Problem with "System Tray or task bar?"...

Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task bar.
Located at the right it is where most application icons are located.

When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log off and
then on again they all appear.

Any help will be appreciated.


Thanks

Olórin
Thu Jun 19 01:19:43 PDT 2008

"dba" <someone@someplace.org> wrote in message
news:485980bd$0$4066$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task bar.
> Located at the right it is where most application icons are located.
>
> When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log off
> and then on again they all appear.
>
> Any help will be appreciated.
>
>
> Thanks

By default, the Taskbar runs most of the way along the bottom of the screen.
The Start button is at the left end and the System Tray, aka Notification
Area, with usually the clock and a "bunch" of other icons, is at the right.
("Bunch" used deliberately vaguely - you may have any number of icons
there - one, ten, more - systems vary.) Generally, when a program is
started, an "icon" for it appears in the Taskbar; you can Alt-Tab between
these programs. Other programs will (perhaps also) put an icon in the system
tray.

Yours might have been moved, though, so "located at the right" isn't a
precise enough description. Which do you mean, Taskbar or system tray?

Which are these icons that don't appear initially? How long have you waited
before logging off then back on, when they do appear?

If the time they don't appear is after a start up and log on, it could be
that Windows is still getting dressed and having a coffee and not yet ready
to display the other half; then when you give up and log off then back on,
Windows isn't going through all its start-up procedure.

You may well not need some/many/any of these icons there, as they're
indicative of programs that run automatically at start-up/log on. It would
pay you to work through them and prune where appropriate, thus perhaps
cutting down on time taken to log on and also on system resources while in
general use; but that's another matter.

dba
Thu Jun 19 05:48:17 PDT 2008

When all appear there are 17. When I first log on approximately half show
up. I can then (immediately) log off and back on and all appear. One that
never appears first time is the MySQL monitor. That is the main reason I
need to re logon. The first logon is as stated very very slow. But I have
tried waiting past the Windows coffee break to make sure it is not a 'just
Windows' problem. After I log off and then back on the logon process is much
much faster and all the icons show. I have gone through all icons and I
did remove a couple I did not 'really' need. That did not seem to help anything.

Thanks for your time and thoughts.



Olórin wrote:
> "dba" <someone@someplace.org> wrote in message
> news:485980bd$0$4066$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task bar.
>> Located at the right it is where most application icons are located.
>>
>> When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log off
>> and then on again they all appear.
>>
>> Any help will be appreciated.
>>
>>
>> Thanks
>
> By default, the Taskbar runs most of the way along the bottom of the screen.
> The Start button is at the left end and the System Tray, aka Notification
> Area, with usually the clock and a "bunch" of other icons, is at the right.
> ("Bunch" used deliberately vaguely - you may have any number of icons
> there - one, ten, more - systems vary.) Generally, when a program is
> started, an "icon" for it appears in the Taskbar; you can Alt-Tab between
> these programs. Other programs will (perhaps also) put an icon in the system
> tray.
>
> Yours might have been moved, though, so "located at the right" isn't a
> precise enough description. Which do you mean, Taskbar or system tray?
>
> Which are these icons that don't appear initially? How long have you waited
> before logging off then back on, when they do appear?
>
> If the time they don't appear is after a start up and log on, it could be
> that Windows is still getting dressed and having a coffee and not yet ready
> to display the other half; then when you give up and log off then back on,
> Windows isn't going through all its start-up procedure.
>
> You may well not need some/many/any of these icons there, as they're
> indicative of programs that run automatically at start-up/log on. It would
> pay you to work through them and prune where appropriate, thus perhaps
> cutting down on time taken to log on and also on system resources while in
> general use; but that's another matter.
>
>

Olórin
Thu Jun 19 08:36:36 PDT 2008

"dba" <someone@someplace.org> wrote in message
news:485a55ae$0$20176$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> When all appear there are 17. When I first log on approximately half show
> up. I can then (immediately) log off and back on and all appear. One that
> never appears first time is the MySQL monitor. That is the main reason I
> need to re logon. The first logon is as stated very very slow. But I have
> tried waiting past the Windows coffee break to make sure it is not a 'just
> Windows' problem. After I log off and then back on the logon process is
> much much faster and all the icons show. I have gone through all icons and
> I did remove a couple I did not 'really' need. That did not seem to help
> anything.
>
> Thanks for your time and thoughts.
>
>
>
> Olórin wrote:
>> "dba" <someone@someplace.org> wrote in message
>> news:485980bd$0$4066$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>>> Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task
>>> bar. Located at the right it is where most application icons are
>>> located.
>>>
>>> When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log off
>>> and then on again they all appear.
>>>
>>> Any help will be appreciated.
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>
>> By default, the Taskbar runs most of the way along the bottom of the
>> screen. The Start button is at the left end and the System Tray, aka
>> Notification Area, with usually the clock and a "bunch" of other icons,
>> is at the right. ("Bunch" used deliberately vaguely - you may have any
>> number of icons there - one, ten, more - systems vary.) Generally, when a
>> program is started, an "icon" for it appears in the Taskbar; you can
>> Alt-Tab between these programs. Other programs will (perhaps also) put an
>> icon in the system tray.
>>
>> Yours might have been moved, though, so "located at the right" isn't a
>> precise enough description. Which do you mean, Taskbar or system tray?
>>
>> Which are these icons that don't appear initially? How long have you
>> waited before logging off then back on, when they do appear?
>>
>> If the time they don't appear is after a start up and log on, it could be
>> that Windows is still getting dressed and having a coffee and not yet
>> ready to display the other half; then when you give up and log off then
>> back on, Windows isn't going through all its start-up procedure.
>>
>> You may well not need some/many/any of these icons there, as they're
>> indicative of programs that run automatically at start-up/log on. It
>> would pay you to work through them and prune where appropriate, thus
>> perhaps cutting down on time taken to log on and also on system resources
>> while in general use; but that's another matter.

So, this is icons in the System Tray, is it?

What's changed since this last worked okay? - Looking at another post of
yours, you've recently installed XP's SP3. Were things all right prior to
that?

Try noting which icons you're not getting (assuming it's the same ones each
time..?) and checking the various Event Logs (Start > Run > "eventvwr.msc" >
Enter) for any alerts related to them (or indeed, any red alerts. Also,
check any that start as services, see if they're stuck in a "starting"
state, or not running at all (Start > Run > "services.msc" > Enter).

Perhaps try creating another account and see if the same pertains for that
one.

Do you have adequate & up to date anti-virus and anti-malware protection?

As a subjective postscript, seventeen icons in the System Tray after
start-up (well, fifteen now) does seem rather a lot to me; but you know your
requirements better than I do!

Ray
Sat Jun 21 12:45:29 PDT 2008

dba wrote:
> Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task
> bar. Located at the right it is where most application icons are located.
>
> When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log off
> and then on again they all appear.
>
> Any help will be appreciated.
>
>
> Thanks

Hello,

There isn't a problem most likely. Windows XP hides icons that aren't
currently in use. To see all of the icons click on the little arrow in a
circle at the top of the System Tray and all ioons will appear. After a
peiod of disuse they will disappear again.

Later, Ray Parrish
--
http://www.rayslinks.com/ Web index of human reviewed links.
http://www.writingsoftheschizophrenic.com My poetry in web pages

MarilynG
Sat Jun 21 17:45:05 PDT 2008

I have the same problem. I lost my little arrow to stop flash drives and a
couple of other things. I went to the screen that you can "hide inactive
icons" and the disconnect drives doesn't even appear. On the lower right
corner where the clock is I even lost the expand arrow! It's probably
something the granddaughter did but not sure. How do you stop a flach drive
without the disconnect arrow and how do I get it back?
MarilynG

"Ray Parrish" wrote:

> dba wrote:
> > Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task
> > bar. Located at the right it is where most application icons are located.
> >
> > When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log off
> > and then on again they all appear.
> >
> > Any help will be appreciated.
> >
> >
> > Thanks
>
> Hello,
>
> There isn't a problem most likely. Windows XP hides icons that aren't
> currently in use. To see all of the icons click on the little arrow in a
> circle at the top of the System Tray and all ioons will appear. After a
> peiod of disuse they will disappear again.
>
> Later, Ray Parrish
> --
> http://www.rayslinks.com/ Web index of human reviewed links.
> http://www.writingsoftheschizophrenic.com My poetry in web pages
>

dba
Sat Jun 28 07:20:34 PDT 2008

Ray,

Yes, I am aware of the "hide the icons" (feature?).

Thanks anyway.


Ray Parrish wrote:
> dba wrote:
>> Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task
>> bar. Located at the right it is where most application icons are located.
>>
>> When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log
>> off and then on again they all appear.
>>
>> Any help will be appreciated.
>>
>>
>> Thanks
>
> Hello,
>
> There isn't a problem most likely. Windows XP hides icons that aren't
> currently in use. To see all of the icons click on the little arrow in a
> circle at the top of the System Tray and all ioons will appear. After a
> peiod of disuse they will disappear again.
>
> Later, Ray Parrish

dba
Sat Jun 28 07:22:55 PDT 2008

My problem with missing icons is to simply logout and back on again. This
brings all missing icons up.

My question is why do I need to go through this idiotic process. Is there
not something else I can do to "FIX" the problem.



MarilynG wrote:
> I have the same problem. I lost my little arrow to stop flash drives and a
> couple of other things. I went to the screen that you can "hide inactive
> icons" and the disconnect drives doesn't even appear. On the lower right
> corner where the clock is I even lost the expand arrow! It's probably
> something the granddaughter did but not sure. How do you stop a flach drive
> without the disconnect arrow and how do I get it back?
> MarilynG
>
> "Ray Parrish" wrote:
>
>> dba wrote:
>>> Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task
>>> bar. Located at the right it is where most application icons are located.
>>>
>>> When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log off
>>> and then on again they all appear.
>>>
>>> Any help will be appreciated.
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks
>> Hello,
>>
>> There isn't a problem most likely. Windows XP hides icons that aren't
>> currently in use. To see all of the icons click on the little arrow in a
>> circle at the top of the System Tray and all ioons will appear. After a
>> peiod of disuse they will disappear again.
>>
>> Later, Ray Parrish
>> --
>> http://www.rayslinks.com/ Web index of human reviewed links.
>> http://www.writingsoftheschizophrenic.com My poetry in web pages
>>

dba
Sat Jun 28 07:29:00 PDT 2008

Do not believe it has anything to do with SP3. This has been a problem for
years, just getting around to see if someone else has it and if there is a fix.

Icons that show on first logon are random. Never the same ones. Event logs
have no correlating data. No help at all.

Have not tried another account. Will be on the last resort list.

Believe security is ok.

Seventeen to many. Run a lot of apps. Apache/Tomcat/Databases/multiple net
lines, power, security......



Olórin wrote:
> "dba" <someone@someplace.org> wrote in message
> news:485a55ae$0$20176$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> When all appear there are 17. When I first log on approximately half show
>> up. I can then (immediately) log off and back on and all appear. One that
>> never appears first time is the MySQL monitor. That is the main reason I
>> need to re logon. The first logon is as stated very very slow. But I have
>> tried waiting past the Windows coffee break to make sure it is not a 'just
>> Windows' problem. After I log off and then back on the logon process is
>> much much faster and all the icons show. I have gone through all icons and
>> I did remove a couple I did not 'really' need. That did not seem to help
>> anything.
>>
>> Thanks for your time and thoughts.
>>
>>
>>
>> Olórin wrote:
>>> "dba" <someone@someplace.org> wrote in message
>>> news:485980bd$0$4066$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>>>> Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task
>>>> bar. Located at the right it is where most application icons are
>>>> located.
>>>>
>>>> When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log off
>>>> and then on again they all appear.
>>>>
>>>> Any help will be appreciated.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>> By default, the Taskbar runs most of the way along the bottom of the
>>> screen. The Start button is at the left end and the System Tray, aka
>>> Notification Area, with usually the clock and a "bunch" of other icons,
>>> is at the right. ("Bunch" used deliberately vaguely - you may have any
>>> number of icons there - one, ten, more - systems vary.) Generally, when a
>>> program is started, an "icon" for it appears in the Taskbar; you can
>>> Alt-Tab between these programs. Other programs will (perhaps also) put an
>>> icon in the system tray.
>>>
>>> Yours might have been moved, though, so "located at the right" isn't a
>>> precise enough description. Which do you mean, Taskbar or system tray?
>>>
>>> Which are these icons that don't appear initially? How long have you
>>> waited before logging off then back on, when they do appear?
>>>
>>> If the time they don't appear is after a start up and log on, it could be
>>> that Windows is still getting dressed and having a coffee and not yet
>>> ready to display the other half; then when you give up and log off then
>>> back on, Windows isn't going through all its start-up procedure.
>>>
>>> You may well not need some/many/any of these icons there, as they're
>>> indicative of programs that run automatically at start-up/log on. It
>>> would pay you to work through them and prune where appropriate, thus
>>> perhaps cutting down on time taken to log on and also on system resources
>>> while in general use; but that's another matter.
>
> So, this is icons in the System Tray, is it?
>
> What's changed since this last worked okay? - Looking at another post of
> yours, you've recently installed XP's SP3. Were things all right prior to
> that?
>
> Try noting which icons you're not getting (assuming it's the same ones each
> time..?) and checking the various Event Logs (Start > Run > "eventvwr.msc" >
> Enter) for any alerts related to them (or indeed, any red alerts. Also,
> check any that start as services, see if they're stuck in a "starting"
> state, or not running at all (Start > Run > "services.msc" > Enter).
>
> Perhaps try creating another account and see if the same pertains for that
> one.
>
> Do you have adequate & up to date anti-virus and anti-malware protection?
>
> As a subjective postscript, seventeen icons in the System Tray after
> start-up (well, fifteen now) does seem rather a lot to me; but you know your
> requirements better than I do!
>
>

Olórin
Mon Jun 30 02:32:30 PDT 2008

"dba" <dba@somewhere.org> wrote in message
news:MUr9k.156089$SV4.86902@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Do not believe it has anything to do with SP3. This has been a problem for
> years, just getting around to see if someone else has it and if there is a
> fix.
>
> Icons that show on first logon are random. Never the same ones. Event logs
> have no correlating data. No help at all.
>
> Have not tried another account. Will be on the last resort list.
>
> Believe security is ok.
>
> Seventeen to many. Run a lot of apps. Apache/Tomcat/Databases/multiple net
> lines, power, security......
>
>
>
> Olórin wrote:
>> "dba" <someone@someplace.org> wrote in message
>> news:485a55ae$0$20176$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>>> When all appear there are 17. When I first log on approximately half
>>> show up. I can then (immediately) log off and back on and all appear.
>>> One that never appears first time is the MySQL monitor. That is the main
>>> reason I need to re logon. The first logon is as stated very very slow.
>>> But I have tried waiting past the Windows coffee break to make sure it
>>> is not a 'just Windows' problem. After I log off and then back on the
>>> logon process is much much faster and all the icons show. I have gone
>>> through all icons and I did remove a couple I did not 'really' need.
>>> That did not seem to help anything.
>>>
>>> Thanks for your time and thoughts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Olórin wrote:
>>>> "dba" <someone@someplace.org> wrote in message
>>>> news:485980bd$0$4066$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>>>>> Having a problem with what I think is called the system tray or task
>>>>> bar. Located at the right it is where most application icons are
>>>>> located.
>>>>>
>>>>> When I log on not all the icons appear. Perhaps 50% appear. If I log
>>>>> off and then on again they all appear.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any help will be appreciated.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>> By default, the Taskbar runs most of the way along the bottom of the
>>>> screen. The Start button is at the left end and the System Tray, aka
>>>> Notification Area, with usually the clock and a "bunch" of other icons,
>>>> is at the right. ("Bunch" used deliberately vaguely - you may have any
>>>> number of icons there - one, ten, more - systems vary.) Generally, when
>>>> a program is started, an "icon" for it appears in the Taskbar; you can
>>>> Alt-Tab between these programs. Other programs will (perhaps also) put
>>>> an icon in the system tray.
>>>>
>>>> Yours might have been moved, though, so "located at the right" isn't a
>>>> precise enough description. Which do you mean, Taskbar or system tray?
>>>>
>>>> Which are these icons that don't appear initially? How long have you
>>>> waited before logging off then back on, when they do appear?
>>>>
>>>> If the time they don't appear is after a start up and log on, it could
>>>> be that Windows is still getting dressed and having a coffee and not
>>>> yet ready to display the other half; then when you give up and log off
>>>> then back on, Windows isn't going through all its start-up procedure.
>>>>
>>>> You may well not need some/many/any of these icons there, as they're
>>>> indicative of programs that run automatically at start-up/log on. It
>>>> would pay you to work through them and prune where appropriate, thus
>>>> perhaps cutting down on time taken to log on and also on system
>>>> resources while in general use; but that's another matter.
>>
>> So, this is icons in the System Tray, is it?
>>
>> What's changed since this last worked okay? - Looking at another post of
>> yours, you've recently installed XP's SP3. Were things all right prior to
>> that?
>>
>> Try noting which icons you're not getting (assuming it's the same ones
>> each time..?) and checking the various Event Logs (Start > Run >
>> "eventvwr.msc" > Enter) for any alerts related to them (or indeed, any
>> red alerts. Also, check any that start as services, see if they're stuck
>> in a "starting" state, or not running at all (Start > Run >
>> "services.msc" > Enter).
>>
>> Perhaps try creating another account and see if the same pertains for
>> that one.
>>
>> Do you have adequate & up to date anti-virus and anti-malware protection?
>>
>> As a subjective postscript, seventeen icons in the System Tray after
>> start-up (well, fifteen now) does seem rather a lot to me; but you know
>> your requirements better than I do!

OK, I'm going to assume, in the absence of requested confirmation, that this
IS the system tray we're talking about! :-)

Beyond my other suggestions concerning a new account, and checking services
(which you haven't commented on), all I've left is stuff I'm sure you've
already tried:

- check all your start-up areas. Systematically disable some of these
seventeen in turn (starting with MySQL), reboot and log in to see if that
solves the problem
- set Task Manager to run at start-up and watch activity in the CPU tab as
programs kick in
- double check that your system is clean - ie that you run a decent
firewall, have updated your anti-virus and anti-malware apps *and* have run
scans with them
- Google for the symptoms
- check with MySQL forums etc (purely as this one's a common factor)
- repair or uninstall/reinstall MySQL

Beyond that, then if it were me I'd probably either live with it or (more
likey) scrub and reinstall Windows, unless anyone else here has any ideas.

PS If you run any Norton / Symantec security products, then all bets are
off!