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Windows 7 was released by Microsoft in 2009, and its short startup chime played as the system finished booting and reached the welcome screen. The sound quickly became familiar to millions of home and school computer users during the years Windows 7 was the most widely used version of Windows. As newer versions replaced it, the chime took on a second life online, shared in nostalgia videos, retro tech edits and memes about old computers. It remains popular because it instantly signals the late 2000s and a simpler era of desktop computing.
About this sound
The Windows 7 startup sound, the short four-note chime that played when the system booted up. People use it for nostalgia, retro tech edits and computer jokes.
The Windows 7 startup sound is a brief, gentle four-note melody that once greeted millions of computer users every time their PC turned on. Soft piano-like tones rise in a calm, hopeful sequence, followed by a warm shimmer that fades quickly into silence. It is instantly recognisable even after only a second, because for years it was the sound of a computer waking up and getting ready to work. Hearing it now brings back a strong sense of the late 2000s, of school computers, family desktops and slow mornings waiting for the desktop to appear, making it feel both familiar and oddly comforting.
