BeepChecker

Overview

BeepChecker is a tiny portable Windows program that plays the standard Windows beep sounds: the Information, Question, Warning, or Error sounds. It also lets you play custom beeps by generating simple tones on the speaker.

Use BeepChecker to familiarize yourself with the sound of the different standard Windows beeps, and learn to differentiate between them. Check the system sounds configuration on your PC, or check system sounds across Windows versions and virtual machines. Hardware enthusiast? Test if the beep sounds are generated by the internal PC speaker or by the sound card.

Features & benefits

Learn the beeps

While you make breakfast in the kitchen, and the kids are in charge of the PC, it is a good practice to set the volume high enough to hear if they are about the do something mischievous or just press a wrong button. BeepChecker can help you familiarize yourself with the sound and meaning of the different system beeps. And help you try to educate the kids to let you know themselves when they hear those beeps.

Check the settings

For example, with BeepChecker you can easily find out that, by default, Windows 8 plays the same system sound for the Simple, OK, Information, and Warning beeps. That's because in the System Sound Settings, they are all assigned to the same sound. If you decide to change the default beeps to more intuitive sounds, you can use BeepChecker to ensure that the new beeps are "live" across Windows.

Test the beeps

Different Windows versions come with different beep sounds, so you can use BeepChecker to test the differences. If you are a software developer or an IT administrator, and develop or work with products that rely on conveying messages that are accompanied by specific beeps, BeepChecker may prove itself useful. BeepChecker is also portable, so it's easy to use it on multiple PCs or virtual machines.

History check

A long time ago, the beep sounds were played by the internal PC speaker. Muting the volume had no effect on beeps, they were always heard. As sound cards have become standard on almost all PCs, Windows started to use them to play the beeps. If you are curious, mute the speakers, and run BeepChecker to play beeps. If you hear them, they are played by the internal PC speaker (and your PC belongs in a museum).

Double verification

For technical users, BeepChecker has a double verification hidden feature: clicking the Play button will play the corresponding beep sound using the Windows native API, while clicking the description label will play the beep using a .NET Framework class. (Nevertheless, the beep should sound the same. If it doesn't, the PC configuration is worth investigating, and Microsoft Support is worth informing.)

Simple and minimal

BeepChecker is very easy to use: the tidy user interface has a Play button and a description label for each type of beep, and frequency and duration input boxes for generating the custom beep. You can also use the keyboard to play the beeps. Each beep sound has a hotkey, that is revealed simply by pressing the ALT key. For example, pressing E in BeepChecker will trigger the Error Beep.

BeepChecker can help you learn the sounds of your OS, so you know what it is trying to tell you the next time it emits a beep. ... An efficient and easy to use application.

Softpedia Five Star Review

BeepChecker can come in handy when you want to familiarize yourself with what the system is trying to tell you, using the sounds. ... All in all, a simple decent freeware.

A handy and effective yet simple tool, especially for those of us who never knew what all the different beeps meant. ... All in all a very neat tool.

Rocky Bytes Score: Very Good!