[2023 UPDATE] All Windows Startup and Shutdown Sounds
Channel: ThatRandomToast
Date: 2023-06-26

After almost 3 years from my original Windows Startup and Shutdown Sounds video (https://youtu.be/C-xXSeYqD6E), an update is here! See how the #Microsoft Windows startup and shutdown sounds evolved over the years. Which sound is your favorite and most memorable?

Notes:
- OEM versions (e.g. 1.xx for Tulip Computers) aren't included, but OEM Service Releases of Windows 95 are included as they're not specific to one OEM.
- The Windows NT images are actually wallpapers titled: PRELIM.BMP for early NT builds; WINNT.BMP for NT builds up to 3.51; WINNT256.BMP for NT 3.51 - 5.0 (2000) build 1773. They're used for recognition.
- Windows Server 2008 and later server versions are placed in the same orders as their respective client counterparts due to sharing most boot screens and sounds to avoid repetition.
- Compared to the original video, Windows RT builds are now merged with Windows 8.x x86/x64 order instead of mentioning as if they're standalone versions, following BetaWiki practice.
- The Cobalt builds publicly released to Windows Insider Dev Channel up to June 2021 (21277 - 21390.co_release) is the decoy for Windows 11 (Sun Valley). Around the time of these builds, Windows 11 was working in self-hosted/internal branches.

Why are most Windows Startup and Shutdown Sounds videos wrong?
1. Windows didn't have any sounds until Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions (yes, this is the first version of Windows to support audio, not Windows 3.1).
2. Windows NT 5.0 (Windows 2000) Pre-Beta builds didn't use the sounds introduced in build 1671, it uses the NT 4.0 sounds.
3. Windows NT 5.0 (Windows 2000) Beta 2 both use the NT 4.0 shutdown sound, not the Windows 2000 Beta 3 build 1946 - 1969 startup sound as shutdown.
4. Windows Millennium (Me) uses Windows 98 sounds until build 2476. Doesn't use the startup or shutdown sound from Windows 2000 build 1983 - 2000.
5. Whistler uses Windows 2000 sounds until build 2481. Build 2481 added the sounds used in the RTM, but they weren't set as default at that point.
6. The widespread sound claimed to be the startup sound for the UK-specific version of Windows Server 2003 is ripped from the promotional animation (https://youtu.be/44WeDtVOrns) and there's no evidence for such a version. It would be costly to produce a sound for only one country-specific version of a Windows version intended for server use. No country-specific versions of Windows were known to exist until the N and KN editions for the EU and South Korea respectively (which both remove certain features due to antitrust lawsuits); the English (United Kingdom) language pack didn't exist until Windows 8 (https://web.archive.org/web/20191226205555/https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/b8/2012/02/21/using-the-language-you-want/ ).
7. The widespread sounds claimed to be from Longhorn are fake and never used in any available builds. They originated from Samsung Theme 1.1.1.6 (https://archive.org/details/samsung-theme ). Longhorn (both pre-reset and post-reset Windows Vista) used the Windows XP sounds, although late Beta 2 (most), RC, and the lead-up to 5840.16389 use the RTM logoff sound as a shutdown sound.
8. Windows 8, 8.1, and 10:
- Both have the same startup sound as Vista and 7 but are disabled by default. Check this video for how to enable the startup sound in Windows 8/8.1/10 and more information: https://youtu.be/v6cV_2CogrA
- "Exit Windows" event is no longer actually functional even when unhidden using the registry. The reason is in this quote found: https://pastes.io/6v2iphbptw

Contribute to StomperYoshi (Ethan Chase)'s document about Windows startup and shutdown sounds: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ctBcozpvj7St69YMAr6sceMUKxlSx9M2vEfn-JAiu0U/edit

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