The notification area in Windows 7 is an improvement over previous versions of Windows. Problem is, after installing lots of applications and using them for a while, you end-up having a huge list icons in the notification area settings window. Even if some of them you actually uninstalled in the meantime, they still show up. Therefore, finding applications that you are actually using and making the settings you desire can take more time than it should.
The team from 7 Tutorials created a small batch-file which you can download & execute so that your notification area icon cache is reset. After you run it, Windows 7 will recreate the cache and it will include only currently used applications.
I used the registry solution from here: http://www.itsamples.com/notification-area-cleaner.html
Had to take it one step further and allow it to export, delete and import the associated registry keys so that any notification icons set to show or hide on an individual basis are retained after removing obsolete entries.
This was written specifically for Windows 7 x64 so modifications may be required for other OS’s.
>
echo.
echo.
echo :: WARNING! This utility restarts your shell (Explorer.exe)
echo and deletes your notification area icons
echo.
echo.
echo.
REGEDIT /e “C:\Windows\Temp\CustomSettings.reg” “HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2745875415-2725359035-1850233476-1000\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify”
REG DELETE “HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify /va” /f
REG DELETE “HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify /va” /f
REGEDIT /s “C:\Windows\Temp\CustomSettings.reg”
cls
echo.
echo.
echo Unless interrupted by hitting “CTRL+C” the shell will restart shortly…
echo.
TIMEOUT /T 7
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
REM -The following seemed to be necessary to avoid explorer.exe from opening up a window instead of restarting the shell-
path=c:\windows
start “Shell Restarter” /I explorer.exe
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Let me know of any other mod requests. I just love "batchin' ".
ShrapNUL – "Making your PC Fun, Friendly & Productive"
UPDATE:
If you have attempted to copy and paste this text into a .cmd or .bat file the quotes need to be converted to ” to work correctly. They are displayed as left and right quotes in this thread (I just noticed).
Have a great “batch experience”!
ShrapNUL – “Making your PC Fun, Friendly & Productive”