INFO: PlaySound May Succeed But Not Play a Sound from a Service (255584)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API), when used with:
    • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
    • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
This article was previously published under Q255584

SUMMARY

When you are using the PlaySound function from a service that is configured for the localsystem account, it may fail to play a sound although the same code works from an interactive user.

MORE INFORMATION

The PlaySound function refers to the following registry key to determine the sound card to play the sound file:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Multimedia\Sound Mapper

The Playback value specifies the sound card.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER is a mapping of the user's profile, which is loaded under HKEY_USERS. A service that is configured for the localsystem account does not have a profile, and therefore any references to HKEY_CURRENT_USER refer to HKEY_USERS\.default. The registry settings may be different from the interactive user's profile. The Playback value should match for both registry keys.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/18/2003
Keywords:kbinfo KB255584
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