I've scoured the internet for the past couple of hours and cannot find an answer. Any time I'm using any program that is in full screen (games, movies, whatever) and I use the volume control from my keyboard the program always minimizes to show the volume indicator. This is very annoying and I cannot find any options on my computer to have it run minimized or background only. Any help?

I've scoured the internet for the past couple of hours and cannot find an answer. Any time I'm using any program that is in full screen (games, movies, whatever) and I use the volume control from my keyboard the program always minimizes to show the volume indicator. This is very annoying and I cannot find any options on my computer to have it run minimized or background only. Any help? HiIs this a non-standard keyboard you are using?If you are not in full screen mode and you use those volume control keys, does this bring up a display when adjusting the volume?You might want to check for a volume keyboard shortcut for the particular program you are using. I know that in Windows Media Player you can use the F8-F9 keys to adjust the volume when in full screen mode.Let us know what you find.Thank You for using Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP

I'm using the keyboard that came with the computer. Its an HP e9220y if that helps any? I'm not using any specific software for it. Just whatever default drivers were on the comp. And yes, the volume indicator comes up even when I'm not in full screen mode. I can't click on it or anything. I can't find what program runs it so I don't know where to find any options for it. I've tried every program and option that I can find in Windows that might contain an option to run the volume indicator in background or minimized or just off. I've also noticed just recently that the volume likes to adjust itself. Like, while listening to music at random the volume will lower or sometimes raise. I don't really mind it but I wonder if maybe I can find the option that controls volume swell maybe I can find an option to run indication in background or something, but I haven't found an option to change this feature either.

That sure sounds like driver issues to me. Did you upgrade from something else to Windows 7 or was this preinstalled?MCSE, MCSA, MCDST

Preinstalled. Bought a new pc. Using keyboard that came with it. It was like this out of the box. Its just a bar that pops up in the middle of the screen that shows the volume going up or down as I hit the buttons up or down or even mute. Its kinda like have the volume level indicator from the task bar just pop up and minimize anything full screen to show you that the volume is going up or down, except its horizontal instead of vertical like the one that you can look at on the task bar.

Hi,I can't really help you with the volume bar issue but for the automatic change in volume, right click the speaker icon in the notification tray and select sounds. Go to the communicatons tab and see what is selected for reduction in volume.

Hi Olly0206, I think the issue can be related to the factors such as third party software installed or HP keyboard driver. You also can confirm HP directly about this issue. Please download the latest keyboard driver from HP HERE and see if the issue can be resolved. Please Note: The third-party product discussed here is manufactured by a company that is independent of Microsoft. We make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability. Also, please see if the issue occurs in Clean Boot mode. If the issue disappears in the Clean Boot environment, we can use a 50/50 approach to quickly narrow down which entry is causing the issue. Besides, you can use mouse to control the volume in the application without quite full screen mode. Hope this helps. Regards, Linda

Everyone is treating this like its a problem. Its not a problem in the way that a virus is a problem, its just a feature of some program or driver and I just can't figure out which so I can turn it off. Worse comes to worse I'll just learn to deal with it. Its not any third party program that I installed because its been doing this since I opened the box and first booted it up. At the time it seemed like a good thing cause now I have a visual indication of where my volume is and how much louder or softer I can go until it minimized full screen apps. Which, by the way, all programs do not have a volume indicator that I can adjust in full screen. Games for example do not, nor do some streamed videos. So I don't always have the option to use the volume control in the app. Anyway, I was just hoping someone may know about this feature and might be able to point me in the right direction but apparently I'm the only one who's ever experienced this so I'll just learn to live with it if I can't figure it out. Thanks anyway.

I have the same computer with the exact same problem / annoyance. My wife and I bought the same machines and her volume control works great without minimizing the screen.Another problem I am having is that the WIN-KEY will minimize the screen as well as show the start menu. For some of the games we like to use this is really annoying and as Olly0206 mentioned scouring the internet does not give any answers.

I've found a solution for your problem. It is caused by HP MediaSmart and is NOT a driver issue (like Linda Yan suggested). This is a software that comes bundled in with any premade HP Computer that you purchase with Windows 7, but has absolutely no practical use other than eating RAM and being annoying. All of its features are easily replaced by better, more efficient freewares that can be downloaded from the Internet. It is safe to uninstall HP MediaSmart and I only had to uninstall HP MediaSmart Menu to do so. Once you have uninstalled it, the volume indicator that minimizes fullscreen programs is no more. *note*: You can only uninstall MediaSmart from the control panel. *note 2*: I can not guarantee that you will be able to re-install HP MediaSmart without having to use your recovery disks. I can guarantee that you will NEVER have use for it, but I only recommend you uninstall it.

I have the same problem. Everytime I change the volume, the fullscreen program minimizes. But I don't want to remove HP MediaSmart program because of it's one thing and that is the webcam software it has. Is there any other way to change the way the volume works so that the bar doesn't show up and disrupt the full screen applications?

I have the same problem. Everytime I change the volume, the fullscreen program minimizes. But I don't want to remove HP MediaSmart program because of it's one thing and that is the webcam software it has. Is there any other way to change the way the volume works so that the bar doesn't show up and disrupt the full screen applications? I couldn't find a way to change anything at all in the program, so there I can't help you. I think HP doesn't allow any changes to the way MediaSmart works, but don't quote me on that. If there really is no way to change how MediaSmart handles the volume indicator, I'd recommend that you try and search for some free webcam software and see if you find anything that suits your needs.

Thank you SOOO much I will try that out tonight.

PERFECT! This is what I needed for the same HP prob here. I don't like any of that HP s/w anyway. Uninstalling this Mediasmart garbage solved my volume control problem while cleaning up my computer. Next I want to tackle the prob where clicking on a different window causes a running program to stop.

I suppose since this is already a few months old you may already have found the answer but the one that worked for me was as follows: The settings within the HP Quicklaunch buttons has an option for turning off the notifications (including the changing volume.) 1. Press Start 2. Open Control Panel 3. In Classic View - Double Click "HP Quicklaunch Buttons" (Icon looks like a rocket ship) 4. On the Prefences Tab - Uncheck "Display HP Quick Launch Buttons Desktop Notifications" This should solve your problems. I did this on an HP EliteBook 8530w.

I got the answer from HP support. DON"T use their phone support.... You end up paying for it and stuck with some rag head that can't speak english! Here are the steps: Step 1: Uninstall and reinstall HP Quick Launch Buttons: To uninstall the Quick Launch Buttons, follow below steps. 1. Click start, select Control Panel. 2. In Control Panel, select the option Programs and Features. 3. In Programs and Features, select HP Quick Launch Buttons and click uninstall. 4. Follow onscreen instructions to uninstall the software. Next, reinstall HP Quick Launch Buttons from the following link: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp49001-49500/sp49104.exe Installation Instructions 1. Download the file by clicking the "Download" or "Obtain Software" button and saving the file to a folder on your hard drive (make a note of the folder where the downloaded file is saved). 2. Double-click the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions.

I got the answer from HP support. DON"T use their phone support.... You end up paying for it. <Removed> Here are the steps: Step 1: Uninstall and reinstall HP Quick Launch Buttons: To uninstall the Quick Launch Buttons, follow below steps. 1. Click start, select Control Panel. 2. In Control Panel, select the option Programs and Features. 3. In Programs and Features, select HP Quick Launch Buttons and click uninstall. 4. Follow onscreen instructions to uninstall the software. Next, reinstall HP Quick Launch Buttons from the following link: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp49001-49500/sp49104.exe Installation Instructions 1. Download the file by clicking the "Download" or "Obtain Software" button and saving the file to a folder on your hard drive (make a note of the folder where the downloaded file is saved). 2. Double-click the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions.