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Vista Tutorial - Notification Area - System Icons

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Notification Area - System Icons
How to Enable or Disable the Notification Area System Icons in Vista
Published by Brink
11-16-2007

How to Enable or Disable the Notification Area System Icons in Vista

Information
  This will show you how to enable or disable the Notification Area System Icons for all user account on the computer. These are the Clock, Volume, Network, and Power (battery) icons in the bottom right corner of the Taskbar. When these icons are disabled, they will be grayed out in the Notification Area. When these icons are enabled, they can be checked to show on the Taskbar Notification Area.
Tip
  If you want to make all Taskbar icons bigger, then increase the Caption Buttons Item Size to a higher number in Advanced Appearance settings. See steps 6A and 6B here: How to Change the Advanced Appearance Settings in Vista
WARNING
 
  • Make sure the the drivers and devices that go with the system icons are installed and working properly. They will not work if the device or driver does not.
  • Sometimes to simply logoff and logon, or restart the computer, will enable the missing notification icons again. You should try that first.
  • Sometimes a simple reset of the Notification Icons will clear the problem. See: How to Reset and Clean the Notification Icons List in Vista
  • Sometimes on a laptop, you can shutdown the laptop and remove the battery pack, reconnect it, and power the laptop back up to get the Power (battery) icon back or ungrayed.
RELATED LINKS:



METHOD ONE:
Turn the System Icons On or Off
NOTE
  This will just turn the Notification Area System icons on or off for your user account only. Power will remain grayed out unless your computer is a laptop or has a UPS battery backup connected to it. To create a Power Options shortcut, see: How to Create a Power Options Shortcut in Vista
1. Right click on the Taskbar and click on Properties.

2. Click on the Notification Area tab. (See left screenshot below step 3)


3. Check (on) or uncheck (off) the options you want or do not want to show on the Taskbar Notification Area.
NOTE
 
enabled.jpgdisabled.jpg



METHOD TWO:
Through the Local Group Policy Editor
NOTE
  This method will enable or disable a System icon. This method is only available for the Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. See Method THREE below for the Vista Home Basic and Home Premium editions.
1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. In the left pane, click on User Configuration, Administrative Templates, and Start Menu and Taskbar. (See screenshot below)
group_policy.jpg
3. For the Clock Icon - In the right pane, right click on Remove Clock from the system notification area and click on Properties.
(See screenshot above)
A) To Disable the Clock Icon - Dot Enabled and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 7)

B) To Enable the Clock Icon - Dot Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK.
4. For the Volume Icon - In the right pane, right click on Remove the volume control icon and click on Properties. (See screenshot above)
A) To Disable the Volume Icon - Dot Enabled and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 7)

B) To Enable the Volume Icon - Dot Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK.
5. For the Network Icon - In the right pane, right click on Remove the networking icon and click on Properties. (See screenshot above)
NOTE: To make sure that this icon works properly you should also have the Services Network Connections, Network List Service, Network Location Awareness, and Network Store Interface Service set to Started and Automatic. For how, see: How to Disable or Enable Vista Services with an Advice Guide
A) To Disable the Network Icon - Dot Enabled and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 7)

B) To Enable the Netwok Icon - Dot Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK.
6. For the Power (battery) Icon - In the right pane, right click on Remove the battery meter and click on Properties. (See screenshot above)
NOTE: This will remain grayed out unless your computer is a laptop or has a UPS battery backup connected to it. To create a Power Options shortcut, see: How to Create a Power Options Shortcut in Vista
A) To Disable the Power Icon - Dot Enabled and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 7)

B) To Enable the Power Icon - Dot Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK.
7. Close the Local Group Policy Editor.
properties.jpg



METHOD THREE:
Through the Registry
NOTE
  This method will enable or disable a System icon. This method will work for all Vista versions.
Through a Download:
1. For the Clock Icon -
A) To Disable the Clock Icon - Disable_Clock.reg < CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

B) To Enable the Clock Icon - Enable_Clock.reg < CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
2. For the Volume Icon -
A) To Disable the Volume Icon - Disable_Volume.reg < CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

B) To Enable the Volume Icon - Enable_Volume.reg < CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
3. For the Network Icon -
NOTE: To make sure that this icon works properly you should also have the Services Network Connections, Network List Service, Network Location Awareness, and Network Store Interface Service set to Started and Automatic. For how, see: How to Disable or Enable Vista Services with an Advice Guide
A) To Disable the Network Icon - Disable_Network.reg < CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

B) To Enable the Netwok Icon - Enable_Network.reg < CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
4. For the Power (battery) Icon -
NOTE: This will remain grayed out unless your computer is a laptop or has a UPS battery backup connected to it. To create a Power Options shortcut, see: How to Create a Power Options Shortcut in Vista
A) To Disable the Power Icon - Disable_Power.reg < CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

B) To Enable the Power Icon - Enable_Power.reg < CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
5. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.

6. Right click on the .reg file (on Desktop) and click on Merge.

7. Click on the Run button in the Security Warning pop-up.

8. Click on Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.

9. When done, you can delete the .reg file (on Desktop).

10. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.
The Manual Way:
1. Open the Start Menu.

2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.

3. If pompted by UAC, click on Continue.

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
NOTE: If Explorer is not there, then right click on Policies in the left pane and click on New and Key. Type Explorer and press Enter.

5. To Disable the System Icons - In the right pane of Explorer, right click on a empty area and click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value.
A) To Disable the Clock Icon - Type HideClock and press Enter.

B) To Disable the Volume Icon - Type HideSCAVolume and press Enter.

C) To Disable the Network Icon - Type HideSCANetwork and press Enter.

D) To Disable the Power (battery) Icon - Type HideSCABattery and press Enter.

E) In the right pane, right click on the one you just typed to disable and click on Modify.
notification_reg.jpg
F) Type 1 and click on OK. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: Repeat for each step you did in 5A to D.
Name:  Modify.jpg
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6. To Enable the System Icons - (See screenshot below step 5E)
A) To Enable the Clock Icon - Right click on HideClock and click on Delete.

B) To Enable the Volume Icon - Right click on HideSCAVolume and click on Delete.

C) To Enable the Network Icon - Right click on HideSCANetwork and click on Delete.

D) To Enable the Power (battery) Icon - Right click on HideSCABattery and click on Delete.

E) Click on Yes to confirm the delete.

F) In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

G) In the right pane, repeat steps 6A to 6E if they are here to.
hklm_reg.jpg
7. Close regedit.

8. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.
That's it,
Shawn
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Old 12-25-2007  
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Re: Notification Area - System Icons

Updated 12-25-2007 to include METHOD THREE for all versions of Vista.

Shawn
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Old 04-24-2008  
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Re: Notification Area - System Icons

none of this worked. my power button is still greyed out.
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Old 04-27-2008  
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Re: Notification Area - System Icons

Hi Sirhc063,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

The Power icon option will usually stay grayed out unless you are running a laptop on battery power, or have a desktop plugged into a backup battery UPS.

Is this this the case?

Shawn
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Old 04-27-2008  
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Re: Notification Area - System Icons

After I did all this my volume box and network box are still shaded grey?
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Old 04-28-2008  
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Re: Notification Area - System Icons

Hi Joelp21,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

See if uninstalling your audio and network drivers from Device Manager and reinstalling them after a restart will help.

Shawn
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Old 04-28-2008  
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Re: Notification Area - System Icons

Thanks it worked after that.
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Re: Notification Area - System Icons

Your welcome Joelp21. I'm glad to hear that it is working now.
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Old 04-28-2008  
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Re: Notification Area - System Icons

no it used to show the power icon with or without being plugged in. i read something about a windows update messing it up but i havent had time to work on it recently....finals.
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Old 06-01-2008  
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Re: Notification Area - System Icons

Hi Brink,

I have a desktop (without UPS or battery), and was wondering if there is any way to get the Power icon to show in the notification area?

I used to have it there in XP, and loved being able to easily change the power saving mode when doing different things on my PC - i hope i can continue to do it in Vista!

Thanks
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icon, notification, system, taskbar & start menu

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