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Try just changing your volume manually and you will see the speakers auto un-mute. You-tube was not one of the offenders that I have noticed that changes the volume level on the local machine.

Unless something’s changed, I’ve always understood that apps could only invoke system sounds and could not override a master mute. Maybe if the OP could tell us which app(s) in particular is causing this issue? I don’t seem to have any that will override mute speakers.

Any application that changes the volume level results in an unmute. Try it yourself manually. Mute your speaker and then simply change the volume on the volume slider. When you do, the speaker will automatically unmute. Therefore, any app that causes a change in volume level will override the mute.

The places I have seen it most are web pages that have some sort of audio coded in them. If the volume level of the audio is different than what my system is set at, it changes the volume and unmutes the speakers. I know this because I typically set my volume to zero and mute the speaker. When it gets unmuted, the volume level will be at some level above zero. Since it was at zero before entering the web page and at non-zero after going to the page, it seems that something on the page is setting a volume level.

To be fair, it doesn’t happen a lot. But it typically happens when not convenient. The only way I have found to prevent disruption is to use the dummy jack approach to silence the speakers even if they do get unmuted. That is a workaround for a “feature” that MS insists is “industry standard”. Apparently, they decided it was industry standard with the release of Windows 7.

In XP, changing the volume does NOT automatically unmute (when the apparent “industry standard” was different). All that I (and others) are asking is that MS allow us (the users of the OS) the flexibility (either through registry or some other method) to specify whether or not we want a change in volume to override the mute status. In the meantime, if anyone has a utility that will create this same effect, it would find a ready market.

Have you tried setting system sounds to No Sound and applying? (Control Panel>Sound>Sounds tab>Sound Scheme> No Sounds)

That seems to only stop Windows from sending sounds. Other apps still control and unmute the speakers and can send sounds.

This isn’t the fault of the operating system, It’s yours. Don’t touch the volume controls.
I don’t know what you mean by “or an app running in the backgrownd wants to set the volume control”.
Please clarify this for me.

“Don’t touch the volume controls” is the answer I got from MS too, and that is a cop out. It would be nice to say that, in a perfect world, I would never accidently bump or touch a volume control. But since the volume control can be adjusted in any number of ways (a physical volume control wheel, software keys, accidental mouse clicks, etc), it is unrealistic to say the answer is don’t touch the volume control. And besides, running apps can touch the volume control when I am not even physically near the computer (more below).

As another said, the simple answer is to provide the end user the option. That is also the solution that a few people have asked MS to implement. Why they don’t and insist that this is the industry standard is a mystery to me.

In Windows 7 (I don’t know about Vista because I never adopted it), apps can have independent control of the volume. They can set the volume level inside the running app. When they touch the volume, the speakers auto unmute. All under programatic control, not under control of the user.

I know, the next answer is that I should have no other apps running in the background. That is also not realistic. If I wanted to go that route, I’d step back to DOS.

So far, the most practical answer, until MS decides in it’s wisdom to let the end user control the option, is the headphone jack.