Author Topic: W7 Taskbar Icons (Read 19692 times)

Xas1953NC · « **on:** January 15, 2015, 02:04:22 pm »

Hello all, on patch Tuesday 13th I installed the microsoft security files and the .net framework 4.5.2 file onto my wife's W7 Home Premium 64 bit computer. Prior to these updates icons set as "show icons and notifications" appeared as such in the taskbar. After the updates they now get automatically set as "only show notifications" and are found in the box upon clicking on the small triangle on the taskbar. Resetting back to the first setting ensures they appear in the taskbar but only to disappear again on a restart /bootup. I think it may be something to do with the .net Framework file but do not want to uninstall it as there are no previous versions available to fall back on as I think that W7 deletes previous versions when updating to a higher version. I Googled the problem but cannot find information on how to get the required icons to stay in the taskbar. Upon installing the Vista 32 bit counterpart updates onto my computer the icons on my taskbar remain as per before the updates. Has anyone experienced taskbar icons disappearing after Tuesday 13th updates?

Boggin · « **Reply #1 on:** January 15, 2015, 03:51:40 pm »

To determine if WUs are responsible, use the restore points to prior the updates to see if they then behave normally and then install just one update at a time - preferably starting with the .NET Framework one until the problem returns, assuming they do behave normally after the restore.

Alternatively you could run this Batch file to reset the Notification Area Icon Cache and set them up again to see if they stick.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/13102-notification-area-icons-reset.html

Shane · « **Reply #2 on:** January 15, 2015, 05:43:41 pm »

I did the same updates on my system which is Windows 7 64 bit, and I installed the .net 4.5.2 and my taskbar settings are staying the same.

When you change the taskbar settings they get saved to the registry. It is possible that it is failing to save those settings and so at next reboot when it goes to read the settings it takes what ever was there before since they didnt get updated.

It is possible that the permissions on that registry key got messed up, or you may just need to delete the key and have windows save it fresh.

Some of the registry settings are store at
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

And the other location, which the toolbars you add to the task bar and such are stored at
HEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop

I say export both those locations as a backup, and then delete them and reboot. Once back up go and change the settings on the taskbar and se if they save and reboot again to confirm they held.

Shane

as1953-2 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 18, 2015, 05:28:22 am »

Hello Shane. This is as1953. My computer is down so have setup an account under my wife's computer. She is being shown as being logged on but the message I sent re her W7 icons problem was not accepted as I had to type in a set of characters in the captcha box again due to the first set not being correct. I have done this so here goes to see if it has been rectified.

as1953-2 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 18, 2015, 05:37:43 am »

Shane, it appears my wife's account setup is now accepted. I carried out your advice and on a reboot went to properties and each of the required icons appeared in the taskbar when I selected them from the hide box but upon a reboot they went back into the hide box. I did notice the apply button was greyed out so I could only select ok. I also tried the drag and drop from the hide box but once again on a reboot they went back into the hide box.

as1953-2 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 18, 2015, 05:45:28 am »

Shane, disregard my last post due to my cocked up description. Here is the correct one.
It appears my wife's account setup is now accepted.
I carried out your advice and on a reboot went to properties and each of the required icons appeared in the taskbar but upon a reboot they went back into the hide box. I did notice the apply button was greyed out so I could only select ok. I also tried the drag and drop from the hide box but once again on a reboot they went back into the hide box.

Shane · « **Reply #6 on:** January 19, 2015, 08:00:50 pm »

OK, so now the question is, is those registry keys getting updated properly. Did you export and backup the old keys before you removed them? If so zip them up and post them for me and also export the new ones that where created so I can compare them.

Shane

as1953-2 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 20, 2015, 11:49:28 am »

Hello Shane, here are the reg files. One of the files you originally asked for was HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Should it have been
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Policies
as I could not find \Policies\Explorer.

Thank you for your help.

Shane · « **Reply #8 on:** January 20, 2015, 03:08:53 pm »

Ok, looks like those didnt have much.

The "TaskbarWinXP" holds the info of any toolbars you enable on the taskbar, enable a toolbar on the taskbar and reboot and see if it holds. There must be another location in the registry for the other settings. I dont know why the taskbar has to have so many different save locations lol

Shane

as1953-2 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 20, 2015, 03:21:44 pm »

Hello Shane, I'm afraid that I am out of my depth here. I do not know about toolbars on the taskbar. This computer was bought with W7 installed so cannot fathom out about WinXP being on the computer.

as1953-2 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 20, 2015, 03:59:00 pm »

Shane, I ran Nirsoft reg scanner with the search word WinXP and saw about 21 lines including the search word. They date from 2012 and I wonder if these are the result of my installing at that time a program called Nexus Ultimate which gives one docks and shelves which is similar to a Mac computer. What I cannot fathom is why with everything working ok until the 17th of this month, which coincided with installing MS security updates and the latest .netframework on that day. Could the many links you talk about be because of Nexus Ultimate. I ticked the LINKS toolbar which then appeared on the taskbar. A reboot still showed it being held.

Shane · « **Reply #11 on:** January 20, 2015, 04:40:02 pm »

"TaskbarWinXP" is just the registry key name, MS kept the same name in 7, doesnt mean anything about XP being on the system

I found another registry location I want you to backup and then remove and test
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband

Shane

as1953-2 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 21, 2015, 01:34:37 am »

Hello Shane, here are the Taskband files. Thanks

Shane · « **Reply #13 on:** January 21, 2015, 09:38:58 pm »

And no difference after removing it?

I forget, but did you run the permissions repairs in my windows repair tool yet?

Shane

as1953-2 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 22, 2015, 12:23:28 am »

Hello Shane, there was no difference after reboot. I only selected the registry permission and there was no change after that either. Are there any other selections I should have selected? Thanks

Shane · « **Reply #15 on:** January 22, 2015, 12:30:01 am »

No the registry permissions where the only ones, file permissions maybe. Just in case it is a folder permissions problem. So go ahead and try that one as well.

Only answers I can find from MS on this is they say to just make a new user profile and move the data over. It has to do with a profile corruption. But they dont say anything else, which is really odd.

Shane

as1953-2 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2015, 06:10:41 am »

Hello Shane, following your last reply I ran both registry and file permissions in safe mode with network access with computer shutdown at the end of the session. Upon booting up the icons I had pulled out of the hide box onto the taskbar before the session stayed on the taskbar. I did two more shutdowns and booting up resulted in all ok. So much for MS suggesting a User Profile situation. Shane, You are a Godsend. Many thanks.

Shane · « **Reply #17 on:** January 22, 2015, 02:47:04 pm »

Outstanding

You ran the registry permissions already and it didnt do it, so looks like it was a file permissions problem. The folder where windows stores the icons and short cuts for those must of had its permissions messed up so it couldnt write to it. The repair fixed those permissions and got you going

This is one of the reasons I tell people to run all the repairs in the program. And they ask me why when some of the repairs dont have to do with their problem. Your problem is a great example. A lot and I mean a lot of the time the cause of a problem isnt anything directly to do with the problem (Windows breaks easily because nothing runs by itself, everything relies on something else). You had no indication that it was a file permissions problem at all.

Need anything else you know where to come.

Shane

Xas1953NC · « **Reply #18 on:** January 22, 2015, 03:34:18 pm »

Shane, I have actually with my computer but all I will say for the moment is that on the first initial startup of the day it takes a number of starting up and then closing down again by the computer button, no separate reset on it, to get it to start. This averages out to a total of about an hour before it kicks in. The thing is that once it does fire up it will then boot up/restart without a glitch. This has been bugging me since the 17-10-2014 although at that time it was taking about 14 min to boot up. Please ignore this at the moment as I will recall it under a new heading. Thank you for all your help.

Shane · « **Reply #19 on:** January 23, 2015, 05:21:15 pm »

Could be a hard drive getting bad, or you have a ton of programs that are in startup. Start a new thread and I can help you

Shane