Power/Battery Icon Missing from System Tray Windows 7

This worked for me... after another step.

Here goes (for the only laptop running Vista in my office):

Once I did the above, it didn't show the battery/power icon until i right clicked on the system tray and selected Properties.

The power check box wasn't active before the restarting explorer.exe process. It was active after. Just putting a check mark in the properties power check box, the icon was back!

Hope this helps.

Try these steps and check if it helps:

** Restart. Sometimes a restart will solve this problem.**

1. Close all programs, and shut down the laptop.
2. Remove all power supplies (battery and power cord)
3. Drain remaining power by pushing the power on button for 30 seconds(while you have no power supply).
4. Put the battery back in and boot up the computer
5. Once booted completely, right click the system tray and select properties.
6. This will bring up the "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" dialog box. Select the "Notification Area" tab.
7. At the bottom of the tab, is the "Systems Icons" area. There is a check box for "Power". "check" the checkbox and click the Apply or OK button.

Also update your graphic card drivers.

If this doesn’t help, then follow these steps:

Method 1: Run the fix-it and check

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945011/en-us

Method 2: If the fix-it does not help

You may have to reapply this workaround after you restart the computer if the icons still do not appear in the notification area.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ )

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

1.       Click StartCollapse this imageExpand this image, type regedit in the Start Search box or the Serach programs and files box, and then press ENTER. Collapse this imageExpand this imageIf you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

2.       Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify

3.       In the Details pane, click the IconStreams registry entry.

4.       On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.

5.       In the Details pane, click the PastIconsStream registry entry.

6.       On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.

7.       Exit Registry Editor.

8.       Restart the Explorer.exe process. To do these, follow these steps:

a.                   Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.

b.                  On the Processes tab in Task Manager, click the explorer.exe process, and then click End Process two times.

c.                   On the File menu, click New Tasks (Run), type explorer, and then click OK.

d.                  Exit Task Manager.

9.       If you are running Windows 7, follow these additional steps:

 .       Click StartCollapse this imageExpand this image, type Customize icons and then click Customize icons on the task bar.

a.      Click Turn system icons on or off, and then set Volume, Network, and Power System to On.

b.     Click OK, make sure that the behavior for Power, Network, and Volume are set correctly, and then click OK.

Method 3: Open an elevated command prompt

1.       Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

2.       At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER: 

sfc /scannow

The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

3.        Wait until the scan has finished, then reboot.

 We are doing this system scan because sometimes, viruses can change your explorer.exe and then you will lose your system icons in Windows 7. Also, if you followed our tutorial and replaced the explorer.exe, you might accidentally disable all system icons.

Method 4: This will only work on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate.

** Windows 7 Home or Windows 7 Home Premium go Method 5**

Ok, so all of the system icons are greyed out, what can we do about it? We can edit the local group policies to enable the system icons again, so that they will all appear in your system tray again.

1. Click on “Start”

2. Enter “gpedit.msc” into the search field and click on “gpedit.msc” at the bottom when it appears.

3. In the left pane, uncollapse the folders “Administrative Templates” and then “Start Menu and Taskbar”:

4. Scroll down in the right pane until you find the entries:

• Remove the Action Center icon
• Remove the networking icon
• Remove the battery meter
• Remove the volume control icon

5. Double-click on “Remove the Action Center icon”

6. On the following window, check the option “Disabled”:

7. Click on Apply and then on “OK”.

8. Repeat the same for the other entries “Remove the networking icon”, “Remove the battery meter”, “Remove the volume control icon”.

9. Reboot.

When you log in all the system icons should appear in your system tray and they will no longer be greyed out.

Remember this will only work on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate. The Local Group Policy Editor isn’t available on Windows 7 Home nor Windows 7 Home Premium.

Method 5: Enable System Icons via Registry

**Only for Windows 7 Home or Windows Home Premium**

Copy the following text into a notepad:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

“HideSCAVolume”=dword:00000000

“HideSCAPower”=dword:00000000

“HideSCANetwork”=dword:00000000

“HideSCAHealth”=dword:00000000

Save it with the extension .reg (simply enter “enablesystemicons.reg” as your filename).

Double-click on it and confirm the UAC prompt.

Instead you can also download the registry keys, double-click on the file and you are done:

Download Registry Hack: Enable System Icons

Hope this helps.

Regards!!

That worked!

Thank You! Worked like a charm!