Quite recently, the Speaker icon disappeared from the System Tray. I tried going to Start/Settings/ Control Panel/Multimedia and check "Show volume on the taskbar." but its grayed out. How do I remedy this?

Have you installed sound card software lately? If you have there lies your answer. Some sound card software like soundblaster pci have there own icon and the speaker is not availible.

Billie Bob, If the speaker icon for the volume control panel has disappeared from the right side of the task bar near the clock, there are a couple things that could be responsible for this. Try the following steps to correct this. -Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel. Double Click on the Multimedia icon. In the ‘Playback’ area, make sure that the ‘Show volume control on the taskbar’ box has a check in it. If it does not, put one in it and click on APPLY and then on OK. The icon should now appear on the taskbar near the clock. -If it has a check mark but the box is GRAYED OUT and you cannot access it, look at the ‘Preferred Device’. Click on the down arrow at the right and select your sound device from the list of devices shown. Once this is selected, the Volume box should allow you to put a check mark in it. If these steps do not work, try the following to verify that the volume control panel is installed properly: -Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel. Double click on Add/Remove Programs. Click on the Windows Setup tab at the top. Scroll down the list and double click on the Multimedia category. Scroll down until you find Volume Control. If there is a check mark, remove it and click on OK. Click on OK a second time. Reboot the system and then come back in and recheck Volume Control. Click on OK. Click on OK a second time. It will begin copying files. When it finishes, enable the icon on the taskbar through Control Panel>Multimedia. -If there is no check mark besides Volume Control, click in the box to check it and click on OK. Click on OK a second time and it will proceed to copy files. When done, enable the icon on the taskbar through Control Panel>Multimedia. HTH 2:-)

Forgot this: Go to START>RUN and type in: dxdiag click OK. This makes the DirectX Diagnostic Tool appear. Click on the Sound tab at the top, run the tests for Sound, and see if it reports anything that is not working.

i tried everything suggested but i still cant get it working. I even tried double clicking SNDVOL32.exe in the c:\Windows folder and nothing happens. Whats is up with this?

Billie Bob, What OS are you running? Did Dxdiag report any problems? Is the sound card integrated into the mainboard, or is it a separate card? PCI? ISA? In My Computer, Device Manager, any exclamation marks in yellow, or Xs in red there? Is the Sound card recognised in the (+) Sound, Video and Game Controllers? Go to Start>Settings>Control Panel>2clk System Icon>Device Manager, select View Devices by Connection. Highlight: Computer, click Properties, the Computer Properties dialogue box appears. In the View Resources tab, select Interrupt Requests (IRQ). Specifically targeting the Sound card, is it sharing an IRQ with another device?