Windows

Network Icon In The System Tray

Posted by on Aug 25, 2004 | 3 Comments

If you have ever connected to the Internet using a modem, you have probably noticed the icon that appears on the system tray once you are connected. It’s a quick way of verifying that something is actually happening over the connection. Blinking lights are a good thing and reassurance that something is happening over the connection.

You can configure the same icon to appear in the system tray for your network connection. To do so in Windows XP, right click My Network Places on your desktop and choose Properties. Right click your local area connection and click Properties. Select the option to Show icon in notification area when connected (you’ll find this option from the General tab). Once the icon appears, blinking lights assure you of network activity on the connection.

  • http://none melissa

    I think that when someone asks a question then you should do your best to answer it not try to get them to buy products.

  • Thomas

    In the hundred or so forum entries (from between 2005 and present (2009) I have views on this subject, I have seen this reply to many inquiries related to “what happened to my LAN icon in system tray?”

    I didn’t see any question asked of anyone, I saw Diana Huggins posting some tech knowledge of simple execution, describing how to get your LAN icon in system tray, so you will know if you do/don’t have traffic.

    FWIW, the LAN icon is also a quick way to access your Network Connections (also found in Control Panel) and is a lot quicker than Start | Run | ncpa.cpl or even WindowsKey+R | ncpa.cpl

    What I am looking for, which brought me here today, is the same thing I have been looking for for weeks.

    First off, I am “admin”. “Hide inactive icons” has always* been unchecked, because I do not prefer the new XP eye candy. I have tried enabling “Hide…”, checking “show icon in notification area when connected”, reboots with box unchecked, checking the box and rebooting, uninstalling the drivers, network adapters and all else, with reboots between. I have my I have even cleared recent notifications, but cannot get my LAN icons back in my system tray.

    How do you access settings for the system tray in command line, if possible. How do I force windows to put my icons back in system tray? How do you edit Notifications or Customize Notifications? How do you place the icons in the system tray when windows is too dumb to understand? Is there a registry string I need to alter, because short of that I have tried everything to get them back. Plain and simple, if you don’t know, save space on the server and don’t answer. If you also are interested in the topic, check back as I will and see if someone answers with something other than the usual “right click on your LAN icon and select properties…” reply.

    FWIW, there’s a lot of bugs in XP that start with +2GB of RAM. Wonder if this is one because that’s all that changed on my system prior to losing the icons. I added 2GB for a total of 4GB. This Sound Recorder memory error is a pain, but not so much as not seeing my connection icons… especially when I am networking.

  • http://n.a. IanM

    Thank you for this simple solution. You would be amazed how long I spent trying to work out how to reinstall this icon after it suddenly and inexplicably disappeared one day.

    Another good tip to prevent it from disappearing again is to right click on the system tray, open properties and check that “Hide inactive icons” is not checked.

    PS Amazing how many times this problem has come up on forums and even the techs get stumped for an answer. Some even say it is impossible to replace a lost icon! Haha! :-) So a big thumbs up to you my dear!