XP Home Notification Area messed up

[JMF]

My Notification Area is completely messed up. Most of the icons that are
supposed to be there are gone, and it is impossible to get them back now.

I am *not* talking about "hide when inactive." I am aware of that and have
used it. It is definitely not the problem.

I can't even get the battery icon (this is a laptop) onto the notification
area, even when doing all the right things in the Settings area, "always
show icon," etc.

When I go into the Taskbar and Start Properties menu and go to customize the
Notification Area, I see that most of the icons are messed up, not
corresponding at all to the programs listed next to them (many of them now
show the Folder icon!).

So something has really gotten messed up. Two things come to mind that I
have done lately that might have something to do with it:

- I have removed Norton Antivirus and installed AVG free edition;
- I have updated the Microsoft antispyware beta

I have no idea why they should have made a difference, but I thought I'd
better at least say so.

So I'm trying to figure out what to do. It would be nice to "reset" the
whole notification area and start over. But I'm not aware of any way to do
it. I certainly don't want to reinstall XP, I can live with this. But it
would be nice to get it straightened out.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

John

 

[Galen]

In JMF <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

My Notification Area is completely messed up. Most of the icons that
are supposed to be there are gone, and it is impossible to get them
back now.
I am *not* talking about "hide when inactive." I am aware of that and
have used it. It is definitely not the problem.

I can't even get the battery icon (this is a laptop) onto the
notification area, even when doing all the right things in the
Settings area, "always show icon," etc.

When I go into the Taskbar and Start Properties menu and go to
customize the Notification Area, I see that most of the icons are
messed up, not corresponding at all to the programs listed next to
them (many of them now show the Folder icon!).

So something has really gotten messed up. Two things come to mind
that I have done lately that might have something to do with it:

- I have removed Norton Antivirus and installed AVG free edition;
- I have updated the Microsoft antispyware beta

I have no idea why they should have made a difference, but I thought
I'd better at least say so.

So I'm trying to figure out what to do. It would be nice to "reset"
the whole notification area and start over. But I'm not aware of any
way to do it. I certainly don't want to reinstall XP, I can live with
this. But it would be nice to get it straightened out.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

John

Try this one perhaps?

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of
existence." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[JMF]

Thanks Galen! I will definitely try this.

John

In JMF <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:


Try this one perhaps?

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of
existence." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[JMF]

Galen,

I tried it.

It WORKS.

That is really something. Good show!!!!

John

 

[Galen]

In JMF <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Galen,

I tried it.

It WORKS.

That is really something. Good show!!!!

John

<snip>

Don't thank me - I'm just the messenger. It's Kelly's application and well
worth the price if you want the full application features. <g> So, when you
see her out and about (she's been busy as of late with some more important
things so hasn't been around but is sorely missed) make sure to thank her.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of
existence." - Sherlock Holmes