So, this is quite frustrating as I can't reliably adjust the volume of my laptop. But half the time the properties dialogue freezes when I try to click on Levels. I have found that by going to my Sound properties, either through 'right click' on the volume icon and 'playback devices' or through the control panel, and opening my speakers properties I can sometimes adjust the volume under the 'levels' tab. The process launches every time but there's still no volume mixer. I'll end the process from within the task manager and try again. However, in the task manager SndVol.exe launches every time I double click the volume icon whether the mixer opens or not. and stay open on top of all other windows until I reboot. The little hourglass flashes for the briefest of moment, the menu disappears and nothing else happens. I right click on the volume icon in the taskbar and select 'open volume mixer'.

From the way it looks, many people are suffering from this same lost volume mixer in Vista. Okay, I've been having this problem for a while as well and haven't yet found a solution that works.

Cannot open volume mixer