Program icons missing from systray after Windows Explorer restarts

[doveman]

Occasionally Windows Explorer crashes on me and has to restart. The problem is that after restarting, a number of running program's icons no longer show in the systray, so I have no way to access them or to even see that they're running and I have to kill them with Task Manager and restart them.

Most of the programs' icons do appear, it's only about 2-3 that don't but it's still a pain that I'd like to fix if possible.

 

[writhziden]

Windows XP/Vista/7/8? Since this is in the Vista/7 area, I imagine you mean one of the two, but just to be thorough, I will provide steps for all four operating systems.

Info

Some of the steps provided can apply to all four operating systems. You may want to see which steps from XP can apply to Vista/7/8 and vice versa.

For XP:

Icons randomly change to different icons​

For Windows Vista:

How to repair the operating system and how to restore the operating system configuration to an earlier point in time in Windows Vista​

For Windows 7/8:

Run a system file check to check Windows for corruption:

1. Click Start Menu
2. Click All Programs
3. Click Accessories
4. Right click Command Prompt
5. Click Run as administrator
6. Type

   sfc /scannow

   and press Enter
7. Once it is complete, make note of the message. If it says Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations., restart your computer and post back
8. If the message does not say Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations., restart your computer and do steps 1-6 again.
9. You may need to do steps 1-6 up to three times with a restart in between each run to resolve all corrupted files.
10. If you still have corrupted files after a fourth run, post back here with the following:
    • Click Start Menu
    • Click Computer
    • Open your C: drive
    • Open Windows
    • Open Logs
    • Open CBS
    • Copy and paste CBS.log or CBS (it may not have the log extension) to a location you will remember.
    • Compress (zip) the CBS file and attach the .zip file to your next post.

Since I believe when you say "systray" you mean the taskbar:

1. Right click the task bar.
   
   
2. Click Properties.
   
   
3. Put a tick in the box to Use small taskbar buttons.
   
   
4. Click Apply
   
   
5. Remove the tick in the box to Use small taskbar buttons.
   
   
6. Click Apply.

In case you mean the notification area:

1. Click the Start Button (or click the lower left corner to open the Start Screen in Windows 8)
   
   
2. Type Notification Area in the Search programs and files box (or type Notification Area within the Start Screen and click Settings for Windows 8)
   
   
3. For each icon, select the option to Hide icon and notifications, and click OK
   
   
4. Do steps 1-2 again, and this time, click the option to Restore default icon behaviors, and then clickOK
   
   
5. If the above does not work, try changing other customizable settings for the notification area.
   
   
   Change how icons appear in the notification area​

Post back if you still have the problem after doing the above steps.

 

[Tekno Venus]

Hello Doveman,

I agree with all the steps given above. But can I clarify what you mean by "systray" please? Is it the notification area or the taskbar?


By knowing that, it will make it easier to understand your issue.

As a quick something, have you tried restarting Windows Explorer manually again after it restarts by itself to see if that makes the icons show? To do so

• Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc
• Click the processes tab
• Click explorer.exe and press End Process. Your taskbar will disappear, but don't worry
• Click File -> New Task (Run...)
• Type explorer.exe and press OK

Other than that, I agree with Writhziden's advice

Stephen

 

[NoelDP]

To a large extent, whether icons reappear in the notification area (what used to be called Systray in Win9x) is down to the applications themselves. Many older apps don't follow the guidelines properly, and as a result disappear from the area when Explorer crashes - they are in effect TSRs and there for decoration more than actually doing anything. The programs can still be launched from the All Programs list.

 

[Digerati]

The terminology is of often confused - in part because even in Microsoft's own documentation, it has been called several things as seen here (System Tray) and here (Notification Area). But also in part because it is human nature for humans (including experts) to naturally hold on to old habits. But I think most people call the "System Tray" the area in the bottom right, next to the clock on the primary monitor (for left-to-right reading order languages, and single monitor systems).

The proper name is the Notification Area however and it, along with the Start Menu button, Taskbar icon area, and Quicklaunch Toolbar (if enabled) are all part of the Taskbar.

I agree with Noel in that the icons in the Notification Area get there by different means. And that is why some icons disappear after Windows Explorer crashes, and some don't. For example, some may be there depending on the user logged in so often just logging out and back in (as opposed to rebooting, or restarting explorer.exe) will restore them. Some icons monitor a program's status (new email notice), others monitor hardware status (CPU temp, network access).

Also, some icons lose their "Behavior" setting and are still there, but just hidden.

The bigger issue, however, is your Windows crashing. You say Windows Explorer crashes "occasionally". What does that really mean? A couple times a day? Or once every couple weeks? A couple times a day may indicate something serious. Have you scanned for malware? Is Windows current? Are there any errors in Event Viewer listed in the second or two before the crash?

 

[doveman]

Hi everyone and thanks for the suggestions

Sorry for the lack of detail in my post. To clarify I'm running Win7 x64 Ultimate and I am indeed talking about the Notification area (must try and remember to call it that in future!)

I'll have to check next time it happens exactly which programs' icons don't re-appear but I know one of them is Voice Assisted Commands (VAC). It's still running as it tells me so if I try and launch it again, so I have to kill it and restart it to get the icon back so that I can access it. It may well be as NoelDP says that it doesn't follow the guidelines but once I can provide a list of which other apps' icons don't re-appear it might help to identify whether that is likely to be the problem.

I don't think Explorer crashes several times a day, probably more like once every couple of days but it may well be triggered by one or two program. I've been using Iron Portable as my browser but recently switched back to Opera 12 and that keeps crashing and seems to take down Explorer with it. I'm fairly sure Explorer was crashing from time to time when I wasn't using Opera though, so another program may be triggering it as well. I'm running AV and Windows is updated so I don't think it's a malware issue.

Anyway, I'll work through the advice given already and report back with more information when I have some.

EDIT: Just to update, Explorer just crashed and after restarting the icons are missing for DynDNS updater, MSI Afterburner (and Afterburner OSD server) , PhenomMSRTweaker and Realtek Control Panel. It may have been caused by Opera though as despite having closed it some time ago, TaskManager shows it's still running and using 2GB! I've killed it now but I'll try and avoid using it, or making sure it's killed after I close it, to see if I get any crashes without it running.

 

[doveman]

As a quick something, have you tried restarting Windows Explorer manually again after it restarts by itself to see if that makes the icons show? To do so

• Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc
• Click the processes tab
• Click explorer.exe and press End Process. Your taskbar will disappear, but don't worry
• Click File -> New Task (Run...)
• Type explorer.exe and press OK

Other than that, I agree with Writhziden's advice

Stephen

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for the suggestion, I just tried it after Explorer crashed but it didn't restore the missing icons.

 

[doveman]

The bigger issue, however, is your Windows crashing. You say Windows Explorer crashes "occasionally". What does that really mean? A couple times a day? Or once every couple weeks? A couple times a day may indicate something serious. Have you scanned for malware? Is Windows current? Are there any errors in Event Viewer listed in the second or two before the crash?

As I mentioned, I suspect Opera is somehow triggering the crashes but I just checked and found this in the Application log at 16:38

Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 6.1.7601.17567, time stamp: 0x4d672ee4
Faulting module name: HardlinkShellExt.dll, version: 3.7.1.9, time stamp: 0x4fc28589
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000005750
Faulting process id: 0xf80
Faulting application start time: 0x01cdf31fd640784f
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\LinkShellExtension\HardlinkShellExt.dll
Report Id: f562cc07-5f31-11e2-91ce-8c89a563ffda

and after that at 16:39 this Event33 SideBySide error:

Activation context generation failed for "C:\Program Files\LinkShellExtension\LSEConfig.exe". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC80.MFC,processorArchitecture="amd64",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="8.0.50727.762" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.

 

[niemiro]

Hello :)

I just wonder about this: LinkShellExtension

If you have created some sort of account specific link, and it has gone wrong, I can see potential for account specific program crashes.

Firstly, let's deal with the Side by Side error.

Please install this package (x86): Download Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86) from Official Microsoft Download Center

or this package (x64 equivalent): Download Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package (x64) from Official Microsoft Download Center

Restart your computer, and perform all Windows Updates (you may get several coming through as a result of this install).

If this doesn't resolve your problem, I want you to let me know exactly what links you have created with LinkShellExtension, and of what type these links are.

If you haven't created hard links (i.e. you have created symbolic links or junctions instead), or something has gone wrong with the hard link, I can see potential for these account specific crashes.

Richard

 

[doveman]

Hi Richard

It sounds like you might have seen my other thread then (account specific program crashes)

https://www.sysnative.com/forums/bs...s-crashing-launch-under-one-account-only.html

I've installed the Visual C++ 2005 SP1 x64, rebooted and done the Windows Updates. Windows Update was actually disabled but I think Gamebooster did that and I've disabled that option now. I did Updates a week or two ago anyway, so I don't think I was too out of date.

There's a few entries in the Application log now that I think are all since doing the updates.

.NET Runtime version 2.0.50727.5466 - Executable "C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\mscorsvw.exe" AppDomain "DefaultDomain" deleted obsolete native image "C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v2.0.50727_64\mscorlib\74a5f0c2bc0d0e6e3c4ec4886b9be891\mscorlib.ni.dll"

Fault bucket , type 0Event Name: AppTermFailureEvent
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0


Problem signature:
P1: 
P2: 
P3: 
P4: 
P5: 
P6: 
P7: 
P8: 
P9: 
P10: 


Attached files:
c:\Temp\System\WERF121.tmpatk.kdmp
c:\Temp\System\WERF141.tmp.appcompat.txt
c:\Temp\System\WERF171.tmp.xml
c:\Temp\System\WERF23D.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
c:\Temp\System\WERF23E.tmp.hdmp
c:\Temp\System\WER172C.tmp.mdmp


These files may be available here:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\Kernel_0_0_cab_19a317c3


Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 696743ed-5dfc-11e2-bfc0-8c89a563ffda
Report Status: 0

Fault bucket , type 0Event Name: WindowsWcpStoreCorruption
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0


Problem signature:
P1: 6.1.7601
P2: MissingWinningComponentKey
P3: amd64_mdmusrk1.inf.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_en-us_152819b000cbe224
P4: 
P5: 
P6: 
P7: 
P8: 
P9: 
P10: 


Attached files:
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20121129030109.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20121210121502.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20121213114159.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20121221234549.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20130101042412.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log
C:\Windows\servicing\Sessions\Sessions.xml
C:\Windows\winsxs\poqexec.log
C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Scm\SCM.EVM
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\FilterList.log
c:\Temp\System\WER8390.tmp.hdmp
c:\Temp\System\WER865F.tmp.mdmp


These files may be available here:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\Critical_6.1.7601_6275f86e1eee93d017e2dbff5f624d3ae89fa5_cab_0c4a86ac


Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 29b60846-5f54-11e2-9ce1-8c89a563ffda

Fault bucket , type 0Event Name: WindowsWcpStoreCorruption
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0


Problem signature:
P1: 6.1.7601
P2: MissingWinningComponentKey
P3: amd64_mdmusrk1.inf.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_en-us_152819b000cbe224
P4: 
P5: 
P6: 
P7: 
P8: 
P9: 
P10: 


Attached files:
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20121129030109.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20121210121502.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20121213114159.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20121221234549.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CbsPersist_20130101042412.cab
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log
C:\Windows\servicing\Sessions\Sessions.xml
C:\Windows\winsxs\poqexec.log
C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Scm\SCM.EVM
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\FilterList.log


These files may be available here:




Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 29b60846-5f54-11e2-9ce1-8c89a563ffda
Report Status: 0

but they may just be one offs as a result of Windows installing the updates and tidying up, so I'll see if they re-occur over the next few days.

Apart from those I also get lots of these in Kernel-EventTracing but I did look them up and it seemed that they're not worth worrying about. The last batch were on the 09/01 and before that the 07/01

Session "Circular Kernel Context Logger" failed to start with the following error: 0xC0000035

I'll see if what we've already done stops the crashing and if not, get a list of my links for you. They are all symbolic links though. I've moved My Documents and Saved Games to D:\Data\Main\My Documents and D:\Data\Main\My Documents\Saved Games just using Windows Explorer right-click, Properties, Location and there's a couple of app folders (Arma II Launcher and TS3Client) in AppData\Roaming that I've linked/moved to D:\Data\Main\My Documents\Arma II Launcher and TS3Client respectively. I think any other Symbolic Links I've created, if there are any, are for my games folders on D: to F:, so not concerning Windows files as such.

 

[niemiro]

Hello again :)

Yes...I sort of posted this in the wrong place, didn't I?

Actually, this concerns me slightly:

...
MissingWinningComponentKey
...
P3: amd64_mdmusrk1.inf.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_en-us_152819b000cbe224
...

This relates to your Windows Update issue a couple of months ago. It is the same component, if I remember correctly (yes, I actually can remember log files from months ago ).

If this is the case, SURT, and consequently I, might have missed one part off the fix.

I know you have quite a few open threads at the moment, and I don't want to increase your work-load any further or add to the confusion, but I do think this is worth fixing. I might have managed to fix Windows Update in general the first time around, but this could cause problems when Microsoft updates this particular component again some time in the future. Now that I have seen it, I think that we should fix it.

In theory at least, it should be a case of running SURT, taking CheckSUR.log + one registry export, one registry fix, one final run of SURT & CheckSUR.log.

However, based on your past registry exports, I might be able to reduce this to one registry fix + one final run of SURT & CheckSUR.log.

I do not, however, think that it is contributing to your current problems, so I am more than happy to wait until we have got that sorted first.

Richard

 

[doveman]

Heh, it doesn't matter. Maybe you've solved two problems for me at once :)

As you suggest, I'll see if we've managed to fix the Explorer crashing/missing icons problem first before coming back to the Windows Update issue. I'll see if there still seems to be a correlation between running Opera and the crashes and check whether LinkShellExtension is mentioned in the logs again after any crashes.

It's probably not relevant to this problem but just in case, I see this in the log now:

.NET Runtime Optimization Service (2.0.50727.5466) - Version or flavor did not match with repository: Microsoft.Security.ApplicationId.PolicyManagement.Cmdlets

 

[doveman]

Hello again :)

Yes...I sort of posted this in the wrong place, didn't I?

Actually, this concerns me slightly:

...
MissingWinningComponentKey
...
P3: amd64_mdmusrk1.inf.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_en-us_152819b000cbe224
...

This relates to your Windows Update issue a couple of months ago. It is the same component, if I remember correctly (yes, I actually can remember log files from months ago ).

If this is the case, SURT, and consequently I, might have missed one part off the fix.

I know you have quite a few open threads at the moment, and I don't want to increase your work-load any further or add to the confusion, but I do think this is worth fixing. I might have managed to fix Windows Update in general the first time around, but this could cause problems when Microsoft updates this particular component again some time in the future. Now that I have seen it, I think that we should fix it.

In theory at least, it should be a case of running SURT, taking CheckSUR.log + one registry export, one registry fix, one final run of SURT & CheckSUR.log.

However, based on your past registry exports, I might be able to reduce this to one registry fix + one final run of SURT & CheckSUR.log.

I do not, however, think that it is contributing to your current problems, so I am more than happy to wait until we have got that sorted first.

Richard

Hi

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

It seems that Opera was probably responsible for most of the crashes and a lot of people appear to be having problems with it, so I'm using Iron for now and looking at Opera 32-bit which is apparently more stable than the 64-bit version at present.

I can't say I've fixed the missing icons problem but hopefully using Iron will minimise the chances of crashes taking down Explorer and the subsequent restart resulting in missing icons.

Anyway, if you'd like to help me finish tidying up the Windows Update related issues you've identified that would be great. Perhaps you'd like to continue in the existing thread we have for that? If you post in there I should be notified and will reply.

Thanks