Getting rid of icons..

[ahopeter]

i have a dell with winXP, i am trying how to figure out how i can completely hide the little icons, located next to the clock, i dont want to been scene.  I dont mean to hide them behind the little arrow, but rather to almost get them to turn invisible.  dell had taught me at one point but i forgot...msconfig? ipconfig? run? something like that(i think).  Thanks again everyone!

[svetlozar]

Could you please specify what the icons are about?

I mean the icons of which programs do you seen at the system tray?

[Mark H]

It has to be done through the registery.

Here are the steps:

To hide the system tray notification area:

• Go to run and then regedit
  
• Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
  
• Right-click an empty space in the right pane and select New > DWORD Value
  
• Name the new value NoTrayItemsDisplay
  
• Double-click the value NoTrayItemsDisplay and change the Value data to 1
  
• Close regedit
  
• Log off, or restart Windows for the changes to take effect.

To show the system tray again, change the one to a zero in the last step before closing regedit.

Mark H

[ahopeter]

thanks for replying, Mark H., that sounds  alittle more involved, and that wasnt what dell had me do.  Im sure you wouldnt steer me wrong but im just worried that i may have not described what im trying to do thoroughly.  Basically the little icons like add remove programs safely, i never use it and the icon bothers me.  so i wanted to take it off of my taskbar.  thanks

[saoirse]

Right-click an area on the taskbar and select 'Properties'.  In the lower right corner, select 'Customize'.  Find the offending Icon name and change its behaviour to 'hide'.

saoirse

[ahopeter]

but this just hids it behind the arrow... i want to get rid of it off my taskbar completely.

[saoirse]

Do not select 'hide when inactive'.  Select 'Always hide'.

Once you apply these changes, the icon should disappear from the taskbar.

saoirse

[Mark H]

If they are programs that you don't want to run, msconfig can be used to set them up to not start with windows.

If you want the program running, but don't want the icon beside the clock, usually you can go into the program and set it to not put an icon in the system tray.

If you don't want any icons in the system tray (beside clock), what I poasted will cause nothing to show on the lower right, except the clock. What I poasted would not be hard to do.

Mark H

[ahopeter]

it just puts the icon behind the arrow.

[saoirse]

Sorry, you're correct.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310429

Try the steps here.  Mark has given you some good information, too.  Preventing Icons from entering the notification area can either be achieved through the program options itself, 'msconfig' to prevent them loading at startup, or with the Windows registry.

saoirse    

[ahopeter]

Mark H., i want the program running but the icon to not show.  i tried to access the dont show icon inside the program but cant find it.
Saoirse, how do i acccess the window registry?
thaanks fellas, i appreciate the help of a slow computer learner.

[Chandler]

What program is it?  Not all allow you to remove their icons, the best you can do is "hide" it (in XP).

Are you talking about Quick Launch?  To remove this, right click on the Taskbar, go to Toolbars and uncheck Quick Launch.

[Mark H]

Mark H., i want the program running but the icon to not show.  i tried to access the dont show icon inside the program but cant find it.
Saoirse, how do i acccess the window registry?
thaanks fellas, i appreciate the help of a slow computer learner.

If you read the steps I outlined in my first response, you will see how to get to the registry window. Go to the menu, select run and then type in regedit. Then follow the rest of the steps I have outlined above. That will eliminate all icons beside the clock, but your programs will still be running.

Mark H

[Chandler]

Try the attached registry files, which do the same thing as Mark suggested.  There is one to reverse it if you change your mind.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[ahopeter]

i dont want to hide all of them...just some of them.

[Chandler]

Right click on the Taskbar -> Properties

In Notification Area, tick Hide Inactive Icons and then Customize.  There you can choose which are shown and which are hidden.

That hides them behind the arrow.  Whether or not you can disable them completely is up to the program in question.  What icons are you trying to hide?  Poast the details here and I will try to find out if it's possible with them.

[ahopeter]

thanks, im trying to hide task manager, safely remove hardware, messengers... i wish i knew what dell had me do... it was pretty simple too.

[Chandler]

Task Manager
Not possible.  Sometimes the icon is disabled through a bug in the software.  The best you can do is hide it (behind the arrow)

Safely Remove Hardware
As of Windows XP, this has to be enabled.  The best you can do is hide it (behind the arrow).

Windows Messenger
Whenever this program is running, it will show an icon.  If you disable the feature to run in the background, that gets rid of the icon, but Messenger won't work.  You need to hide this one also (behind the arrow).

[ahopeter]

thanks for the help, much appreciated.

[ahopeter]

oh! one last quick question... when you enter this website, and come to the desktop support forum... next to this posting you can see three yellow exclamation marks...what do those mean?

[Chandler]

They mean it's had a lot of replies.  After even more replies they go red.

[ahopeter]

thank ya.

[rupert]

I have the the same problems with icons, they go half way across. I did as you said Mark, but it di
d`nt work, either I did something wrong or??        Has anyone else any ideas? please

[Mark H]

Rupert,

Did you restart windows after making the changes? They won't take effect until you restart windows. You might also go check the registry again and see if the edits were saved.

If all else fails, you can try the program that Chandler attached to his poast (above) that will do the changes for you.

As to icons in the quick launch part of the task bar, they won't be affected by the change.

Mark H

[rupert]

They are still there,lol, never mind, ill leave them where they are, its easier,thanks anyway, at least ive learned something.