Annoying "Safely Remove Hardware" Icon

[Drew B.]

I desperately need to remove the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon.I can't
stand having a cluttered desktop. I know that this has been discussed
here several times, but I have yet to find a solution. I'm using an
ancient Dell 3500 notebook with XP Pro. I've had an old 3com ethernet
PC Card for years, and I wanted to use it in XP. As I'm sure you all
know, it puts that annoying icon in the system tray. In Windows 2000,
they had a way to make it so that the icon was not required to be
displayed, but I haven't found a similar option in XP. Is there
something I'm missing here, or does anyone know of a third-party app,
or anything like that? Also, I know that you can hide inactive icons,
but the ">>" thing that shows the condensed tray takes up just a much
space as keeping it as-is. Any help that anyone can give me I really
appreciate.

 

[Guest]

I suggest you take some Prozac, 'cause if a tiny icon can cause you such
annoyance, how do you cope with the real stresses in life?

 

[Jon]

You could use the "Hide inactive icons" feature, setting it to "Always hide"

Right-click Taskbar > Properties > Check "Hide inactive icons" > Customize

.....

Would require setting your other icons to an appropriate setting though eg
"Always show"

Jon

 

[Jon]

oops missed the end of your post

You could use the "Hide inactive icons" feature, setting it to "Always
hide"

Right-click Taskbar > Properties > Check "Hide inactive icons" >
Customize

Would require setting your other icons to an appropriate setting though eg
"Always show"

Jon

 

[Drew B.]

Oh well, I guess I can't always have this stuff my way. If hiding the
inactive icons is the best that can be done, I guess I'll do it that
way.

 

[Kelly]

Do they still prescribe Prozac these days?

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[Kelly]

Hi Drew,

Depends on how disturbed you are..... )

Notes from Torgeir: Microsoft MVP Scripting

To automate this, you can use deveject.exe available here (includes
C++ source code as well):

ftp://ftp.heise.de/pub/ct/listings/0316-208.zip

For help, run deveject.exe /? in a command prompt.
Works for Windows 2000/XP/2003.

An example using the EjectName command line switch:
deveject.exe -EjectName:"USB Mass Storage Device"

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[Jon]

Think that's more to do with automating the hardware removal process, than
just removing the icon

Personally I would just leave the icon. Might be annoying initially, but
soon fades into the background.

Jon

 

[Kelly]

True and true. Was just another option to consider. )

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[Brian McMullen]

You could always upgrade to a newer laptop with integrated ethernet ........