboard Properties window in the Control Panel after installing Microsoft's MS06-015 Security Update (KB908531). "


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## unicron

Hi PC H.

I did find the update.

I can delete this update.  Hmm, I'm wondering if I should remove it.  What are the odds that an attacker would compromise my system?



From Microsoft:

Security Update for Windows XP (KB913580) 
A security issue has been identified in the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Controller service that could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer. 
How to Uninstall
This software update can be removed via Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. 
Get help and support
http://support.microsoft.com


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## PC Hobbyist

I tried that with my computer back when I was dealing with the same issue. Well, it didn't do anything. I still had the problem even after uninstalling the KB913580 and rebooting.  Maybe I should have tried reinstalling my original driver after that, but I didn't do that. I just went ahead and reinstalled the KB913580 update. 

After that is when I realized that the reason my hp keyboard update wasn't working was because I needed NET framework installed. Anyway, I got it all sorted out, but I just wanted to mention it to you. You can try uninstalling that KB update and see if that works for you. I don't know really how much of a security risk it would be to do that.


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## unicron

Hi PC H,

In the event that HP doesn't have a solution to my problem, after a hard drive reformat, I just won't download the KB913580 update.  I will be turning off windows auto-update too.

By turning off windows auto-update, I'll be getting the red shield on my system tray warning me that my "computer might be at risk".  How do I stop this message from popping up at start-up?

By the way, deleting the update did not do anything on my system as well.


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## foreyes

If you absolutely do not want Automatic Updates at all, go to Start->Run type services.msc Look in the list for Automatic Updates, then Disable it, then Stop it. Voila!


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## unicron

Cool.  Thanks for the tip foreyes.


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## unicron

I would like to thank everybody who have responded to my post, especially PC Hobbyist.

Have a nice day!


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## PC Hobbyist

unicron said:
			
		

> I would like to thank everybody who have responded to my post, especially PC Hobbyist.


 
You're very welcome, unicorn. I'm glad I could help out since I went through the same situation. Hopefully you'll get your green bar back just the way you like it.


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