hi there,

the power management / options icon rarely appears in my taskbar (it seems
to appear occasionally, but seemingly without any pattern). i have 'always
show icon on the taskbar' enabled, but it doesnt help. would you please
suggest any possible solutions? i have a brand-new Dell laptop with windows
XP.

thanks,

dgl

On Sun, 9 Oct 2005 12:06:01 -0700, d g lewental wrote:

> hi there,
>
> the power management / options icon rarely appears in my taskbar (it seems
> to appear occasionally, but seemingly without any pattern). i have 'always
> show icon on the taskbar' enabled, but it doesnt help. would you please
> suggest any possible solutions? i have a brand-new Dell laptop with windows
> XP.
>
> thanks,
>
> dgl

What happens if you log off/log on (not a full restart, just a reload of
your account and settings)? The tray area has been a bit fragile throughout
XP's history.

There is always the possibility that another startup program is having a
problem. That in turn can cause the failed appearance of other tray icons.
You can try troubleshooting this by systematically disabling startup items
(Start> Run> MSCONFIG> Startup). Then add one back at a time until you
notice a problem with other icons. When that happens, the last one added is
a part of the problem.

The trouble with tray icon area is the problem is often intermittent.
You're never sure if it's a problem with that tray icon, another tray icon
or if you're just seeing the weakness of the XP tray area. This makes it
very difficult to troubleshoot and to find a clear cut explanation. IMHO,
the best bet is to try the log off/log on. If that helps most of the time,
count your blessing and leave it at that.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User