Hidden Tray Icons Turning Into White Boxes Over Time
Mar 6, 2013
Win 8 Pro. After a couple of days uptime my tray icons in the hidden pop up are turning into white squares, which makes them hard to identify. I tried rebuilding the icon cache as found here, Icon Cache - Rebuild - Windows 7 Forums which seemed to solve the problem. But a few days later an icon has turned back into a white box, a bandwidth meter.
This problem happens to me right after the installation of Stardock's Start8 or another app called StartIsBack. It could be those 2 apps or it could be something else I don't know.
The problem is, after a reboot, all of a sudden, the icons lose their image and they just become blank white files, if I right click on a file for example to Run As Administrator or anything else, the whole context menu doesn't appear and Explorer just freezes until I force restart
This happened to me in 8 diff. formats / fresh install I finally gave up and just reverted back to Windows 7. Could it be those start menu replacement apps or perhaps some dodgy windows updates?
I just upgraded Win 8 on my Acer Iconia W3 Tablet (x86) to Windows 8.1. But now I have the problem that in the settings-app and in the righten menu (e.g. the search-function) every text is just a white (or sometimes black) box. In other Apps and on the desktop-applications the text is displayed correctly; and before I have installed Windows 8.1 everything was fine too. Below are two screenshots which should describe the problem.
Some icons no matter where they are located don't display there actual picture but a white paper instead. Most of the time it only happens if I put it in a folder.
And sometimes even on the desktop.
I would really not like to have to set the icon up manually, because Windows is supposed to do that on its own, and also because they are adding up!
Now for the testing done so far. It seems that for the desktop problem if you copy instead of right click "send to" then the icon will show up when you paste it, but it will say "Copy" in the name on the icon, if I edit it and delete the word "Copy" and click out of it to save then the icon reverts back to the paper. This trick has no effect with the folders however.
It actually has "Copy" written in it but the text is to long so you just see the "..."
Also this issue only happens to the shortcuts of the actual file, and only on random files. If I were to go to Program Files and find the folder then "Move" the icon to the desktop then it works fine.
But in the folder that contains the actual file then icon is missing, it only appears when I "Move" it to the desktop.
Windows 8 boots up pretty quickly, but it takes a notably long time (compare to Windows 7) for it to show up the system tray applications. In Windows 7 it is almost instant.
Is this Microsoft's problem or the app maker's problem?
Also, the apps seem to load sequentially. Is there a way to rearrange them so that the ones I want load quickly. I need AutoHotKey, Logitech Setpoint and Logitech Gaming Software to load up ASAP. Rest can take their sweet time.
Also this is what the TaskManager's startup performance analysis looks like.
Having this *feature* means that Microsoft can blame the app maker for the slow startup. But why doesn't that happen in Windows 7? Is this because Desktop is another app, and stuff don't really get priority?
Also I still cannot find why PeerBlock would not start when placed in the classic Startup folder.
When I changed back to Opera, the net icons on my desktop all changed to plain white squares. So I thought, OK, just redo the links via opera bookmarks - same result. All of the correct icons have been replaced with a blank white box.
So I went into properties and tried to change icons, but only got the windows generic ones in sys32.
So I selected a globe of earth for FB and it put an icon of a little monitor with a bar underneath it, so I tried again thinking I had clicked the wrong icon, nope, just the same. Whichever icon I click on, the same one appears in desktop.
As I have had varying degrees of success with browser software, I am beginning to thing that the windows software itself is to blame. I keep windows up to date with updates etc, so it not the lack of, but something is not right at all with 8.1.
I never had this problem with any previous ver of Windows.
Im from cyrpus/turkey so my native language is turkish but Im using english in all of my devices. So I changed the language regional settings of win 8 to all english united states except the region is cyprus and input lang is turkish Q keyboard.
Even though, in my metro UI the weather and news, mails contents are in english, the live box titles remain the old language which is turkish that I do not want to see.
In the Pictures Library I can view some pictures, but for others I get only black boxes. All those pictures show perfectly in Photo Viewer and in Explorer.
How to stop/remove the annoying text boxes offering advice on swiping on Win 8.1?
I suddenly got one today on the left side of the screen - "Switching between applications........swipe from side of screen, etc....." I can't get rid of it, and it's driving me mad. I could restart, but I use DNS, MemoQ, etc, so it always takes a while to get started again.
Windows 8 has been having very strange rendering errors, the desktop still works fine but the rest is all strange blurred with black boxes. What the problem is it just suddenly showed up as that.
System Specs are: Intel Core i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz (Quad) 16GB RAM NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 Windows 8 64-Bit (Downloaded from DreamSpark)
I've been using Onedrive since it was skydrive under windows 7 , now that I am on 8.1 update 1 pro x64 I am still using it but recently I've come across with a problem.
The onedrive tray icon says that onedrive is starting up all the time , no matter what I am doing e.g. : syncing or adding files and the icon remain the same like in the picture.
Task Manager, or as I like to call it, El Diablo, has defeated me. My goal is : Like in past Windows, set it up so that it minimizes to the tray when it's run automatically upon login (or startup).
This never used to be a problem: 1) Run Task Manager and set Options/Minimize on Use. 2) Put a shortcut to taskmgr.exe in your Startup group 3) Access the properties of that shortcut and set Minimized.
Note: A new thing in Win8 is that Task Manager will not run on Startup at all unless it's run as admin, so be sure to set that in the shortcut.
But this doesn't achieve the goal, since Task Manager is minimized to the taskbar, so you have to click it to open and then click minimize for it to go to the tray.
I'm assuming this is a bug, but no matter. So I turned to Task Scheduler, but nothing I tried there worked any better.
I even tried incorporating NirCmd, using a command like you see below, but it only wants to work when I run it manually from a command prompt, not from a scheduled batch file.
I have Task Manager running all the time, but I don't want the icon in the system tray when it's not hidden, because it's extra clutter. How to remove it..?
Is there a way to have the settings on the system tray instead of on the right side of the screen and have it visible instead of having to go after it all the time?
Any software to either enlarge the tray desktop clock display or replace it? I know I can hover the mouse on Settings to get the large panel display. But I'd rather just be able to read it. Of course I'm looking for freeware.
I was recently installing and checking out Window 8.1. Everything is going just fine and with stuff like Start8 and Modernmix i personally feel i can maintain my old and preferred workflow (so, for the rest i can enjoy any new features that are now available!).
Anyway, as i was installing some of my software (and migrating settings from Windows 7 for some of them)... i came to some game launcher i use for Arma 2 called PlaywithSIX.
I had to install it a few times and the update mechanism was a bit fishy imo. For example; i could not even select where i wanted to install the applications (no extra options nothing), it just went straight into my Program Files folder.
After my install debacle i decided to make sure the system tray icon would always be shown and configure it when i stumbled upon the following:
Appearantly the app made several system tray icon entries, for having been started from several locations.
Is there any way to clean these entries in regedit somewhere or something? I hate having double entries in there for no reason....
Ever since I have been working with Windows 8 I have received error messages stating "There was a problem sending the command to the program". It will be a document that I have created in word or excel on the exact same computer. I click on the folder in my library, find my document, double click on it, word or excel appears to start to open as a box displaying one or the other appears and then the error message appears. I click on "OK" in the error message and see the word or excel icon in my lower tray - click on that and there is my document. Not a huge deal but definitely not the way things should work..
In some of the apps the font is white. sometimes the background is white as well so I can not see anything. other times it is black and I can see it. Where this setting is?
On startup, all I get is a blank white screen. I can't see anything. But, I can plug in a monitor and do everything else just fine.
I tried twiddling the drivers, but maybe I did it wrong or overlooked the right one(s). I tried a system restore, but that threw an error on restart.
I even dove in with my screwdriver to make sure no plugs got knocked loose (don't worry, warranties were long voided).
System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2 OS Version: Microsoft Windows 8 Enterprise, 64 bit Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9400 @ 2.53GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 6 Processor Count: 2 RAM: 6040 Mb Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM v1.1), 5 Mb Hard Drives: C: Total - 238122 MB, Free - 36349 MB; Motherboard: LENOVO, 2055UN3 Antivirus: Windows Defender, Disabled
I've noticed that when booting to the Start Menu on powering up that there's now a white border around the top left tile. This border can be moved to any adjacent tile by using the relevant keyboard arrow keys.
My other PC's only show the border AFTER an arrow key is pressed which is classed as the correct default behaviour after a bit of Googling. I
I am sure it is something I have done but now when I select the Mail app in the Start page it loads to a white screen. Sometimes I think Windows 8 is too intuitive.
I have tried Malwarebytes no viruses, SFC Scan no errors, two icon repair tools, System Restore( i do not have restore points) and this is what my icon still looks like in Control Panel ? I like my system to remain "perfect" as i can..I can use the program.
I've just upgraded to 8.1 and I have seen this exact problem on a different laptop of similar specs (my specs should be in my profile).
I use a custom theme with dark colors. I like dark background and light text. The problem is that very often when I open a new explorer (like My Computer) or browser window (like Firefox), the whole background of the window/frame becomes white for a very brief period before showing the actual content of the window and assuming the dark background color that I assigned.
I was playing Battlefield 4 for about 15 minutes, after I was finished I closed the game and my PC just died, as if I got a blue screen without the actual blue screen, fan speed of psu went to max and stayed that way until I restarted it multiple times, none of those times did it actually boot or display anything on the monitor.
Now when I start up my pc it turns on but nothing happens, display doesn't even come on and keyboard and mouse light up and turn off again.
I am currently running with a HP 15.6" Envy Laptop PC, Midnight Black, dv6-7229wm - Walmart.com I have not had problems before. While I was playing Diablo 3, on medium settings, the thing just cut out. The first time, i didn't think anything about it. I turned it back on, and it turned off again twice during the HP boot logo. So i took out the battery, waited a little and started playing Diablo 3 again, and in about half an hour it turns itself off again. Each time it turns off, there is the pop of the audio going out. So, i turned MSI after burner on (I have not over clocked this system, I just have MSI to watch the heat when I was messing around one day)
Anyway, here are the last three temperature logs from MSI afterburner before it turned itself off.
The log isn't coming out how I wanted to, but it was about 95-99 for all of it. I am playing on a table (As level as a table can be on a 40 year old brick floor), with nothing anywhere near the laptop.
OS: Windows 8.1 Pro Processor: AMD FX-1400 Quad Core RAM: 8.00 GB Storage: 1.73 TB of 1.81 TB available System Type: 64-bit Operating System, x64 based processor
A while ago, my PC was having some lag issues that made the computer practically unusable. I found out in msconfig that I had almost all services running. I disabled many of the services, and I made sure not disable the necessary ones (i.e, Windows Audio.) I restarted my computer and there was a red circle with a white "X" over the audio icon. I clicked on the icon. A window named "Playing Audio" opened. On the window was a bar similar to the one shown while loading/downloading something.
Above the bar said "Detecting Problems" and then "Scanning for hardware changes...". This went on for about 10 seconds. After this, the window changed. At the top in blue was "Troubleshooting has completed". Under that was "The troubleshooter made some changes to your system. Try attempting the task you were trying to do before." In the center of the window was "Problems found-Hardware changes might not have been detected".
In the search bar, I typed "Manage audio devices". When I opened it up, the window told me that there were no audio devices installed. I have checked in Device management under "sound, video and game controllers" That I have sound drivers installed (AMD High Definition Audio Device & High Definition Audio Device.) I have tried multiple times to uninstall/reinstall the drivers to no avail.