Chevron in taskbar

Hi

I am using vista home premium and for some time now the chevron sign in taskbar which shows which programs are active has not been showing up.
Can anyone pls advise what might be the cause for that happening and how to correct it if possible.
I have gone through the process of checking the notification area but that does appear to help.
Anything further info required will forward upon request

Any help / advice appreciated.

 

XP and Vista will both hide system tray icons that have not been recently used. The only method I know of restoring them is to run through each program and change its options to display the system tray icon.