{"id":1,"date":"2015-12-11T22:28:49","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T21:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress-4.0.1\/wordpress\/?p=1"},"modified":"2021-03-22T06:54:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T05:54:05","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/?p=1","title":{"rendered":"How to get rid of the Volume OSD in Windows 8 \/ 8.1 and 10"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>What are we talking about?<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/AboutImage.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-18 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/AboutImage.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"65\" height=\"140\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">With Windows 8 Microsoft decided to add a small volume OSD to the system.\u00a0In previous versions of Windows such a display was optional. You could either install the Microsoft Intellitype software which had a volume OSD or any 3rd party tools like <a href=\"http:\/\/irzyxa.deviantart.com\/art\/Volume2-version-1-1-3-247-Release-340146840\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Volume2<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or <a href=\"https:\/\/3rvx.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">3RVX<\/span><\/a>, which are skinnable and configurable in many ways. With Windows 10 they changed a lot of things in the UI, but the volume OSD\u00a0has remained\u00a0the same and &#8211; despite of many user complaints &#8211;\u00a0can&#8217;t be deactivated. The only thing that is adjustable, is the time the bar is displayed on the screen before it disappears again (Settings \/ Ease of Access \/ Other options \/ Show notifications for).<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Many notebook manufacturers install their own software which provides a OSD when changing volume via dedicated keys on the keyboard. These often imitate the look\u00a0of the Apple OS X OSD.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: justify;\">What&#8217;s wrong with it?<\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Well I don&#8217;t want to talk about its Minecraft-inspired design, but in my opinion this has some disadvantages:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify; list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li>It is at a fixed position and can&#8217;t be moved<\/li>\n<li>It can&#8217;t be skinned (if selected, the bar color is adjusted to the background)<\/li>\n<li>There is no setting to turn it off<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I had Windows 7 on my HTPC in the living room with MediaPortal running. A lot of very nice skins exist for MediaPortal and\u00a0every one of them comes with\u00a0its own\u00a0volume OSD, that visually fits perfect to the skin.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Then I decided to upgrade to Windows 10. Now I have 2 volume bars when watching TV or a movie. The one from MediaPortal and the one from Microsoft:<a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/MediaPortal-VolumeBar2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-108 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/MediaPortal-VolumeBar2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"485\" srcset=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/MediaPortal-VolumeBar2.png 720w, http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/MediaPortal-VolumeBar2-300x202.png 300w, http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/MediaPortal-VolumeBar2-624x420.png 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With the time I\u00a0got really anoyed by this.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When searching for a solution I found a lot of posts with complaints\u00a0from people having similar problems (<a href=\"http:\/\/superuser.com\/questions\/662495\/how-to-disable-the-windows8-volume-on-screen-display\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">SuperUser<\/span><\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/answers.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows\/forum\/windows_10-start\/how-to-disableconfigure-volume-osdoverlay-that\/e0291ddd-d060-4bf8-aa64-157d849d95e7\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Microsoft Answers,<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/social.technet.microsoft.com\/Forums\/windows\/en-US\/4aac0f48-51fd-4030-8e1b-d313aacdd1d4\/how-to-disable-the-audio-level-osd\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">Microsoft TechNet<\/span><\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/windows8\/comments\/1niidk\/how_can_i_get_rid_of_the_windows_8_volume_popup\/\">Reddit<\/a>), but no hint how to\u00a0get rid of\u00a0this bar.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I could have turned off the MediaPortal OSD, but the skin-provided\u00a0OSD is\u00a0where the skin designer wanted it and therefore fits perfect to the skin, whereas the Microsoft bar in most cases\u00a0is not.<\/p>\n<h1>The solution<\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">After some research with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.catch22.net\/software\/winspy-17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WinSpy++<\/a>\u00a0I saw, that this\u00a0bar is just a top-level window on the desktop. If it&#8217;s a window we can hide it, said and done. I wrote a small\u00a0Application called &#8220;HideVolumeOSD&#8221;.\u00a0It is written in C# and\u00a0needs .net Framework 4 which is already\u00a0contained in Windows 8 and above.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">During installation you can choose between 2 different versions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/HideVolumeOSDSetup.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-286\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-286 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/HideVolumeOSDSetup.jpg\" alt=\"HideVolumeOSDSetup\" width=\"499\" height=\"387\" srcset=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/HideVolumeOSDSetup.jpg 499w, http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/HideVolumeOSDSetup-300x233.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 499px) 100vw, 499px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Tray icon version<\/h3>\n<p>The tray icon version of this app has a small context menu with 3 items, which is pretty self explaining.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"width: 180px;\">\u00a0Context menu<\/th>\n<th>\u00a0<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/ContextMenu2.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-110\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-110 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/ContextMenu2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"169\" height=\"76\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"vertical-align: top;\">\u00a0To hide the volume OSD you can select the menu item &#8220;Hide Volume OSD&#8221; or just click on the tray Icon. With this item you can toggle between visible and hidden volume OSD. If you exit the application, the volume OSD is always restored to visible state.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">During Installation the tool is added to the startup folder, therefore\u00a0once hidden the toolbar remains hidden after a reboot.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is how the tray icon looks like:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Volume OSD visible<\/th>\n<th>Volume OSD hidden<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/TrayIconOff.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-41 size-full alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/TrayIconOff.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"101\" height=\"39\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/TrayIconOn.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-42 size-full alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/TrayIconOn.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"101\" height=\"39\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Additionally it is possible to toggle volume OSD\u00a0visibility by just clicking on the tray Icon.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Silent mode version<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This version was a user request from Daniel, who just wanted to hide the volume OSD without any system tray app.\u00a0This one just hides the volume OSD at user login and quits then.\u00a0In case you\u00a0want to turn the volume OSD on again, just look into the program group called &#8220;HideVolumeOSD&#8221;. There are 3\u00a0different launch icons:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Icon<\/th>\n<th>Action<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>HideVolumeOSD<\/td>\n<td>Starts the system tray version.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>HideVolumeOSD (Hide)<\/td>\n<td>Starts the silent mode version to hide the OSD and quits then.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>HideVolumeOSD (Show)<\/td>\n<td>Starts the silent mode version to show the OSD and quits then.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Thats all<\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At this point I want to\u00a0finish with a variation of a famous quote\u00a0from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paul_Dilascia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul DiLascia<\/a>, a software developer and author who wrote a lot of C++ columns\u00a0 for the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Microsoft_Developer_Network\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MSDN <\/a>long time ago:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span style=\"color: #008080;\">&#8220;If this code works, it was written by Marcus Venturi. If not, I don&#8217;t know who wrote it.&#8221;<\/span><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>If there are questions about the software or problems, just leave me a note. And don&#8217;t forget: Sometimes a reboot is doing wonders&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Attention: There is new version available<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/?p=354\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"sdm_download_item \"><div class=\"sdm_download_item_top\"><div class=\"sdm_download_thumbnail\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdm_download_thumbnail_image\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Download.jpg\" alt = \"HideVolumeOSD download\" \/><\/div><div class=\"sdm_download_title\">HideVolumeOSD download<\/div><\/div><div style=\"clear:both;\"><\/div><div class=\"sdm_download_description\"><p style=\"text-align: justify\">This version has an installer for Windows 8 \/ 8.1\u00a0and 10. It runs on 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"sdm_download_link\"><span class=\"sdm_download_button\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/?sdm_process_download=1&download_id=199\" class=\"sdm_download green\" title=\"HideVolumeOSD download\" target=\"_self\">Download Now!<\/a><\/span><span class=\"sdm_download_item_count\"><span class=\"sdm_item_count_number\">60123<\/span><span class=\"sdm_item_count_string\"> Downloads<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"sdm_clear_float\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"sdm_yellow_box\"><p class=\"description\">Error! This download item is not available! It may be unpublished, private, or you may not have permission to view it.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source code: <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/UnlimitedStack\/HideVolumeOSD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HideVolumeOSD on GitHub<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are we talking about? With Windows 8 Microsoft decided to add a small volume OSD to the system.\u00a0In previous versions of Windows such a display was optional. You could either install the Microsoft Intellitype software which had a volume OSD or any 3rd party tools like Volume2\u00a0or 3RVX, which are skinnable and configurable in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":155,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":376,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.venturi.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}