Disappearing system tray icons

[Bryan]

As there was no response yesterday, I'll try again.

The icon in the system tray which allows you to safely
remove hardware such as USB Zip drive, Flash ram etc, has
disappeared. When I check the properties of the system
tray it shows up as a previously displayed item. Even
though I have set it to "allways display", it won't show
up in the tray. Without it, I have no way to safely remove
my USB removable media. This has also happened with other
icons such as the Intellipoint Mouse driver. It's almost
as though Windows has decided that the item hasn't been
used enough and is removing it automatically instead of
just hiding it.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Mike Brearley]

At some point you told it to not display any more. I'm not sure how to get
it back, but I do know that it's safe to just unplug USB devices without
going through the 'Safely Remove Hardware' icon.

--
Posted 'as is'. If there are any spelling and/or grammar mistakes, they
were a direct result of my fingers and brain not being synchronized or my
lack of caffeine.

Mike Brearley

 

[Doug]

Icons - Notification Area - Missing
(http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm)
Three methods/workarounds: Log off and Log back on, password protect
your account or...

Right click My Computer/Manage. Expand Services and Applications then
Click on Services. A list of services appears in the right column.
Scroll down to the SSDP and uPnP Service. Right click each, choose
properties. Change the text next to "Startup type:" to Disabled.

Or if you are running XP SP1 uninstall UPnP from Add/Remove Windows
Components.

Hide or Show Inactive Icons in the Notification Area (Line 53)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

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

Once done, Open Task Manager, click the Processes tab, click
Explorer.exe, and then click End Process. In Task Manager, click File,
click New Task, type explorer, and then click OK.

After you have all icons in place, run this edit:

Save Settings on Exit (Line 54)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

To use the Regedit: Save the REG File to your hard disk. Double click it
and answer yes to the import prompt. REG files can be viewed in Notepad
by right clicking on the file and selecting Edit.

PS Tray Factory will allow you:
- hide low-activity icons from a system tray into menu;
- hide inactive icons from a system tray into menu;
- get fast access to the hidden icons with the help of hot keys;
- change the order of icons in the menu;
- hide from the menu seldom used icons;
- restore icons in system tray area at crash or restarting Explorer.exe.
http://www.pssoftlab.com/download/pstrayf.zip



Cheers BeePaw


: As there was no response yesterday, I'll try again.
:
: The icon in the system tray which allows you to safely
: remove hardware such as USB Zip drive, Flash ram etc, has
: disappeared. When I check the properties of the system
: tray it shows up as a previously displayed item. Even
: though I have set it to "allways display", it won't show
: up in the tray. Without it, I have no way to safely remove
: my USB removable media. This has also happened with other
: icons such as the Intellipoint Mouse driver. It's almost
: as though Windows has decided that the item hasn't been
: used enough and is removing it automatically instead of
: just hiding it.
:
: Suggestions would be appreciated.
:

 

[Bryan]

I have had files disappear from my flash ram when it was
just disconnected without using the 'Safely Remove
Hardware' icon, so it's not 100% safe to just 'pull the
plug'. As for telling it to not display, this last time
occurred after installing Norton Internet Security 2004.
After the re-boot occured, both my mouse and safely remove
icons were gone.

 

[Bryan]

Thanks Doug.

I'll give it a try when I get home tonight.

Cheers

 

[Mike Brearley]

I've never had a problem with files being deleted if I unplug it without
going through the safely remove hardware. Hopefully the advice Doug gave
you works then.

--
Posted 'as is'. If there are any spelling and/or grammar mistakes, they
were a direct result of my fingers and brain not being synchronized or my
lack of caffeine.

Mike Brearley