James Tombs

[FIX] – the volume control program is not installed

Tuesday, 03. 4. 2008  –  Category: Windows

If you get the above message it is because you have for some reason lost your sndvol32.exe file from %WIN_DIR%\SYSTEM32.

If you do have this problem is is likely that you do not have access to the first Advanced button, which will be greyed out and you will get the error message about the volume control program when you tick the box “Place the volume icon in the taskbar”.

And here is how you get it back:

Option 1 – If you have access to another computer running the same Operating System:

Go to another computer running the same version operating system. If you are using Windows XP SP1, go on to another XP SP1 computer, or if you are using a Windows XP SP2 machine go to to another XP SP2 machine etc.

Go to the C:\Windows\System32 folder (this folder may be different for you, the letter at the beginning should be your drive letter). Find a file called sndvol32.exe. Copy this to a network share, CD or a USB memory stick.

Now on the PC with the problem copy this file over to C:\Windows\System32 folder (this folder may be different for you, the letter at the beginning should be your drive letter) and that should fix the problem.

Option 2 – If you don’t have access to another computer but you have your original Windows CD (note: not a restore CD):

Browse the CD and locate the I386 folder. In here find sndvol32.ex_. Copy this to your C: (I said C: because it is a lot easier to type in to a command prompt than a long directory).

Open a command prompt (Start > Run > type in cmd and press OK.)

Use the command expand followed by SNDVOL32.EX_ SNDVOL32.EXE. In Explorer copy the SNDVOL32.EXE from the C: to C:\Windows\System32. Problem should be fixed.

Alternatively you can copy it over straight away from the CD using the expand command:

d:
cd i386
expand sndvol32.ex_ c:\windows\system32\sndvol32.exe

Where D: is your CD/DVD drive.

Option 3 – If you don’t have another computer or your Windows CD:

You can download the file from RapidShare. Extract the zip and copy the file to your C:\Windows\System32 folder. Problem should be fixed.

I am not sure if this will work for all XP setups. I am sure it should work OK on Home or Professional but I am not sure how interchangeable it is between service packs. But the file hasn’t been modified since 2001, so it should be OK for all service packs, but it hasn’t been tested.

Microsoft know about this problem. You can read more about it in KB319095.