[Galealayo]

I help maintain a small computer lab at a neighborhood center and we just got new refurbished computers with Windows 7 on it and I do not know Windows 7 that well (I'm out of the loop with everything past Vista) so I figured maybe someone here could help me out as I've used this site in the past under a different account with success.

We do not have speakers per se so all sound comes out of the tower itself. I've looked in the Audio options and there are only two audio drivers/settings you can adjust: Speakers and System Sounds. Lowering System Sounds lowers the volume a bit but if someone plays a Youtube video then it plays as if the Speakers volume hasn't been lowered at all.

What I'd like to do is restrict guests from listening to Youtube videos and/or music WITHOUT headphones so everyone else in the lab doesn't have to suffer.

Is it possible to make it so something has to be inserted into the Speaker drive in order to hear sound from it?

I appreciate any and all responses to my question(s).

 

[spunk.funk]

Supply headphones with every computer. Plug them into the Headphone jack in the front of the desktop. Go to Control Panel/Sound and set Headphones as the default playback device. How to change the default playback and recording audio device in Windows Tell everyone if they want to hear sound to use the headphones.

 

[Galealayo]

So I tried what you suggested however when I plug in the headphones nothing shows up on the Audio Devices window besides "Speakers". I made sure to right-click on the empty space to show disabled devices but that didn't bring any "invisible" devices up.

 

[spunk.funk]

Are you plugging it into the Green Headphone jack in the front? Do you know if the front audio jacks work? Try plugging it into the Back Green Audio port.

 

[Galealayo]

There is no green jack in the front. Both are black and I've tried both AND the back green jack with no luck. The headphones work but the option to set it as a default playback device does not. Interestingly enough I plugged my headphones into the blue jack next to the green one in the back and I got a response from an application called AudioESP (?) which told me to set the CD player (which I'm not using) as the default device and gave me essentially the same advice you've given me for the Rear-In device but it only shows up on the Record tab.

 

[jimscreechy]

If the headphones work, then they should show up in the playback devices as 'something' maybe just not as headphones. open it first then plug them in and see what shows up.

 

[Galealayo]

Tried what you suggested awhile ago jim. The only thing that shows up on the window is the "Speakers" device. The green sound bars bounce when I play music.

 

[spunk.funk]

The Blue jack is a Line in, for importing audio into the computer not for playing audio out.
Computer speakers should plugged into the Green Audio jack in the Back, So, if Headphones were plugged in to that jack, you should hear sound, you can also try the Pink (Red) Mic Jack.

 

[Galealayo]

Tried with the red jack. Still nothing.

 

[spunk.funk]

Try the headphones on another computer, sounds like they are not working.

 

[Galealayo]

I've already tried this on two different computers however they both have the same specs/towers/OSes on them so I'm at a loss at this point since none of this is working on them. And it's not like I'm testing them with cheap headphones either. Mine aren't top-of-the-line but they're not crap either.

I appreciate you trying to help me though.

 

[spunk.funk]

none of this is working on them

If the head phones fail on all computers, it is the headphones not the computers. Are you sure they work?

 

[Galealayo]

The headphones work fine. Otherwise I wouldn't be using them to listen to music often.