Some of My Taskbar Icons Are Missing

Missing taskbar icons (volume, power, remove hardware) possible fix...

The problem is not just in the volume control but battery status and "Safely Remove Hardware" icons in the system tray as well.

What happens is that systray.exe "somehow" gets removed from the startup. You cannot manually run systray.exe (well, you can, but it doesn't seem to do anything). Here are the steps:

1. Start > Run ... Type "msconfig" [OK]
2. Go to Startup tab and see if "Systray" is on the list of startup items and it is checked (probably, if you are having this problem, it is not).
3. If it is there but not checked, then check it, click [OK] and restart your computer.
4. If it is NOT there, then you have to add it using the Registry Editor.
a. Start > Run ... Type "regedit" [OK]
b. In the left pane, select key "My Computer\ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Run"
c. You will see a list of various string names and values that all represent something that runs on startup. Systray should be in that list and probably isn't.
d. Edit > New > String Value and overtype "New Value #1" with "SysTray" (note the spelling).
e. With this new "SysTray" selected, Edit > Modify and under "Value data", type in the following string INCLUDING the quotes and then [OK]
"C:\Windows\System32\Systray.exe"
(This assumes the default installation directory, but you may want to confirm that systray.exe indeed resides there.)
f. Restart and you should start seeing the vanishing icons.

NOTES:
A. Make sure before you do all this that it isn't a case of having the volume control display disabled: Control Panel > Sounds & Audio > Volume tab > "Place volume control in taskbar" should be checked.
B. Also make sure that your taskbar properties aren't hiding the icons: Control Panel > Taskbar & Start Menu > Taskbar tab > Check "Hide Inactive Icons" (necessary to be able to select customize) > Customize
and then ensure that the missing icons are either set to "Always show" or maybe "Hide when inactive" but NOT "Always hide"
C. Now why systray.exe disappeared from the Startup list in the first place continues to remain a mystery ...

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Last modified: 23 April 2007