Can't "Hide Inactive Icons"

[Rob.T]

Hi there .... I'm a first-time poster to this forum, so please b
gentle!!
I'm having a rather unusual problem with my system tray. The "Hid
Inactive Icons" option in the "Taskbar and System Menu Properties
message box doesn't work. I haven't had this problem before, and I hav
no idea what might have caused it. The box is checked off, but th
little arrows to the left of the system tray have disappeared, and bot
the active and inactive items are in the system tray. Anyone have an
idea whazzup?
Thanks!

 

[Brian A.]

See if this fix from Kelly works:
Hide or Show Inactive Icons in the Notification Area (Line 53)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Steve]

Hi there .... I'm a first-time poster to this forum, so please be
gentle!!
I'm having a rather unusual problem with my system tray. The "Hide
Inactive Icons" option in the "Taskbar and System Menu Properties"
message box doesn't work. I haven't had this problem before, and I have
no idea what might have caused it. The box is checked off, but the
little arrows to the left of the system tray have disappeared, and both
the active and inactive items are in the system tray. Anyone have any
idea whazzup?
Thanks!!

Hi Rob:

I had this problem as well. If you have (and I'm sure you do) an Icon
that you can have hidden all the time (ex: the speaker/mixer) right
click somewhere on the system tray taskbar until you see a box with
"properties" at the bottom. Click "Customize" and you'll see all the
Icons. Each will have a drop-down box. Choose one of those you want to
hide all the time and click " Always Hide". Hit Apply and you know the
rest. You can do that with all those icons that give you trouble. If
you're having problems with the volume control disappearing or any
other problems with the system tray I have two little utilities that
will slam dunk an entry into the registry and get you under control. I
got these from a website that has hundreds of these fixes. If you want
them, email me and I'll shoot them your way. My email address is
(e-mail address removed).

Hope this helps.

Steve

 

[Rob.T]

Hi Steve ... Thanks for the advice. Here's how I ended up fixing the
problem of being unable to hide the inactive icons in my system tray.
It's actually a variation on what you suggested. I went into the
properties of each of the items in the system tray, and selected
"always hide" for all of them. They were gone and the arrow (chevron)
was back. I then went back in and changed them all to "hide when
inactive". The inactive ones are gone (except when I click on the
chevron) but the active icons are there! I have NO CLUE why that
worked, but there you go. Hope it's still working after I reboot!

By the way, I'd appreciate getting those utilities from you. I'll
e-mail you shortly. Thanks!!!

 

[Rob.T]

Hi Brian ... Thanks for the advice. Here's how I ended up fixing the
problem of being unable to hide the inactive icons in my system tray.
I went into the properties of each of the items in the system tray, and
selected "always hide" for all of them. They were gone and the arrow
(chevron) was back. I then went back in and changed them all to "hide
when inactive". The inactive ones are gone (except when I click on the
chevron) but the active icons are there! I have NO CLUE why that
worked, but there you go. Hope it's still working after I reboot!

The kelly-corner site is awsome though ... thanks for directing me to
it. I've bookmarked it, and I'll be purusing it often, I'm sure!

Thanks again!!