Community Newsletter: Q&A forum: 3/24/06 Give me back my Windows system tray icons

Answer:

This is a Windows bug (feature?) actually, not much you can do about it (other than, probably, reformat HDD and reinstall Windows (although the first crash might set you back to square one)). I researched it ad nauseam:

The best theory I have heard is that the problem of the icons disappearing is due to the systray ("notification area") not being ready to place the icons when the applications load. You might try killing (i.e. removing) some of the startup processes (UPnP, SSDP), although, surely, you might *need* such services. You may also try placing systray.exe in your startup folder, or using such systray repair software like "Taskbar Repair Plus" etc. Aside from placing systray.exe in the startup folder, none of the other workarounds are a surefire way to solve the problem. And, positively, none of them workarounds are very elegant. Probably the most elegant (save for reinstall) is to give systray.exe time to load properly by not using autologon: after booting, allow Windows a few minutes to load properly by just staring at the blue logon screen and, when you don't see any movement in the HDD LED area (i.e. it stops blinking), then you're free to log on.

Microsoft's own "advice": in order to restore the missing icons in the notification area just logoff and log back on.

Relevant links: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
http://winhlp.com/WxSystray.htm
http://shell-shocked.org/article.php?id=285
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1034225301

Submitted by: Christian C.

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Answer:

This is a known issue with any WinXP version and the cause is still unknown. There are a couple of things you can try to "shake" the bug out of your PC.

On all of these suggestions, try one at a time. Only move to the next if the last did not resolve your issue, and reverse any that does not work.

- Right click the Taskbar, choose Properties, uncheck 'Hide Inactive Icons' checkbox, reboot.
- Using the same routine as above, check or uncheck 'Lock the Taskbar' (depending on its current condition), reboot.
- Use the Ostuni Workaround. Open your 'My Network Places' folder by clicking on the icon on your desktop. In the left pane of the window you should see 'Network Tasks' listing of options. If you don't, then click on the 'Folders' button on the menu bar. Now you should see it. Choose 'Hide icons for Networked UPnP Devices'. (If you only see 'Show icons...' as an option, then hide icons is already active... do not change it.) This is a well known workaround for this issue and has worked for many.

Note: if you do not see a 'My Network Places' icon on your desktop then open 'Display Properties'. Click the Desktop Tab and the 'Customize Desktop' button. Check the 'My Network Places' checkbox, OK. It should now appear on your desktop.

Submitted by: Steve B.

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Answer:

Microsoft is aware of the issue with system tray icons not showing up. The culprit is most often in the Networking Services that can be optionally installed via Add/Remove Programs. These services are rarely needed by anyone but IT personnel, so you won't really be missing anything by uninstalling them. The most common one out of these to cause problems is the Universal Plug and Play option. Don't worry about Windows' ability to detect new hardware. It won't be affected by disabled UPnP. UPnP is there to allow network devices to automatically detect things like your firewall and allow programs to open up ports for themselves.

If this does not help, there are some freeware programs on the internet that will delay your startup programs. Use one of these to delay your startup group from running until everything else has loaded.

Submitted by: James H.

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Answer:

How do you get your system tray (notification area) icons back? Simple. Log off, log back on, and all the icons will be present.

There is another solution which you may prefer. Set up your Guest account. Then, when you turn on the computer let it rest for at least one minute on the opening screen before you click on your login to begin a Windows session. You will find that all your icons are in place.

I have the same system. It must be a timing problem with too many resident tasks trying to initiate at the same time as the network (or modem) connections are being established. I have tried other ideas to resolve this irritation, but I find the first method acceptable now.

Submitted by: George E. of Nova Scotia

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Answer:

This is in regards to the user: have a Dell Dimension running XP Home edition with all updates and SP2. All of a sudden, the icons in the system tray started disappearing randomly.

Here is a great site that addresses the users problem.
http://www.michna.com/kb/WxSystray.htm

(Below is the excerpt, according to many users it works wonders. I tried it myself for the same problem and it fixed it on two computers. There are other options, in case this doesnt work listed here as well.)

The Ostuni Workaroundso far most successful

The simple workaround

2004-11-11 Francesco Saverio Ostuni wrote: "... I found a solution for me that works perfectly. I simply went to My network Places and on the left pane I chose to Hide UPnP devices. This operation does not disable the service (which I need).

Further he mentioned that the same can be done through Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, on the left side: Add/Remove Windows components; select Networking Services, click on the Details... button, remove the checkmark for the UPnP User Interface, then click on OK. The result is the same. Now the icons are back every time at each reboot.

This has meanwhile been confirmed by many other users and consistently kept a success rate of well over 90%, so we can conclude that this solves the problem on all but the most unusual Windows XP installations.

Submitted by: Nancy C.

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Answer:

I had the same problem with my HP Media Center XP. This happened after I created a wireless network with another home computer. The solution I found after trying many different things was to go to My Network Places and on the left pane chose to Hide UPnP devices reboot the computer and all the icons were in the tray and have been there ever since. My network still works perfectly with the UPnP hid. This solved my problem of missing icons in my systray.

Submitted by: Karen E. of Cleveland, OH