"JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
news:eo981nO%23JHA.4176@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> No. I'm real particular about services and what's not needed. This
> the icon for my anti-virus software.
> It's odd. For the last week after purchasing an external hard drive
> I can't get the
> 'Safely remove hardware' icon to go away (Not just hide it). Now an
> icon I want showing keeps getting set to 'Hide'.
> I hope Windows 7 has a few enhancements.[/color]

Vista only allows you to set certain notification icons to "always or
never display" like the time and the speaker volume. For everything
else it seems to pull the most recently or frequently used icons into
the always-visible portion of the notification strip. Everything else
is hidden until you click on the < slide-out icon. If you've clicked
several times on the security program's icon during your current
session it might shift into the always-visible strip. Not the ideal
solution but it can work and be useful if you don't reboot or change
users, or displace it by clicking more frequently on other icons
there.

Many programs offer the option of whether to add tray icons, create a
desktop link, etc. during the installation routine. That doesn't
always prevent unwanted icons, but do pay attention to those as you do
the install. Some allow these to be reconfigured in the program's
settings. Other posters have offered insights into making changest in
Start-up, etc.

Having said that, now my own gripe: A nearly useless notification
that found its way onto my two HP Vista machines is a 3-icon cluster
showing the status for NumLock/CapsLock/ScrollLock. My guess is that
it's not Vista's fault, it's a replacement for the 3 keyboard LEDs
that lit up when any of the 3 was activated. [There are no LEDs on my
HP OEM keyboards.] If clicking on the icons turned the settings
on/off it would be useful and I could *almost* forgive manufacturers
for cheapskating on the LEDs. But all they did was save a buck or two
and give us this dumb static screen display that I can't see at a
glance [it's hidden in the slide-out] and can't delete. Fortunately I
found a way to have the CapsLock key make a loud up-boop and down-boop
whenever it's turned on/off. The audible alert is more useful than
the LEDs and icons combined. Some idiot decided that the CapsLock key
should be moved and doubled in size. Because I constantly hit
CapsLock accidentally when doing fast typing, I was retyping entire
sentences before I got the audible alarm functioning.
[color=blue]
> "Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS********.com> wrote in
> message news:OnvMsJO%23JHA.4900@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Is it a program/service that is really needed? Many of them are
>> not. The programmer just places an icon there to feel important.
>>
>> A good example is Frostwire. Why would you want the program running
>> continuously - even when you are not using it. But you can turn
>> this behavior off in the program options. Then the program only
>> runs while in active use.
>>
>> Many other programs are the same. But, many can not be turned off
>> in the programs options. For those I use autoruns from Microsoft
>> System internals. You can disable "any" startup program. I always
>> turn off one in particular from Adobe Reader. There is no reason
>> for it to start with the operating system (even though it does not
>> place an icon in the notification tray).
>>
>> You can get the FREE autoruns here:
>> [url]http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx[/url]
>>
>> --
>>
>> Richard Urban
>> Microsoft MVP
>> Windows Desktop Experience
>>
>>
>> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
>> news:u7ZvpBO%23JHA.1380@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> Yes, I would assume it is the program itself that places it's icon
>>> in the notification area.
>>> There's no setting in the progrm anywhere where one can set to
>>> display the icon or not.
>>>
>>> James
>>>
>>> "Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS********.com> wrote in
>>> message news:Os2vh2N%23JHA.3544@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>> It may well be in the program itself that places the icon in the
>>>> notification area. If that's the case you likely can't change the
>>>> behavior.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> Richard Urban
>>>> Microsoft MVP
>>>> Windows Desktop Experience
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "JamesJ" <jjy@darwin_roadrunner.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:OLmLpZN%23JHA.4692@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>>>I keep changing a Notification Area Icon to 'Show' but it keeps
>>>>>getting
>>>>> changed to 'Hide when inactive'.
>>>>> I do have the 'Hide inactive icons' checked. So what good does
>>>>> it do to be
>>>>> able to change the icon setting to 'Show' in 'Customize' if it
>>>>> keeps changing back?
>>>>> Any way to keep this icon showing without unchecking 'Hide
>>>>> inactive
>>>>> icons'???
>>>>>
>>>>> James
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]