Volume taskbar icon vanished / greyed-out in Control Panel

Anonymous
2014-04-20T14:08:38+00:00

Hi,

Since installing the latest major 8.1 update, my Volume Notification Area icon has disappeared. (It returned briefly but the default seems for it to inexplicably go away again to not return).

It still shows up as active when I go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Notification Area Icons

But toggling this a bubble appears saying "This notification icon is not currently active"

Going then into "Turn system icons on or off", the Volume System Icon is turned off, and greyed-out for access.

Why would this happen?

I see old threads for this happening in Win7, and I'm wary of downloading a registry fix in case my 8.1 computer blows up.

Thanks

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2015-02-19T14:07:54+00:00
  1. Hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete and open Task Manager
  2. Click on DETAILS tab
  3. Find explorer.exe, right-click, and click on END TASK
  4. On the top Menu Bar, click on FILE, RUN NEW TASK
  5. Enter explorer.exe in the task entry box and click on OK
  6. On the top Menu Bar, click on VIEW and REFRESH NOW
  7. Volume icon should reappear after refresh

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Anonymous
2014-05-06T16:56:20+00:00

I checked and my drivers are up to date.

The problem actually fixed itself as suddenly as it started... no idea what that was about.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-04-03T01:47:48+00:00

    Keiki - you are AWESOME!! Thank you so much!!!! I spent hours trying what I thought was everything, but you nailed it!!! I can't thank you enough...

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-03-11T11:16:35+00:00

    You rock, Keiki!  So frustrated, then I found your clear, concise solution to the problem.  Many thanks.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-11-26T17:18:20+00:00

    SOLVED (super easy)...

    1. start/go to Windows task manager

    (simultaneously press control, alt, delete if you cannot otherwise locate it)

    1. on "processes" tab..

    -right click on explorer.exe

    -end the process

    (if multiple explorer.exe processes are open, do this for each one)

    1. now click on "file" tab at top (if it isn't visible, double click around bottom until file tab becomes visible)
    2. Select "new task" and enter "explorer".  This should restore your missing volume icon as explorer reopens.

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