Missing WinXP system tray

[Redbird]

System was in perfect working order. I used Tweakui to make some minor
changes. The last change I made was to check "keep RAS connections alive
when changing logon".

I then logged off and back on to test it, and found my system notification
area was completely gone except for the clock. In taskbar properties, "hide
inactive icons" and the customize button are now greyed out. Programs
normally in the tray are still there, but not visible.

I undid the tweakui changes. System restore did not fix it, gave me
"restoration incomplete" (restore has never worked for me). Reinstalling
winXP did not bring the tray back.

I'd appreciate any clues as to how to fix this short of dumping the
registry. Thanks, Patrick

 

[AnyMal]

Well, looks like your only other option at this point IS registry repair.

 

[nineball9]

Once you get your notification area (used to be called the system tray) repaired, try fixing System Restore. You have a corrupted restore point. System restore only saves changes made since the previous System Restore point was created. So once you get a corrupted restore point, subsequent restore points will be corrupt as well.

To fix System Restore: Right click My Computer, Properties, System Restore, Turn off System Resore on All Drives.
Reboot. Follow the above steps again, but this time uncheck the Turn off System Restore on All Drives box.

Effectively, the 1st step will delete your exixting restore points, and the second step will start restore points anew.

Dunno what you did to the notification area (system tray). Since you were using Tweak UI, try checking Tweak UI settings under "Taskbar and Start Menu". Make sure the "Show taskbar notification icons" option box is checked.

Hope this helps!

 

[Redbird]

Fixed it! I never unchecked the "Show taskbar notification icons", but I had unchecked the "hide hint balloons" box. Undoing that fixed it. Tweakui must have its wires crossed. I noticed some of its settings had no effect.

Thanks for the tip about restore. I've always thought it would be a very useful feature if it actually worked.

 

[MillionaireNextDoor]

Thanks, Redbird!

I have this same problem caused by TweakUI. Other than this, TweakUI is great.