I asked the following question in a Windows XP newsgroup at  
news.microsoft.com. As I didn't get any reply yet maybe someone can help  
here?

I'm using a Bluetooth headset with my Windows XP laptop (mainly for  
listening to music and talking on Skype). While everything basically works  
it requires too many steps to activate the headset. Establishing the  
connection between the laptop and the headset is no problem actually.  
However when the headset is switched on Windows XP still uses the built-in  
loudspeakers. I have to restart each and every application (Windows media  
player, Skype, browsers when I watch videos online etc.) - otherwise the  
applications don't understand that they should use the Bluetooth headset  
now and not the built-in loudspeakers anymore. I wonder if there is  
anything I can do to activate my Bluetooth headset more easily. Is there a  
configuration setting in Windows XP I could change? Is there any utility  
on the net which might help here?

Boris