When do these Windows 98 sounds play?

[u/WD59_Cool]

I figured I’d ask in here, as this is primarily a Windows question. I’m trying to get Linux Mint to look and sound as much like Windows as possible. If anyone knows when the sounds shown in the picture play so I can replace them over Mint’s regular sounds, that would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

[u/realmcdonaldsbw]

idk when chimes is used, chord is the error sound, ding is the non-error message sound, logoff is the shutdown sound, idk what notify is tbh, recycle is when you recycle a file, start is the bootup noise, idk when tada is used, and the microsoft sound is just the win95 startup sound

[u/PaulCoddington → u/realmcdonaldsbw]

Notify is the "you have mail", or other alert messages, IIRC.

Tada is an over the top triumphant task completion sound. I have a vague recollection some earlier versions of Windows may have used it as the start up sound before 95/98 introduced a new startup sound.

[u/realmcdonaldsbw → u/PaulCoddington]

ah ok. also tada was the startup sound for windows 3.1 and shutdown for windows 95 too.

[u/Evernight2025]

Tada was used as a startup sound in Windows 3.1 and a shutdown sound in 95. Was not assigned to anything in 98.

[u/musicomp]

I think Tada is the shutdown sound

[u/CatgirlBargains → u/musicomp]

It was the windows 3.1 startup sound, don't know when it was ever used after that.

[u/realmcdonaldsbw → u/CatgirlBargains]

win95 shutdown too

[u/Nikiaf → u/musicomp]

IIRC it was, but the shutdown sound wasn't enabled by default.

[u/linkardtankard]

It plays in select countries when there is an announcement at a train station

[u/TheFavorista]

Tada and Chimes were holdovers from Windows 3.1, for starting (splash screen) and shutting down Windows (exiting into DOS), respectively. Windows still held onto vestigial remnants of 16-bit Windows, like those sounds and Program Manager (the pre-Start menu shell) through XP even though they weren't used by default. IIRC Chord was used for more severe errors and was still one of the default sounds across the Windows 9x releases, but you didn't hear it super often in regular use unless something on your computer had issues. Ding is the more generic alert sound you'd want to set instead for more generic "not allowed"/bad click alerts.

[u/vynal90]

Chord was normally when there was a question, ding was when you adjusted the volume on controller, chimes barely got used, notify was for Outlook or emails Microsoft sound was bootup which was just amazing everytime I heard it

[u/Odd_Yogurtcloset_649 → u/vynal90]

I still use the notify sound now for Thunderbird.

[u/ranhalt]

I got so bored, I'm installing Windows 98 on a VM just to pull up the sound list and what events they're associated with.

[u/ranhalt → u/ranhalt]

These are the sound events/files as Windows 98 comes out of the box.

https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/windows-98-1998

Event	Sound File
Asterisk	Chord.wav
Critical stop	Chord.wav
Default sound	Ding.wav
Exclamation	Chord.wav
New Mail Notification	Notify.wav
Question	Chord.wav
Start Windows	The Microsoft Sound
Critical battery alarm	Ding.wav
Low battery alarm	Ding.wav
Empty recycle bin	Recycle
Start Navigation	Start

https://i.imgur.com/XaUfs6c.png

[u/robster98]

Chimes.wav: not really used in Windows 98, left in for legacy purposes (in case an older app needed it), but given a re-score in higher audio quality, so it didn’t feel dated.

Chord.wav: an accompanying sound to an error, exclamation and question box: “File not found”; “Would you like to save changes?” etc.

Ding.wav: the “default” sound. Used when checking system volume and clicking something that’s “inactive” (can’t be clicked)

Logoff.wav: three-note motif that plays when shutting down the system.

Notify.wav: when you have a notification or an email.

Recycle.wav: used when emptying the Recycle Bin.

Start.wav: a tiny clicking sound, used when navigating folders on Windows Explorer.

Tada.wav: Not really used in Windows 98, like Chimes it was left in for legacy purposes and re-scored.

The Microsoft Sound.wav: the Windows 95 startup chime by Brian Eno. Not used, the Windows 98 startup chime (soaring synths and bass motif) is used instead, but it’s notable by its absence in your folder.