Missing Icons in Task Bar

[bak]

I run XP pro SP2 and all updates.
At the bottom of the screen in the task bar "notification area" at the
right hand side is the clock. There are also 10 other icons sometimes there
eg Norton AV, "Safely Remove Hardware", MSN Messenger, etc.
The clock is always shown, the others are erratic, with anywhere from 3
to 10 showing. They could be any of the icons that are missing. It is very
random.
The next time I boot up there could be another set showing. Occasionally
the whole 10 (+ the clock) will show.
The icons showing do not change once I have booted up. (Unless I
manually reset them to show).
This is not really a problem as I have access to those programs via the
desktop and other ways, however I am interested to learn why this may be
happening. Is there something that I can do to correct this?
In the Task Bar and Start Menu properties, Taskbar tab, I have
unchecked Lock task bar
unchecked Auto-hide task bar
unchecked Keep taskbar on top
checked Group similar taskbar buttons
checked Show quick launch

checked Show the clock
unchecked Hide inactive icons

Any advice very much appreciated. Thank you.
Brian.

 

[johnf]

Check the last one & see what happens then.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

This is normal behavior. johnf has given you the correct option.

 

[b]

Thanks John,
I did that, which allows certain icons to be hidden. I can then see
those hidden icons by clicking the "<<"
But the total number of icons still varies, now consisting of some
hidden and some displayed. Even by setting to "Always Show" in the customise
area, some don't always show.
However, this is not exactly a critical problem. I was mostly just
interested.
Many thanks to you and Colin Barnhorst for your assistance and to all
those in this NG who provide assistance to the not so clever like me.
Much appreciated,
Brian.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Some icons in the notification area are for services and some for programs.
The services only appear there when the service is running. The programs
are usually associated with items in your startup folder and some registry
keys. Just know that the 'coming and going' is expected behavior.

 

[atrainious]

I actually have the same problem... However, the problem is not that all the icons are not there. It is that active programs do not always appear in the taskbar as they should. For example, when I boot up, most times the volume control, norton antivirus icon, printer toolbox icon, and perhaps some others will not appear in the notification area. However, if I log off and log back on then all the icons that should be there are there. any ideas?