System Tray Notification Area Missing

Discussion in 'Software' started by SailorEd, Sep 30, 2006.

  1. SailorEd

    SailorEd Private E-2

    I am running XP Professional, SP2 and am fairly current on updates. A while ago, the System Tray area disappeared and I have not been able to figure out why it is missing. According to Technet, the System Tray runs from systray.exe which is on my hard drive. When I check the TaskMgr for running processes, Systray is not listed. I don't see any errors in the Sytem event log indicating that Systray failed to load. What could be causing the problem?
     
    SailorEd, Sep 30, 2006
    #1
  2. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    First thing to try:
    Verify Auto hide is not activated by following the below steps.

    Press CTRL + ESC or your Windows key to make Start menu appear.
    Click Settings and choose Taskbar & Start menu
    Verify that Auto Hide is not checked.
    If Auto Hide is not enabled move the task bar up by following the below steps.

    Press CTRL + ESC or your Windows key to make Start menu appear.
    Try to notice where the Start menu appeared; generally, it should be the bottom left corner.
    Press ESC. You should now notice a small gray line at the location of where the start was.
    Move the mouse over that gray line, when in the appropriate position your mouse cursor should change. Once the mouse cursor changes, click and hold the mouse button and move the bar up.
     
    TimW, Sep 30, 2006
    #2
  3. SailorEd

    SailorEd Private E-2

    Auto hide is not on. The Start Icon, and all the quickstart icons (IE, Outlook, etc.) are there. Minimized buttons for running programs are there. The clock is in the right corner. What is missing are the system tray icons for services that used to be just to the left of the clock such as volume adjustment icon, start/stop flash card drives, anti-virus icon, firewall icon, MS Update icon, scanner icon and probably a few more. One thing that puzzles me is that on "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" the "Hide Inactive Icons" and "Customize" button are grayed out and they didn't used to be. I am logged on as administrator.
     
    SailorEd, Sep 30, 2006
    #3

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