Setting Default Voice in Windows 8 Instructions

We often sync our iPod Nano, 4th generation with spoken menus enabled with iTunes on our computer.  But we found the Windows 8 default system voice (David in our case) not to our liking.  So, we wanted to change it before attempting another iPod sync.  The following procedure did this for us.

Setting Default System Voice, Windows 8

1. Open Control Panel  

To get to the   Control Panel  from the desktop click the   Start   button.

Then click   Settings.

Finally, choose   Control Panel  from the   Settings   menu.

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The   Control Panel   opens as shown next.

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2. Go to  Ease of Access Center

Find the   Ease of Access Center  in the   Control Panel   window.

Picking this option produces the following window in   Control Panel.

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3. Go to the   Use the Computer Without a Display  Option

The following window results.

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4. Go to the   Setup Text To Speech   Option

The   Speech Properties  window then appears with the following arrangement.

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5. Pick the Default System Voice   

Choose the default system voice from the   Voice Selection   pull-down menu.   We find three voices listed in our set up (David, Hazel, and Zira).  So we picked the Zira voice, as shown next.

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Now turn up your computer speakers. Then, upon clicking the voice you want, you’ll hear a sample of that voice played through them.  You can sample each voice in the list by selecting it in this way, as described above.

6. Press the   Apply  Button

You have now changed your Windows 8 computer’s default system voice.  So your computer now speaks with this voice anytime you use its text-to-speech option.  Also, to you iTunes users. Some older iPods that rely on this voice for their voice menus.  So once you sync them on this computer, they will now speak with the voice you picked.

7. Close the   Speech Properties   Window

Press the   Okay   button to do that.

8. Close the   Ease of Access Center  Window

9. Finished!  

Happy text-to-speeching with your iPod.

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5. How to Change Windows COM Port Number for USB Modem

References

• Setting Speech Options in Windows    from Microsoft.  Note that this URL currently describes how to do this in Windows 7.  There are some differences in Windows 8, and the procedure given above accounts for these.

Revision History

• 2019-03-18: Added tags, subheadings, and key phrase targeting. Shortened sentences and fixed typos also.
• 2015-12-10: Added appropriate tags.
• 2015-01-02: Originally published.

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