As those who are on dial-up, likely to be 56kbps, will know that modem dial-up noise can be so annoying; hearing the same horrid noise each time you connect to the internet.
Unfortunately the Windows Operating System enables the modem speaker by default causing the dial-up noise to occur.
The modem dial-up noise can be disabled by doing the following:
Go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel
From the Control Panel select and open Network Connections
From the Network Connections window select and right click on your dial-up connection causing a menu to appear. Select Properties.
The Properties window for your dial-up connection will appear. Click the Configure button from within the General tab.
The Modem Configuration window appears. Simply uncheck the Enable modem speaker option.
If you have more than one dial-up connection then you will have to do the above for each one.