Remember, a new app doesn’t show up in the Volume Mixer until it actually makes a sound – not just when you open it. So play around with. You’ll see that Vista Volume Mixer does remember the settings. It doesn’t remember fixed settings for each individiual app. Instead, it rather remembers settings in relation to the master volume. And that still applies when you change your system’s master volume when Volume Mixer is not open. That’s why you’re likely to see changes in position the next time you open it.

The Volume Mixer shows the currently-running programs that make sound (a program shows up on the mixer the first time the program makes a sound). Simply adjust the volume for each program how you want it. And once you set the volume for a program, Windows remembers the setting.

To get the Volume Mixer, just click the speaker icon in the Notification Area (where the clock is) and then click Mixer at the bottom of the volume slider. Or, just hit Start and type sndvol in the Search box.