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Sys Tray

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by djland

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Does anyone know of a way to add a program to your sys tray? You can add it to your start up folder so it starts up when the machine boots up, but is there a way to add it so it comes up on the sys tray?

7 replies

by carl_drago

No, but I'm not sure you really want to do that. All of the applications in the system tray are currently running in the background. The more applications running the slower everything gets.

I've looked into it for awhile, but never did turn anything up...and I'm actually glad I didn't!

Don't know if that really answers your question, but I hope it helps in some way.

by parbo

Just as Carl specified programs that are running in the background will show up in the systray. Its pretty much like a TSR in DOS. You cannot let a program like Word or Excel run in the systray. So answer to your question would be it depends on whattype of application you want to place in the systray.

by erdo

The system tray icons are applications running as sort of a service.

They are listed under the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. You can remove them or ad to them there.

Removing applications fromthe systray, not only removes the icon but also stops the application from performing its actions. Adding applications may not achieve the desired result, depending on the application itself.

If you feel brave and want to tinker with the registry use regedit.exe for Win9x or regedt32.exe for NT. These are found in system and system32 folders, respectively.

To remove one of these icons from your system tray, perform the following steps:

Start regedit.exe/regedt32.exe.
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
Select the value you want to remove.
Hit the Delete on keyboard.

To ad a value:

Start regedit.exe/regedt32.exe.
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
Select 'Edit/Ad Value' menu while the run key is selected on the left pane.
Ad a label to the registry.
Make sure you select a REG_SZ (string type). Ad the full path location of the application file in the value field.

You will need to reboot, before any changes take effect.

Before you do any of the above, backup your registry onto diskettes, have a rescue and your system startup diskette ready and make sure they are up to date. WARNING:Tinkering with the registry entries may render your system inoperable. Therefore, you may need all the tools to repair any inadvertent damage caused.

This procedure is not recommended unless you are familiar with the registry or unless you are very brave and willing to spend some time in recovering your system.

If you are carefull, however, everything should work OK.

Good Luck!

by djland

Thank you for your help. I know that all of the programs on the sys tray are running in the background. We just had a user call in who wanted to add a program. We told them they couldn't do it, which, in the long run is better because its toocomplicated to explain over the phone what to do or send someone out to do it. I just wasn't sure if it could be done and wanted to know the steps in case one of us ever needs to do that. Thanks for your help.

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