System Tray Disappeared

[Fiend]

This is quite possibly the single-most strangest Windows error I've seen.

Win XP SP1

I've recently re-installed Windows on a fresh format (within days ago). Everything was fine up until earlier today. I restarted my comp and when Windows started up again, my system tray was nowhere to be seen. The clock is there, but Windows will not allow icons, volume control included.

When I go to start menu properties, the "Hide inactive icons" checkbox is greyed out, in the same way that the Apply button is. Also, the "You can keep the notification area uncluttered by hiding icons that you have not clicked recently." is greyed out. I have almost identical settings on my laptop (themes included) which runs Win XP SP1, and that isn't greyed out.

Has anyone seen this before? Does anyone have any leads on what could be the cause of this? Is there somewhere in Windows that allows you to disable your systray?

Thanks in advance.

[mmonnin]

Never heard of that before. Have you tried rebooting since, reboots help sometimes.

[Straight_Man]

Right Click Taskbar, blank middle part. Click Lock Taskbar check mark. Click in the checkbox next to the Hide Inactive Icons, and see if it works by giving you a check in it. You can leave this Hide Inactive Icons unchecked once you force the icons to appear. If, so, the customize button should be now be active.

See if everything is marked "Hide When Inactive" in the icons list, change some to active. The "lock Taskbar" in the properities context menu has to be UNCHECKED to change what appears in the "Active App Icons" area.

Unfortunately, if that does not work, it looks like there are registry entries corrupt. AND\OR, you are not logged in as admin to do this. AND\OR, viruses of worm type might be present, or active trojans present. AND\OR, RAM in the box might be no longer stable.

John D.

[kanezfan]

create another user account and see if it happens on them too.

[Fiend]

See if everything is marked "Hide When Inactive" in the icons list, change some to active. The "lock Taskbar" in the properities context menu has to be UNCHECKED to change what appears in the "Active App Icons" area.
is not true, but thanks for the suggestion.

Logging into Administrator gives systray icons, but that doesn't solve my problem of not having them on my real account. I have a strong suspicion that there's a registry setting or something that was somehow changed. Someone must know where such settings exist! :op

[Fiend]

Found it! Thanks for the attempted help.

[TheBaron]

what was the fix? out of curiousity

[Malebolgia]

Found it! Thanks for the attempted help.

Please, can you tell me the fix? I have your exact problem on my WinXP :(
Thanks.

[ericnmu]

I have this problem too, and am searching a fix

[zone]

Hi!!!! I had the same problem.. Download Tweak UI from microsoft.com and go to [ Taskbar and Start menu ] and check [ Show taskbar notification icons ]. It worked for me!