So you notice you are missing icons in the System Tray, like the clock or volume icons, and then you realize that you simply can't enable them because the checkboxes are grayed out. So what do you do?
The problem exists because system policies were set that probably shouldn't be, but either way your icons are missing:
Normally you can re-enable the items by right-clicking on the Taskbar, choosing properties and going to the Notification Area tab:
But they are grayed out… what's up with that?
Note: I'm assuming you already did the normal Windows fix-it technique of rebooting, and the problem still exists.
Fix for Notification Icons are Missing and Checkboxes are Grayed Out
You can solve all of these problems by looking in two separate places in the registry, and then deleting a bunch of keys in each location. We'll detail all of the keys here, but you can skip down a bit for a downloadable registry hack file.
Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
If you see any of the following key names in the right-hand pane, delete them:
- NoTrayItemsDisplay
- HideClock
- HideSCAPower
- HideSCAVolume
- NoAutoTrayNotify
- HideSCANetwork
After deleting the values in that pane, browse to the following key and then repeat the process:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
You'll have to logout and then back in, and then most likely go back into taskbar properties and re-check the boxes for each.
Download Registry Hack
Just download, extract, and double-click on RestoreMyTrayIconsPlease.reg to enter the information into the registry.
Download RestoreMyTrayIconsPlease Registry Hack
What if the Volume Icon Still Doesn't Work?
Over the last year, many people have reported a related problem to me: They just have no volume icon… and also no sound.
If you encounter this problem, you should immediately open Device Manager and make sure that there are no exclamation points next to your sound card, because the problem is likely that your sound card driver isn't working.
If there are exclamation points, or the sound card is missing and there are a bunch of "Unknown devices", you usually need to reload the sound card driver from the manufacturer, but sometimes you can right-click on the device and choose to "Update Driver".
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