How do I get Windows 10 to chime / beep on the hour?

Here is a solution which:

• Doesn't require any additional software to be installed
• Works on all versions of Windows from XP to 10
• Doesn't display anything on screen whilst the sound is playing

Save the following code somewhere on your computer with a vbs extension (for example, play_sound.vbs):

Option Explicit

' Change the path and filename below
Dim sound : sound = "C:\Windows\Media\Alarm01.wav"

Dim o : Set o = CreateObject("wmplayer.ocx")
With o
    .url = sound
    .controls.play
    While .playstate <> 1
        wscript.sleep 100
    Wend
    .close
End With

Set o = Nothing

Change the C:\Windows\Media\Alarm01.wav to the full path and filename of the sound you want to play. I've tested files ending wav and mp3 and they work fine, there are probably other formats which work too.

Double click on it and you'll find the sound plays.

Now all you need to do is create a Scheduled Task to call this script every hour on the hour.

Finally, if you're interested, here is a page where you can download the hourly chime that comes from those retro Casio digital watches.

In Windows 10. You have built-in app Alarm & Clock.

To set up a new alarm, select New + . Select the item under Sound to choose the alarm sound that works best for you.

Set alarm for everyday at time you need. Example (7am)

Set the Snooze time to One hour. (So u will get alter every one hour)

Once the Alarm altering you. Only you need to click on Snooze

If you use the full address of wmplayer.exe then it works. E.g. C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe.

Your WAV argument is fine.

The only problem you'll have with WMP is that it no longer supports automatically closing after playback so your scheduled task can open WMP and play your sound but you'll need to write another Scheduled Task to close WMP a few seconds later as it'll remain open and it won't play the sound again...

You can use VLC player as it has a command line switch that can close the player after it's finished playing. The switch ic vlc:\\quit.

To be brutally honest, you're best looking for an application that will run in the system tray that can play a sound at your preferred interval and it'll probably be more reliable than launching a resource thirsty application for a simple "chime".

In addition to previous answers, here's a powershell script that can be run from the task scheduler. Save it to a file with a .ps1 file extention.

$sound = new-Object System.Media.SoundPlayer;
$sound.SoundLocation = "c:\WINDOWS\Media\notify.wav";
$sound.Play();
 
# If called using "powershell -file thisfile.ps1", you need to add a delay, 
# otherwise the script ends before the sound has played.
Start-Sleep -s 1

No User interruption needed means he can rather use VB Script

strSoundFile = “C:\Windows\Media\Ding.wav”
Set objShell = CreateObject(“Wscript.Shell”)
strCommand = “sndrec32 /play /close ” & chr(34) & strSoundFile & chr(34)
objShell.Run strCommand, 0, True 

Paste in Notepad Save as .vbs (Example: Hourly.vbs)

Go to Task Scheduler

• Under Action, select Create Task. Give the task a name.
• Set the Trigger parameters (One time – Start date & time, Repeat task every 1 hour, Duration – Indefinitely).
• Under Actions, click New button. The New Action box will open. Select the action Start a program and browse to the Hourly.vbs file to set the path.

Makes sure you have sndrec32.exe is downloaded and placed in system32 folder for windows 10

OK and Exit.