Wireless network icons have disappeared.

[Chris]

Could anyone help with this, please?

The wireless network icon has disappeared from the "Network Connections" window of my XP Pro machine. The icon in the notification area that flashes when the network is active has also disappeared.

Is there any way of getting them back? The network itself is working

[BurrWalnut]

Go to Control Panel > Network Connections > right-click the connection > Properties > General Tab and put a tick in the relevant box(es).

[Chris]

Hello BurrWalnut, thanks for your message. Unfortunately, one of the problems is that when I click on Network Connections and the window opens, the wireless connection icon isn't there anymore. I don't understand what has happened because although there are no wireless network icons either in the "Network Connections" window or at the bottom right hand of the screen, I can still connect to the internet.

[BurrWalnut]

The Properties Tab in my previous post is the way to display or hide the network icon. If, however, it’s the old chestnut of icons disappearing from the Notification Area (system tray), try this:

In a Run window (Windows key+R), type regedit, press Enter and navigate to registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\TrayNotify. In the right-pane there are two entries: IconStreams and PastIconsStream, right-click and delete them, then restart the computer.

[Chris]

Thanks again for your message. When I open "Network Connections", there are just two icons instead of three; one is for the ethernet card which I no longer use and the other is labelled 1394 connection which, as far as I know, has always been disabled - certainly it was when I installed the wireless network card and software. After I installed the wireless software there was an icon for the wireless network in "Network Connections" but it has disappeared so I can't now click on its "properties" tab. It disappeared suddenly one day last week. When it was there I had clicked on its properties tab and selected the option to have the connection icon displayed in the task bar. This was displayed in the task bar until the icon in "Network Connections" disappeared. It is all very mysterious - I haven't (knowingly) done anything to affect my wireless setup although I did find a virus at the time the icons disappeared. The virus has now gone but the icons have not returned and may not have been affecter by the virus anyway

[BurrWalnut]

I know what you mean. I'll have a look at an XP machine tomorrow to see if I can spot something obvious.

[BurrWalnut]

I can’t see anything obvious but go to Control Panel via My Computer and double-click Network Connections. Look at the contents of the View and Advanced Tabs to check if anything is amiss.

The only other thing I can suggest is that it could be caused by missing a selection in the third-party software that you’re using to connect. Normally, the program is started via an entry in Start > All Programs > Startup. Have a look there and try to run it and/or find an option to show the icon.

Perhaps uninstall/reinstall the adapter software?

[Chris]

Hello BurrWalnut, thanks for your message. I went to Control Panel via My Computer and couldn't find anything amiss apart from the lack of the wireless icon; the Startup folder contains the software for the wireless connection.

I had thought of uninstalling and then re-installing the adapter software but it will mean re-installing it five times as I have two dual boot machines and a laptop so I think I will give it a miss as it is just the Windows XP machine that has the problem.

I was "Googling" this earlier today and found that it is quite a common problem for wireless networks to lose their icons. It is also something that Microsoft is aware of although they don't seem to have done anything about it.

As I can connect to the internet I think I will leave the problem alone until I need to alter anything in the wireless network properties.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions.

[BurrWalnut]

I'm suggesting you uninstall/reinstall the adapter software on the XP machine only.

If you're moving the adapter from machine to machine to connect, none of them will be affected by what you do on the XP machine.

[Chris]

I have re-installed the adapter software and all is working properly now. I had to re-install it because, apart from anything else, the wireless connection wouldn't work at all this morning. I can't think why, as it was working fine when I shut the computer down last night.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions