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(Solved) - how to hide system tray icons
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The way tray icons work is when a program that wants one runs it tells Windows Explorer to add an icon to notification area.
Also programs have to re add them when Windows Explorer crashes/closes and is restarted.
The are a few ways a programmer who know how could remove an icon:
1. Hack Windows Explorer to ignore the request for a new icon.
I have no idea how one would do that or if it's possible.
2. Have a program running in the background that intercepts requests to add icons and ignore some.
I have no idea how one would do that but I think it might be possible.
3. Have a program sit around checking for added icons to the notification area and removing some.
I there is some code to make an AutoIt3 script do this somewhere on the AutoIt forums.
Not sure where though. I'll have to check and see.
Note: To be clear, I'm talking about the taskbar part of Windows Explorer and not the desktop or file manager part.
Edit: I forgot to list above but of course the best way is to tell the program to not create a tray icon. Some programs give this option.
OK, here it is. The answer that you have been waiting for. Backup your registry, then start regedit. Go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
create a new DWORD key called NoTrayItemsDisplay with a value of 0x01. Save changes. Log out of Windows and back in. Tray icons are gone, applications are still running. Works on XP (tried it) and Vista (haven't tried it). This key can also live in the HKLM hive -- your choice, I think.
EDIT: Oh yeah, if you have gpedit.msc, you can make the change in there.
EDIT 2 (maybe 3 or 4, it's late): If you want your icons back, change the value to 0x0 or nuke the key.
jd, you're right. He did say "some" icons, not all. He also said hidden was not good enough. He is awfully picky, isn't he? He is also quite secretive since he won't tell us what he's trying to do, only that the ideas we have are all poop! I don't think he even has a question and he may just be playing a prank -- he is known for that.
He is a big, stupid, gradnabber and I, for one, am DONE HELPING HIM! If he even really needs help.
Sorry about the foul language.
it is not a joke and i'm not really that picky i was just trying to see if it is possible. and also if you would have asked what it was for i would have told you so i don't really care if you help me or not but i thought it wouldn't be this hard of a thing to do so i guess i will just figure it out myself then
jack, I was joking! Gotcha :-)
Sorry if it came across as if I were serious. I was hoping people would pick on the silliness of it all so I wouldn't have to pepper the post with emoticons and "jk"s. I mean, poop as foul language? The other thing isn't even a word, just made up. I call you a prankster while pulling my own prank. Maybe it was too subtle.
Looks like my attempt at humor fell flat. My bad. I will use more smiley's in the future. Back to topic....
I have just completed a full system reinstallation of Windows xp pro and sp2
I want to hide inactive icons.
Right click taskbar, select properties, hide inactive icons, customize, and so forth.
Looks good until restart.
They are back again with none of my settings in place.
I did click apply, etc.
Hard drive was thoroughly cleaned, scanned, defragged after reinstall.
Not usre why this is happening or how to make the changes I have applied stay.
Also the icons on the taskbar keep rearranging themselves, so they are not where I put them.....
(On reboot they are not where I last placed them I meant)
Any help appreciated.
Oh, and here's a new wrinkle...
When I go to customize, two of the items available to show or hide are
IE7Setup and 30 days left for activation.
Right after install I registered and activated XP, and IE7 is already setup...
???
I tried the registry hack and it looks good...
Just want to know if there's a way to permanently hide most
of the icons in the system tray without hiding all.
And, again, upon going to customize, two of the items available to show or hide are
IE7Setup and 30 days left for activation.
I have already registered and activated XP, and IE7 is already setup.
Are these situations related?
There are items in Current Items as well as Past Items that I have changed to Always Hide which, upon reboot, continue to appear.
I am not "worried"about them, I just want these items that I have selected not to show to disappear as I instructed them to do...
As for clearing the cache of past items.....I will try to locate that...
The article is at http://www.howtogeek.com/howto.....ows-vista/
It's for Vista. It works for XP too only the registry key is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\TrayNotify
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