How do I set a sound playback device to be OFF upon reboot?

[MamaBear2017]

Playback Devices - Sound _ Playback

I have a blue tooth Creative D80 speaker in the room with our parrots, next to my home office. I play music for Lucy - my Yellow Naped Amazon, when she's awake, and she loves it, and even sings ( in her own way ).

But when they're all asleep after 10 PM, and if I need to reboot the PC, it keeps setting the device ON by default, and the next thing I know, the birds are screaming in the dark, because an email came in and triggered a sound in there.

But I cant find a way to set this device OFF on re-boot.

 

[Barman58]

Not used it but this may help ...

Mute Your Speakers at Night with Windows Scheduled Tasks [How To]

As the scheduled task is running at all times it should switch off at your set time even after a reboot. add another to unmute each morning at a suitable time

A similar method would be to add a mute command to run every time your PC reboots, (just add to start folder), but this would need you to switch sound on when you do need it

 

[Barman58]

Just noticed that the tool used in my first reply is no longer available

NirCmd - Windows command line tool

Should do this job also, so just download Nircmd and save it in your windows folder, and replace the Mute command in the original scheduled task with the NirCmd one

You can download Nircmd at the bottom of the page in the Link (use 64 bit if using a 64 bit system)

 

[MamaBear2017]

Muting at night isn't the issue. I actually play music for Lucy in the evenings SOMETIMES, before their bedtime. The issue is setting that blu-ray speaker DEFAULT to OFF, when the PC boots, so if I re-boot after they're asleep, the stupid thing doesn't come ON as DEFAULT. It does now. So if I reboot at 5 PM and don't remember it, the speaker has been turned on in there, and scares them when they go to sleep later, if an email comes in, for example. I can understand why the main system speaker would be set to come on by default, on reboot, but not a remote blu-ray in another room, that I keep OFF when not playing music for her.

 

[Barman58]

What my suggestion was meant to do, was switch off all audio output after a set time, "The birds bedtime" (and switch all sound back on in the morning), this would stop all sound devices, both those local to , or in the computer, and any devices such as your bluetooth speaker.

There is an issue in switching off the bluetooth connection only, as the feature is designed to automatically reconnect after a reboot, this is a bluetooth feature and not under windows control as there is no switch accessible to windows.

 

[MamaBear2017]

Not what I'm looking for, mate. I keep my PC in my office on all the time, though on low volume late at night, so I can hear emails come in. JUST need the blu-ray device to be off when the PC restarts.

 

[Barman58]

OkI think I understand your requirements but as I stated Windows cannot directly control the remote bluetooth speaker, this is because of the intrinsic way that bluetooth works. If Bluetooth is switched on and a bluetooth device is paired then it will automatically connect.

This means that we need to find an alternative control function that Windows can control the setup - my first technique was to control the audio service, but as you wish to retain the audio on the actual PC in the office we need a different approach.

The only other controllable service involved is the overall bluetooth system, (But as far as I know there is no existing applet to control this such as NirCmd for the audio).

This can, however be controlled by a Batch file that replicates the manual mouse clicks you would normally perform to switch off Bluetooth or any other service, (go into the services applet and select "Stop" against the service involved),

The major issue with this or the audio method is that there is no way to target the remote Bluetooth speaker directly, so the technique will disable the speaker it will also disable all other bluetooth devices

The only way, that I am aware of, to control the switch off ( using programming Basics it would be - IF User forgets AND a reboot occurs), is via a task that does it based on a time trigger It occurs each night at a set time (it can also be used as a manual shortcut on your desktop, which allows you to switch off/on from the office or can be achieved by clicking the bluetooth tile in the notification area, switching back On is also possible by the same methods)

The information to create the batch files needed for Bluetooth service control is contained in the following link

Disable Bluetooth in Windows 10 [Updated]

This would be used to create two batch files (On & Off) that would be used by the original Scheduled tasks in my first post and if needed manually for remote control from the office .

Out of the Box Idea
One other way I have thought of is to control the Power for the Bluetooth speaker, these days there are a lot of remote control automation devices available for use in the home - This could be a simple plug-in timer that switches the wall socket powering the Speaker between two times overnight, or one of the newer fancy WiFi units which can be controlled remotely with a remote control or even the PC.

One system that I used for a long time, was a simple idea - I had the habit of going out to work without small items that I needed (mostly USB devices that I would leave plugged in at home), and need when a got to a job - the cure was a low tech one of a post it note fixed to the inside of my front door It worked which is all that mattered. I now use my scheduler on the cell phone to give me regular reminders, Have you done this... Have you considered to do ... They are set to occur at regular times as a prompt only

 

[MamaBear2017]

I see disconnect ( which I use every night, to play music for Lucy, then turn off again before they sleep ), and disable, which is a whole different level. Looks like this is just too beyond the means of the Windows 8.1 system, to conveniently control. Thanks.

By the way, here's a photo of Lucy with a snoot full of my banana.

 

[garynino]

Playback Devices - Sound _ Playback

I have a blue tooth Creative D80 speaker in the room with our parrots, next to my home office. I play music for Lucy - my Yellow Naped Amazon, when she's awake, Nox Vidmate VLC and she loves it, and even sings ( in her own way ).

But when they're all asleep after 10 PM, and if I need to reboot the PC, it keeps setting the device ON by default, and the next thing I know, the birds are screaming in the dark, because an email came in and triggered a sound in there.

But I cant find a way to set this device OFF on re-boot.

There is an issue in switching off the bluetooth connection only, as the feature is designed to automatically reconnect after a reboot, this is a bluetooth feature and not under windows control as there is no switch accessible to windows.

 

[MamaBear2017]

This is a moot point now. I trashed the bluetooth in my OS and it hasnt appeared in months. Cant get it back.