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Windows 98 launched in 1998 from Microsoft, with the Second Edition following in 1999, and its startup chime became one of the most recognisable PC sounds of the era. As home computers spread, millions heard the same boot sequence daily, so the melody stuck in memory long after the systems were replaced. It later resurfaced online in retro computing videos, operating system history compilations and nostalgia posts, where younger audiences discovered it as a meme sound. Its continued use keeps the chime alive as shorthand for old internet culture.
About this sound
The Windows 98 startup sound from Microsoft, the nostalgic PC boot chime people use for retro tech jokes, old computer memes and throwback edits.
This is the startup chime that played when a Windows 98 PC finished booting, a bright orchestral sweep that rises and settles into a calm, futuristic finish. It starts soft, builds with strings and synth pads, then lands with that familiar warm glow of late nineties computing. Hearing it instantly signals an old system waking up, which is why it feels both nostalgic and slightly dramatic for something as ordinary as turning on a computer. In edits it works as an instant time machine, framing everything after it as retro, slow or proudly outdated.
