If any of the System Icons such as the Speaker, Network, or Power icons are missing from the Taskbar Notification Area (Systray) in Windows Vista or Windows XP, try the following steps to try to bring them back.

1. Open Regedit by holding down the Windows Key and press the R key. Type regedit in the box and click OK.

2. Click My Computer on the top left side.

3. Click Edit > Find.

4. Type iconstreams and click Find.

5. If Regedit finds an entry named iconstreams, press the Delete button on your keyboard to delete it.

6. Press the F3 key on your keyboard to continue searching the registry. If Regedit finds any additional entries, delete those as well.

7. Repeat steps 2 through 6, only this time instead of searching for iconstreams, search for PastIconStreams instead, and delete any of those entries.

8. Close the registry editor and restart the computer. See if your System icons have reappeared in the Taskbar Notification Area (Systray).

See also: Systray icons missing

How to enable or disable the Network icon in the Notification Area or Systray in Windows Vista.

1. Right-click on a blank area of the Taskbar.

2. Click Properties.

3. Click the Notification Area tab.

4. Under System Icons, put a check in the box for Network to enable the network icon in the Systray or uncheck it to disable it.

5. Click OK.

How to enable or disable the power icon in the Notification Area or Systray in Windows Vista.

1. Right-click on a blank area of the Taskbar.

2. Click Properties.

3. Click the Notification Area tab.

4. Under System Icons, put a check in the box for Power to enable the power icon in the Systray or uncheck it to disable it.

5. Click OK.

How to enable or disable the clock in the Notification Area or Systray in Windows Vista.

1. Right-click on a blank area of the Taskbar.

2. Click Properties.

3. Click the Notification Area tab.

4. Under System Icons, put a check in the box for Clock to enable the speaker icon in the Systray or uncheck it to disable it.

5. Click OK.

If the Clock is missing from the Notification Area or Systray in Windows Vista, a registry entry may be the problem. First ensure that you have tried to, enable the clock. If that doesn’t work, try the following fix:

1. Hold down the Windows key and press R.

2. Type regedit and click OK.

3. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
then Software
then Microsoft
then Windows
then CurrentVersion
then Policies
then click Explorer

4. Look for an entry on the right side for HideClock. Right-click the entry and Delete it.

Read more… »

If the Power icon is missing from the Notification Area or Systray in Windows Vista, a registry change could fix the issue. First make sure you’ve tried to change the setting to enable or disable the Power Icon. If that doesn’t work, try the following fix:

1. Hold down the Windows key and press R.

2. Type regedit and click OK.

3. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
then Software
then Microsoft
then Windows
then CurrentVersion
then Policies
then click Explorer

4. Look for an entry on the right side for HideSCAPower. Right-click the entry and Delete it.

Read more… »

How to uninstall Internet Explorer 8.

1. Click the Start Button > Control Panel.

2. Click Programs.

3. Click View installed updates.

4. Click Windows Internet Explorer 8.

5. Click the Uninstall button.

Some Windows Vista users have experienced a problem viewing Gadgets. They sometimes appear as a blank black or white box. For some users, going to Java.com and downloading then reinstalling Java seems to work. If that doesn’t work, try the following steps.

1. Click Start > Run and type cmd.

2. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter. (elevates rights)

3. Press Alt + C to close the User Account Control dialog.

4. Type cd c:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar

5. Type the following and press enter after each line.

regsvr32 -u sbdrop.dll
regsvr32 -u wlsrvc.dll
regsvr32 atl.dll
regsvr32 sbdrop.dll
regsvr32 wlsrvc.dll

See also:
Run a Command as Administrator from the Windows Vista Run box

Vista sidebar gadgets won’t view

If the Lock the taskbar option is grayed out under Taskbar and Start Menu Properties, a registry change can solve the issue.

1. Hold down the Windows key and press R (Or click Start > Run).

2. Type regedit and click OK.

3. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER
then Software
then Microsoft
then Windows
then CurrentVersion
then Policies
then click Explorer

4. Look for an entry on the right side for LockTaskBar. Right-click the entry and Delete it.

You can enable or disable the thumbnail icon feature for image files.

1. Open Control Panel.

2. Open Folder Options.

3. Select View.

4. Uncheck the box for Always show icons, never thumbnails to enable thumbnail icons.  Check the box to disable thumbnail icons.

When installing a program, you may get the following error:

Error 2739. Could not access Javascript runtime action

This error is usually appears because the jscript.dll is not registered in Windows. To register it, perform the following steps:

1. Click Start > Run or hold down the Windows Key and press R.

2. Type regsvr32 jscript.dll.

3. Click OK when the message appears about the registration succeeding. If you receive an error instead, ensure you are logged into Windows as an Administrator.

How to connect to a wireless network in Windows Vista.

1. Right-click the Network icon on the taskbar.

2. Click Connect to a Network.

3. Select the network you wish to connect to and click Connect.

When trying to run a Microsoft Windows Update, you get Error 8007000D and you cannot install updates.

Try importing the following file into your registry. wupdate.reg (You may need to right-click and select Save as…)

Running this file will make changes to your registry to restore the Microsoft Windows Update functionality. As a precaution, you may want to backup your registry before making this change.

Here’s how to change power plans in Windows Vista.

1. Click the Start button.

2. Click Control Panel.

3. Click System And Maintenance.

4. Click Power Options.

5. Select a power option. Your options are:

Balanced
Power saver
High performance

How to send a remote assistance invite to somebody in Windows Vista.

1. Click Start > All Programs > Maintenance > Windows Remote Assistance.

2. Click Offer To Help Someone.

3. Enter the name or IP address of the computer you want to connect to.

4. The user will receive a message. The user will need to click Yes to allow the session. You will then have access to control the PC.