Garbage in Notification history

[Guest]

If I right-click on the notification tray, then on "customise notifications",
it shows the current contents of the notification tray - icons and
applications, ok. However, further down this same list it shows "past"
applications, etc, that used to be in the tray. All the icons against these
applications are wrong and mixed up. (For example: anti-virus icon against
Skype; QuickTime icon agains Microsoft Office Outlook.) What has happened?
Is it serious? How can I sort it out?

 

[Wesley Vogel]

How to Clear Past Items from the Notification Area
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;283084

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
53. Remove Past Items From Notification Area

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

I'm sure it will - but to be honest, I haven't tried it yet. I wonder what
would happen if one deleted only the PastIconStream values from the registry
instead of both them and IconStreams?

Anyway thanks, I've cross checked and enough people seem to say the same
thing so it must be right.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Jess,

I've tried deleting just the PastIconsStream. Try it if you want. You have
to delete *both* PastIconsStream & IconStreams to make it work.

You will have to make your customizations again as they will be lost.

Make sure you reboot or kill explorer and then start explorer again.
Killing explorer allows you to re-initialize your registry and refresh your
desktop without having to reboot. It's quicker than rebooting.

Since I posted a link to an MS KB article in my first post, I can't be too
far off. ;-)

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

I nealy tried it today, but got cold feet. Please bear with me on this, but
I want to be absolutely sure of what I'm doing when I mess with the
registry...

In each case, do you delete the whole item (by using "delete"): IconStreams
and PastIconStream. Or do you just edit the third field on the right hand
side of the window on the right (i.e. "modify binary data" values), leaving
the two entries intact but with values of zeros or whatever in them?

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Jess,

Skip messing with the registry.

For an automated edit, go here...
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Read the instructions at the top.
Click on...
53. Remove Past Items From Notification Area

Save to your Desktop. xp_pastitems.vbs is what you'll be saving. It is a
vbs script. Double click on xp_pastitems.vbs to run it.

This will do the work for you.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

OK, I did it! All past items gone. However, The (current) Firewall icon
disappeared too. So I reebooted (FW icon came back ok) Then I tried a well
behaved program (Skype), launched, then closed it. Icon appeared, then
disappeared only to appear on an otherwise clean set of past icons.
(Furthermore, I did NOT have to redo msconfig to remove two unneeded things I
had previously taken off the startup set of options). Perfect - except for
the curious fact that both registry values for IconStreams & PastIconStream
(which reappeared) seem to have identical values. And one worrying thing...
The notification tray no longer collapses and expands. It is stuck showing
all my (correct) notifications! The double arrowhead has gone. Any ideas?

 

[Guest]

Ah, sorted! Thanks to another look at that kellys website. It seems that
"always hiding" something, anything, in that tray tricks it into having to
collapse. Now things are all ok with my notification tray... except that
there are active things that need not be active whose names I don't know and
thus can't easily remove from the msconfig startup scenario... But that's
another story, and another posting.

Thank you so much,

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Jess,

Glad to hear it.

Right click those ...active things that need not be active... and look for
Properties, Control Center or similar and look for an option not to start
when Windows starts or similar and
adjust those options.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

As far as the Notification Tray is concerned, the main thing I do not like
there is the "Safely remove hardware" thing, but from what I have gleamed
from the internet today, everybody has this icon - and the thing remains
"active" regardless of whether you try and hide it or not. I guess I do not
understand what the tray is for! I though Notification showed certain
running processes and applications (so my beef was, "Why are some of them
running?" (such as the hardware tool). I further assumed that the
"QuickLaunch" tray, maybe, was historically so-called because it got readily
used applications pre-started, so to speak, whereas now it just seems to hold
shortcuts? I'm getting a bit past caring to be honest.

Anyway, thank you for all your help and patience.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Taskbar notification area
The notification area displays the time and can also contain shortcuts that
provide quick access to programs, such as Volume Control and Power Options.
Other shortcuts can appear temporarily, providing information about the
status of activities. For example, the printer shortcut icon appears after a
document has been sent to the printer and disappears when printing
is complete. This area can become crowded with notification icons that
appear when certain events occur, such as when you receive e-mail or when
you open Task Manager. Windows displays a notification icon when an event
occurs.

If the icon is showing in the notification area, then the Safely Remove
Hardware utility is running.

I had the Safely Remove Hardware icon when I had my cable modem plugged in
to one USB port. I added an NIC card and plug the modem in there now. I
added a printer and plug it into one USB port and do not get the Safely
Remove Hardware icon.

The Safely Remove Hardware utility is related to Plug and Play. I don't
know why the Safely Remove Hardware utility can't distinguish between drives
or something that you would want to unplug often and printers or modems.
<shrug>



Turn Quick Launch off, I have.

Right click the Taskbar | Toolbars | Quick Launch

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

I've always decined an installing program's offer to add an icon the the
quick launch because I don't want things running till I need them. I presume
that was the original idea behind this task bar, but all I've got in it are
short-cuts that I put there myself (and those programs are not running at
start up), and a desktop icon for some reason. So, I'll leave it on for a
bit.

As for the Notification tray, I'm glad it's so unpredictable for everybody.
It's the sort of thing that makes you think you're going mad when you think
it's only happening to you!

Thanks,

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Right click the Taskbar | Toolbars | UNCheck: Desktop

[[The Desktop toolbar places items from your desktop, such as the Recycle
Bin and My Computer, on the taskbar. Open the toolbar by clicking the double
chevron (»).]]

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

Ok, thanks for everything. (Actually the desktop icon I was referring to in
the Quick Launch tray just seems to refresh the desktop - pretty harmless I
guess).

Right click the Taskbar | Toolbars | UNCheck: Desktop

[[The Desktop toolbar places items from your desktop, such as the Recycle
Bin and My Computer, on the taskbar. Open the toolbar by clicking the double
chevron (»).]]

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I've always decined an installing program's offer to add an icon the
the quick launch because I don't want things running till I need
them. I presume that was the original idea behind this task bar, but
all I've got in it are short-cuts that I put there myself (and those
programs are not running at start up), and a desktop icon for some
reason. So, I'll leave it on for a bit.

As for the Notification tray, I'm glad it's so unpredictable for
everybody. It's the sort of thing that makes you think you're going
mad when you think it's only happening to you!

Thanks,