Windows 7 volume On Screen Display?

I just upgraded my PC to Windows 7. I'd like to get back the on screen display (osd) for volume. With XP I used to see a horizontal band of green bars on the screen that showed the volume level when I adjusted it from the keyboard. Now, nothing.

The PC is a generic brand (from endpcnoise.com) and the keyboard is an IBM Thinkpad Travel USB keyboard.

I'm hoping someone can point me to a specific driver to get this working. I did look at the Lenovo site and downloaded a keyboard driver, but it didn't seem to do anything. In fact, when I go to the Control Panel and look at the drivers for my keyboard, it looks like I'm still using the generic Microsoft keyboard driver.

sam

Posted 2010-02-19T07:50:29.803

Reputation: 213

keyboard drivers are hit and miss. I've just got a cheap $20 Saitek and volume works with no drivers. I would try uninstalling all you keyboard drivers first, at least any you have added. windows should find any usb keyboard without any drivers. if that doesnt work then your keyboard just might just not work or its too old. – WalterJ89 – 2010-02-19T10:41:09.877

Answers

3RVX is a skinnable volume display and controller. It shows your sound volume level with its on-screen display (OSD) and also allows you to control the volume via a skinnable slider or custom hotkeys. Supports drive eject notification, mouse hotkeys, and a wide range of customization options.

alt text

fluxtendu

Posted 2010-02-19T07:50:29.803

Reputation: 6 701

Thanks. The UI seems a bit slow to respond to volume changes from the keyboard, but overall it looks pretty slick and does what I was looking for. – sam – 2010-02-20T06:09:59.650

Unfortunately, 3VRX doesn't work well with 64-bit Windows. Instead, try a free app called Sound Volume Hotkeys.

ander

Posted 2010-02-19T07:50:29.803

Reputation: 21

1I'm running 3VRX v2.5 on my Windows Enterprise x64, and it's fine. Perhaps there was an update in the meantime... – Raithlin – 2011-04-26T08:56:10.287

From my brief research and experience it seems like Lenovo has still not released official versions of the drivers for this keyboard that will enable OSD. They do however have some Beta drivers available here.

The display of the OSD is controlled by the drivers. I had the same problem with my Microsoft Keyboards until I loaded the Windows 7 IntelliType drivers.

BinaryMisfit

Posted 2010-02-19T07:50:29.803

Reputation: 19 955

Yeah, that's what I found too. Lenovo isn't up to speed and the keyboard isn't that old. – sam – 2010-02-20T06:11:12.847

I know this is an old question, but I stumbled upon this when I was looking for a similar software solution. I have found that the Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Centre adds an on-screen volume indicator, regardless of what keyboard you use. This works with 64-bit Windows. Screenshot attached.

The volume indicator shows up in the bottom right corner of your main display.

I hope this helps.

Mo2

Posted 2010-02-19T07:50:29.803

Reputation: 179

I'm using an old HP internet keyboard, and installing this doesn't seem to do anything. – Eagle-Eye – 2017-01-05T21:59:35.930

@Eagle-Eye that's odd. It worked using a Ducky Shine keyboard. – Mo2 – 2017-01-07T04:25:29.737

I highly recommend Volume² over 3VRX v2.5.

Volume² is highly customizable, stable and works well on Windows 7 x64.

Volume² official website

The website is in Russian. Use Google Translate to translate it to English. Volume² itself has English GUI.

OSD

Options

Hugh Tash

Posted 2010-02-19T07:50:29.803

Reputation: 471

1why do you recommend it over 3VRX? You didn't give a reason why it's better. That's what would be interesting. – Aprillomat – 2016-07-17T13:51:28.523