Notification area icons missing at startup or disappear after startup.

Anonymous

I have notification icons that do not appear at startup or will disappear while computer is in use. Icon behavior for these icons is set to "Show icons and notifications" and this will occur whether or not "Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar" is checked or not. If I attempt to change icon behavior on a missing icon to "Hide icon and notifications" then change back to "Show icons and notifications", I receive the following message: "This notification icon is not currently active. It will be shown next time it becomes active." Although my system (volume, network, battery) icons are not effected by this, I tried http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/945011 which did not work. My OS is Windows 7 Home Premium x64. Any solutions to this issue?

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Anonymous

Hi Shanerock88,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers!

Method 1: Perform an online virus scan for the computer by visiting the following link:

http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/default.htm

You may also go through this link to remove Malwares from your computer.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistasecurity/thread/761c3f8f-71ec-4d89-8f13-acf9cf734a1f

**Method 2:**Fix a corrupted user profile

To create a new user profile

To create a new user profile, you must first create a new user account. When the account is created, a profile is also created.

1. Open User Accounts by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking User Accounts and Family Safety, and then clicking User Accounts.

2. Click Manage another account. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3. Click Create a new account.

4. Type the name you want to give the user account, click an account type, and then click Create Account.

To copy files to the new user profile

After you create the profile, you can copy the files from the existing profile. You must have at least three user accounts on the computer to complete these steps, including the new account you just created.

1. Log on as a user other than the new user you just created or the user that you want to copy files from.

2. Open the My Documents folder by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Computer. Double-click the hard disk drive that Windows is installed on (it's usually your C: drive), double-click Users, double-click the folder with the name of your account, and then double-click My Documents.

3. Click the Tools menu, and then click Folder Options.

If you don't see the Tools menu, press Alt.

4. Click the View tab, and then click Show hidden files, folders, and drives.

5. Clear the Hide protected operating system files check box, click Yes to confirm, and then click OK.

6. Locate the C:\Users*Old_Username* folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and Old_Username is the name of the profile you want to copy files from.

7. Select all of the files and folders in this folder, except the following files:

· Ntuser.dat

· Ntuser.dat.log

· Ntuser.ini

8. Click the Edit menu, and then click Copy.

If you don't see the Edit menu, press Alt.

9. Locate the C:\Users*New_Username* folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and New_Username is the name of the new user profile you created.

10. Click the Edit menu, and then click Paste.

If you don't see the Edit menu, press Alt.

11. Log off, and then log back on as the new user.

If you have e‑mail messages in an e‑mail program, you must import your e‑mail messages and addresses to the new user profile before you delete the old profile. If everything is working properly, you can delete the old profile.

To know more about this visit the following link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Fix-a-corrupted-user-profile

Regards,

Divya R – Microsoft Support.

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66 additional answers

Anonymous

2012-03-09T22:07:18+00:00
Notification Area Icons Disappeared, Missing, Unused: Windows 7 (How to Delete Duplicates or Restore Missing Tray Icons in Windows 7)

The above answer did not work for my psyche and I didn't feel comfy moving folders all around etc. etc.

I lifted this solution from another website... so I cannot take all the credit. LOL Plus I changed the text so it would be a little more understandable for those who don’t have a lot of computer experience... like me...lol Best of all...it worked like a charm.

Best regards,

fryerlawrence "Supervisor is GENIUS...I transfer." - Peggy, U.S.A. Prime Credit

========================

“I've got the solution...

In the Notification Area Properties you'll notice an option to customize how explorer handles previous tray icons. The only problem with this is explorer saves a setting for EVERY icon ever loaded.

For some reason if you clear this history of icons; the power, network, volume...icons will all reappear.
- brilliant I hear you say?
========================

CLEARING THE TRAY ICON HISTORY

> Click on “Start Menu” and type ‘run’ in the Start search bar.

>When the Run search bar opens, type in ‘**regedit.exe’**and click “Ok”. When the “User Account Control” box opens then click “Yes”

> Go to and ‘left click’ on each white arrow just to the left of each little manila folder named as follows: (you may have to scroll down to find a couple of these)

‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER’

‘Software’

‘Classes’

‘Local Settings’

‘Software’

‘Microsoft’

‘Windows’

‘CurrentVersion’

(Just left-click this one on the folder itself) ‘TrayNotify’(find & locate ‘IconStreams’ & ‘PastIconsStream’

> Press and hold down your left keyboard ‘Ctrl’ key. While holding down the ‘Ctrl’ key use your mouse to left-click, one time each, on ‘IconStreams’ & ‘PastIconsStream’. Now, right-click and select ‘Delete’ regarding the highlighted items.

>This will open a “Confirm Value Delete” dialogue box. It will say, “Deleting certain values could cause system instability. Are you sure you want to permanently delete these values?” (<Do not worry>, you will be fixing this in the next step) Now click ‘Yes’

> Start your “Task Manager” by pressing ‘**Ctrl’+’Shift’+’Esc’**and select the “Processes” tab and find ‘explorer.exe’

>Right click on ‘**explorer.exe’**and select” End Process”

> A “Windows Task Manager” box will open and ask, “Do you want to end ‘explorer.exe’?”, “If an open program is associated with this process, it will close and you will lose any unsaved data. If you end a system process, it might result in an unstable system. Are you sure you want to continue?” (<Do not worry> you will be fixing this in the next step) Now click ‘Yes’

> Now select the ‘Applications’ tab in “Task Manager”, in the bottom right hand corner, select ‘New task...’ and type ‘**explorer.exe’**then click “Ok”

> Explorer will now reboot and your icons should return. *Note: You may need to reset your preferences for each icon by going back to your “**Notification Area Properties”**because it will reset most of them to the default status”
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Anonymous

2012-03-20T21:00:23+00:00

I have had this problem for about 9 months and tried many things. I am afraid this didn't work. Many thanks for your efforts.
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Anonymous

2012-06-06T18:15:21+00:00

thank you! this worked first time and i now have my volume, network and battery life icons back! :')
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Anonymous

2012-03-16T10:07:41+00:00

Awesome! This problem was doing my head in and then I found your solution.

Worked a treat - thank you so much!!!
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