A large number of icons in the notification area on the taskbar can significantly increase the boot time of the operating system, as well as reduce the performance of a low-power computer. Fortunately, the notification area can be cleaned of unnecessary software icons.
Instructions
Step 1
To edit the icon display in Windows XP, right-click the Start button and select Properties from the context menu. The "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" window will open, in which you should go to the "Taskbar" tab and in the "Notification Area" section, check the box next to "Hide unused icons".
Step 2
After that, you need to click the "Configure" button and in the "Current items" section of the new dialog box set the required value for each icon. After completing the settings, click the "OK" button to apply the changes made.
Step 3
To edit the list of icons in Windows Vista and 7, right-click in a free area of the taskbar and select Properties. In the Notification Area, click the Customize button and make sure the box next to Hide Unused Icons (Vista) is checked. In Windows 7, the checkbox next to Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar should be cleared.
Step 4
After that, you can set the desired value for each icon from the list: hide, show, show only notifications and hide inactive (Vista). Click the "OK" button to make changes to the system settings.
