A really useful function on any electronic device which makes sound is the ability to mute and unmute with the press of a button. A computer is no different. To bring this functionality to Windows easily, use a couple of Wizmo shortcuts.

Just make a shortcut to (right-click on the desktop and select New > Shortcut) to the following commands and then assign a hot key in the properties of the shortcut.

To mute (I use Ctrl+Alt+M):

[full\path\to]\wizmo.exe mute=1

To unmute (I use Ctrl+Shift+M):

[full\path\to]\wizmo.exe mute=0

These shortcuts are really useful for desktop and laptop machines when you instantly need to mute your volume.