How can Vista be so unpredictable?

I happen to like certain notification area icons such as my MemInfo, HDD Thermometer and a network connected icon, be it Acer's or Window's and I really hate that huge freaking arrow if you select "Hide..."! At least half the time I boot my laptop, icons will be missing. Even more frustrating is the fact that it doesn't always occur, so what gives? And forget about Windows Defender ever being there. Another annoyance is the fact that every time you boot it keeps a log of the icons. Then you have to go into the registry to clean them up. Does anyone know a fail safe app to keep that area the way I want it? Thank You!

 

Right click the menu bar -> Properties -> Notificatino Area tab -> Uncheck "Hide Inactive Icons"

 

No, no that doesn't work! Nothing works! All conventional settings just go out the freaking door. Everything will load perfectly and the Task Bar will be locked, next time I boot one or more will be missing. It doesn't matter whether you have "Hide..." or "Show..." or whether the Task Bar is locked or not. It's haunted I tell you!

 

Just ignore it and pretend like everything is ok.

 

Ah ha. A M$ employee.

 

Hahaha.... Nah, not much chance of that.

 

This worked for me.

 

Far from it, as far as I know Kerodo regularly uses and enjoys both M$ and Linux prodcuts, infact, Kerodo has good amount of experience about several Linux distros since he is a regular distro hopper.

 

Thanks Blackcat!

 

That is the way to do it for Vista. It is a little diiferent in XP, though.

For reference, since XP is essentially dead, here are the Vista instructions:

To clear the Past Items list manually, follow the steps below:

* Click Start, type regedit.exe and press Enter
* Navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify

* Delete the values IconStreams and PastIconsStream
* Quit the Registry Editor
* Open Task Manager (taskmgr.exe), click the Processes tab
* Select Explorer.exe, and then click End Process
* In Task Manager, click File, click New Task, type explorer, and then click OK.