In order to mute the system volume, you first need to download a small utility called NirCmd. 1. Right click on the desktop and choose New > Shortcut. 2. In the location bar, browse down to the location of where you saved nircmd.exe, and then add "mutesysvolume 2?" as arguments. You'll probably want to put quotes around the path to the executable, like this: "C:\path\to\nircmd.exe" mutesysvolume 2 3. Give the shortcut a useful name like "Toggle Mute", and then open up the properties of the shortcut. Here you can assign a shortcut key, or you can change the icon to something else. Tip: Remember when using a shortcut key, you should keep the shortcut on the desktop or move it into the Start menu - shortcut keys don't always work if the shortcut is in the quick launch menu. Either way, you should now have a shiny new shortcut that will mute or unmute the system volume.