Windows 7 was released by Microsoft in 2009, and its startup sound played automatically when users logged in, becoming one of the most recognisable system sounds of its era. As Windows moved to later versions with quieter or silent startups, the chime took on a second life online, shared in nostalgia compilations, retro tech videos and memes about early 2010s computing. It endures because it instantly signals a specific time in personal computing, even for viewers who never used the system themselves.