I just use my laptops multimedia keys. On my Asus laptop for example, 
FN+F9 toggles mute on and off.

On 05/09/2014 06:23 PM, Ana G wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Is there a quick way to unmute the speakers in Windows? I'm running
> Windows 8.1, so that's what I'm interested in, but I'm willing to try
> things that work in other versions.
>
> I had a very cranky moment with a campus IT tech this week. I normally
> hook my laptop to the classroom projector using a serial cable that's
> already waiting for me. With this setup, I can type examples and so on
> as I lecture. The short version of the story is that the cable was not
> there when I got to class, so I called a tech to bring it back. He did,
> but he couldn't get my laptop to communicate with the projector, so he
> started messing with stuff. Since all of this took a very long time, I
> dragged class announcements out as long as I could. Then I started
> lecturing, so I was only half listening to what the tech was doing.
> About thirty minutes in, I heard that Jaws was no longer speaking, but I
> didn't panic because he was doing something to the computer that's
> already in the room. When he gave up, we had a mini-tiff. He thought I
> should just use the computer in the room, which is what it was there
> for. I suppose I should be flattered that he didn't know I was blind
> until I mentioned it. My students certainly found his reaction amusing.
> Anyway, he fiddled with things a few more minutes, gave up again, and left.
>
> When I got home, I turned on my laptop and got silence. Initially, I
> thought it was having some sort of Windows meltdown, but when I got
> sighted help, I discovered the tech had muted the speakers, so the
> person helping me had to go into the charms menu, select Settings,
> select Volume, and click Unmute. Afterward, I tried going through the
> steps myself, but since there's no first-letter navigation in the charms
> menu or in the part of the control panel where volume is, the process
> isn't something I can really memorize and tuck into my brain somewhere.
>
> Is there a mute/unmute shortcut or toggle, or is there a utility or
> program I can use for this?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Ciao
>
>
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-- 
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail


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