Is there a maximum length for Windows system sounds?

I want to set a song as my Windows 7 start-up sound. So I picked a song, trimmed it, and converted to a .WAV file.

I proceeded to add this file as a Windows log-in sound through Personalize > Sounds. But after I log off and back on, the song didn't play.

I tried these same steps with one of the default log-in sounds provided with Windows, and it worked just fine.

Why won't my song play? Is it because of the length of the audio file? And are there any work-arounds to make this work?

Oztaco - Reinstate Monica C.

Posted 2012-04-17T21:37:18.623

Reputation: 1 305

What length is the sound and how did you put it together (what program)? – Chad Harrison – 2012-04-17T21:42:18.520

its about 1 minute, and i used itunes to convert from MP3 to WAV – Oztaco - Reinstate Monica C. – 2012-04-17T21:44:22.890

In general, the limit is imposed on the file size. But since we are working with just a single, uncompressed format (WAV), then length is proportional to the file size. I have no clue what the limit may be in this case. – iglvzx – 2012-04-17T21:45:24.880

Try making a shorter wav file using the same method to see if the length is an issue. You can probably cut down the length to a second or so within the program you used for the conversion. There are many features that could be used with in wav file that might not be supported. – Eroen – 2012-04-17T21:45:25.770

i made a 30 second and that didnt work, now im going to try 2 second – Oztaco - Reinstate Monica C. – 2012-04-17T21:50:33.413

the 2 second one worked so i guess there is a minimum...does anyone know how to get around this? – Oztaco - Reinstate Monica C. – 2012-04-17T21:53:10.367

Suggestion: Since the "sample" (really a song) is long, I would delay the playback a few seconds after Windows loads. You want as little HD thrashing going on while everything is loading. Even if you use a SSD, you still want everything loaded as fast as possible. I usually turn off the on-load & shutoff sound for this reason. – tomByrer – 2012-04-17T22:48:16.633

Answers

In case no one else finds a way to get around the maximum length, what I ended up doing was putting this batch file in the Startup folder of the start menu:

@echo off
start "My song.mp3"

and it worked fine for the most part

i also set the log on sound to none

Oztaco - Reinstate Monica C.

Posted 2012-04-17T21:37:18.623

Reputation: 1 305

As far as I know, the limiting factor is the file size, rather than the length of the audio. Try saving the .WAV file with a lower bitrate. The default is usually CD-quality (44.1 kHz, 16-bit, stereo), so you could try lowering any or all of those parameters, depending on what options iTunes provides.

Indrek

Posted 2012-04-17T21:37:18.623

Reputation: 21 756

In my case the Windows Sounds dialog would load and recognize the .wav file but wouldn't play it, with this format:

RIFF (little-endian) data, WAVE audio, Microsoft PCM, 16 bit, stereo 44100 Hz

I changed it to 22050 Hz with Audacity and it worked:

RIFF (little-endian) data, WAVE audio, Microsoft PCM, 16 bit, stereo 22050 Hz

golimar

Posted 2012-04-17T21:37:18.623

Reputation: 846