How to get rid of the Bang & Olufsen panel on HP laptop?

Question

On my HP Windows 10 laptop the following Bang & Olufsen panel appears at the top of certain audio apps, e.g. Skype:

How can I get rid of that?

Answer 1

Click on it and press Alt + F4.

Answer 2

A coworker informed me that certain versions of the B&O control panel have an option to disable it. This would be the preferred approach:

If (like me) your version does not have such an option, HP says that you can delete rename the following executable:

C:\Program Files\CONEXANT\Flow\AppFollower.exe

You may need to close the application, if it's already running, before Windows will permit you to delete rename the file. I have been happily "follower free" for months since removing the program with no adverse effects.

Some coworkers have reported that yet other versions of the software will lose audio capability after deleting the file, so the instructions above have been modified to suggest renaming the file instead so it's easier to recover if you have a similar experience.

Answer 3

One time solution

You can close it by focusing it (clicking on it) and pressing Alt+F4.

Permanent solutions

1. Turning it off

On some HP laptops there is a setting for this in the B&O Control Panel. Check, whether you have Show sound controls during VoIP calls option, and turn it off (picture taken from William Price's answer).

2. Renaming AppFollower.exe

The B&O panel, that follows the window of video/audio calls is this program:

C:\Program Files\CONEXANT\Flow\AppFollower.exe

Rename it, so that it cannot start. Note: to be able to rename it, it may not be running. Later if Windows Update reinstalls the .exe, you may have to rename it again.

3. Disabling the service

AppFollower.exe is started by the B&O tray icon. The B&O tray icon is started by a service. Disable that service, and you won't have the tray icon, the app follower, and even it may be faster to log in to Windows.

• Open Start Menu, type Services, and start the Services app.
• Type cx to scroll down in the list to CxAudioSvc. Open it (doubleclick).
• Press Stop.
• Set the Startup type popup to Disabled.
• Press OK.
• In the system tray rightclick the B&O icon, and select Exit, or restart the computer.

When Windows Update downloads a newer version of the CONEXANT driver, you will notice that the service is running again, so you have to repeat these steps.

4. Editing the Options file

• Under C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Packages\22094SynapticsIncorporate.BangOlufsenAudioControlP_qt57b6kdvhcfw\LocalCache\Local\Conexant\Flow there is an Options file (no extension). The numbers in the path may differ!
• Change FollowSkypeLync to False.
• If the background process Bang & Olufsen is running, kill it or reboot the client. A restart of the CxAudioSvc service was not enough.