I need some fresh input on this.

ABout 6 months ago I noticed that upon booting my computer not all programs were loading in to the system tray. About 6 at a time were and only the most important (mouse driver, network, DVD writer, bluetooth, skype and MSN sort of thing). TO get the above things e.g. remote for tv tuner, speaker control, second copy back up, memory card back up, WLAN utility etc. I found I had to log off and on - something I never do because it's my personal laptop.

I did some research and found the programs people advised (it's a well known problem when you have a lot of system tray activity at start up) to fix it but none worked. I have lived with it since. Seeing as I only do a restart about once a week it doesn't matter much but I was wondering who else has come across this and how they fixed it please?

I now try to find the answers to fix it and find nothing on searching Btw. the programs load but you just can't access them usually. I.e. Folding@home software I know is running as the fan stays on throughout - i.e. high CPU usage but I can't access it through the system tray.

NB: I have tried tech pro utilities system start analyser and another program both found to be advised previously but to no avail and I do know it's a common problem.

Cheers
Paul

prolly a memory issue id have thought...

whats the spec dude?

P4-M 3.06ghz (HT)
512MB DDR
60gb (20gb free usually as I use an external HDD)
etc.

Shouldn't be my spec

It's a software issue.

then i would........

1. boot off an xp cd from the recovery console do a 'chkdsk /p' on c:\

2. get rid of some of that crap running in the tray! lol

3. scan for adware/spyware with more than one removal tool

4. see if there are any bios updates for your board... there may be some memory management issues.. btw if your gonna do that id re-install after flashing (ooh er! lol)

5. if you really wanna fix it and nothing else works then... back up your gear.. zap it and re-install

6. theres prolly other stuff but cant think right now!... try some of that tho see how you go


alfie

Re: then i would........

Cheers for the help but...

1. No way...That sort of thing has a habbit of going wrong and I have too much to risk on here even with a backup.

2. None of it is crap, I have my computer just as I like and need it and can justify everything on it and running.

3. I run adaware once a week, a virus scan every other day (risk being off uni network otherwise) etc. etc.

4. I am not updating the bios, it's a laptop, if it goes wrong, I lose the laptop not just the mobo.

5. I don't care about it that much lol

Seriously, it's a known XP problem, something about one of the system tray programs taking slightly too long during start up to initialise so XP skips it and the rest. I just can't find the help files for it now.

that chkdsk is really good.. it doesnt mess with any data... fixes loads of stuff..

its up2 you tho....

i flash everything! i flashed my laptop b4 i booted it up the first time lol..

i love a flash every now and then!

Re: then i would........

See:

http://www.tech-pro.co.uk/howto_013.html


Disable Automatic Logon
The problem of tray icons not appearing in the system tray (notification area) usually occurs when starting the computer, when it is configured for automatic log-on. The problem does not usually occur if you log out and then log back in again. Logging out and then logging back in again is a pretty reliable workaround for the problem, but it is a bit of an annoyance if you have to do it every day.

Another possible solution is to disable automatic logon. To do that:

click on Start
click on Run
type: control userpasswords2
click OK
check the box Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer
click OK
This method will often solve the problem. or at least make the problem of missing Taskbar icons occur much less often, but it's a nuisance if you're in the habit of just turning the computer on and walking away while it gets on with all its startup tasks.


We have been plagued with the problem of missing icons in the system tray (notification area) because we use a number of applications that run in the background and use a tray icon to show what they are doing, many of which have been developed in-house. We tried to find ways to work around the problem in our own applications, without success.

It seems to us that this problem (and some others we have encountered) comes about because Microsoft has been obsessed, ever since the days of Windows 95, with the length of time it takes to start up (and shut down) Windows. We routinely used to disable fast shutdown under Windows 98 because of the problems it created. We think that the problem with missing system tray (notification area) icons is occurring because Windows is still loading and initializing drivers and other system stuff at the same time as it is starting to load user applications. There is just too much going on at the same time, and so the Taskbar software often "misses" the Windows messages that tell it to all a program's icon to the system tray (notification area.)

We have therefore developed our own workaround. In our new Tech-Pro Utilities suite (which itself includes several applications that use the system tray / notification area) we added a Startup Manager. In essence, this takes application shortcuts out of the Programs menu, Startup group, so that they are loaded one at a time, with a delay between them, using a separate program. As a by-product of this, you are able to specify the order in which the applications are loaded (and hence to influence the order in which icons appear in the system tray / notification area) and you can also disable startup applications very easily. This seems to have solved the problem for us. Perhaps it will work for you, too!



It didn't work for me I don't think.

IMO

thats quite a generic answer... its most likely down to specific hardware and the apps running in the tray..etc

Re: then i would........

See, I am not weird

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1034225301

Reading through.

i never said you were!... although!.. lol jus kidding..

i dont know... thats what i would to to fix it..

but then thats jus my opinion

alfie

Alfie said:

that chkdsk is really good.. it doesnt mess with any data... fixes loads of stuff..

Click to expand...

Trust me, chkdsk isn't always really good. It's supposed to fix problems with NTFS filesystems, but there shouldn't really be a problem with NTFS filesystems anyway, as they are journalling, so they will retain their consistency even in the event of a power outage.
That's the theory, practice has shown me that it sometimes just can't fix problems, and gives up. And it takes ages on a 240GB volume with 1,000,000 files on. Sometimes you can find that the way it fixes the errors is quite destructive

H