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Need help from a computer geek regarding disappearing volume icon
daqhegh
Member Posts: 1,490 Arc User
Hello,
Last night my Windows 7 laptop did an automatic update. I let it do its thing as normal. When it finished and restarted, I found out my volume icon was removed from my taskbar.
I did the obvious thing first and checked my taskbar properties menu. The option appeared to be active.
So I double checked my hidden icon menu, and the volume was nowhere to be found.
At this point I got desperate, so I went to the other menu. Turns out the volume icon itself is grayed out and set on off.
The last thing I tried was the Start Menu options menu. Yeah, it was a longshot, but why not, right? Well, it didn't list volume, sound, speakers, or anything similar.
Is there any way I can fix this? I'm at a loss here, particularly why the option is off in one menu and on in another. And why is it greyed out, anyway? Right now the only way I can change the volume (assuming there is no obvious volume display included with the program) is to go to the volume menu through the control panel. I can't find any convenient shortcut.
It should be mentioned I don't have any speakers connected, and the volume icon doesn't appear when I plug them in.
Thanx in advance for your help.
Last night my Windows 7 laptop did an automatic update. I let it do its thing as normal. When it finished and restarted, I found out my volume icon was removed from my taskbar.
I did the obvious thing first and checked my taskbar properties menu. The option appeared to be active.
So I double checked my hidden icon menu, and the volume was nowhere to be found.
At this point I got desperate, so I went to the other menu. Turns out the volume icon itself is grayed out and set on off.
The last thing I tried was the Start Menu options menu. Yeah, it was a longshot, but why not, right? Well, it didn't list volume, sound, speakers, or anything similar.
Is there any way I can fix this? I'm at a loss here, particularly why the option is off in one menu and on in another. And why is it greyed out, anyway? Right now the only way I can change the volume (assuming there is no obvious volume display included with the program) is to go to the volume menu through the control panel. I can't find any convenient shortcut.
It should be mentioned I don't have any speakers connected, and the volume icon doesn't appear when I plug them in.
Thanx in advance for your help.
My Old Blog about things that could and should have been added when I wrote it. Not sure what I want to do with it now. I'll just keep it available now that most of it is outdated.
Post edited by daqhegh on
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It's possible that you may have disabled your speaker control device. To reactivate it, just head into the "Hardware and Sound" tab to see if it is active. Right click on your speaker device inside and it should have an option to Enable/Disable.
Let me know if that works.
Speakers are active.
The device itself is enabled.
The device is working properly.
I didn't actually have a tab, but a menu that lead to a submenu for all these things.
Anyhow, any ideas?
In addition to what opo98 said, check to see if system icons were turned off somehow. Right click your taskbar -> properties -> notification area -> customise -> turn system icons on or off.
If it still doesn't work, check your device manager and see if you are getting any hardware or driver warnings.
I did the taskbar thing you described first. I linked both methods of changing the display. Neither worked. I also posted pics of the device manager. Please look before you post. I may have gone to the wrong menus.
The update itself was completely automatic. It was the sort that happens at shutdown and doesn't include options before applying the update on startup.
I also forgot to post my right click result, as suggested. It still shows the volume control as active (the option is to disable it, meaning it is already enabled).
Sorry, I misunderstood.
You could try the registry edit listed here, under "To Enable the Volume Icon" (option 2, step 9).
Well, to my luck, it didn't include the now enigmatic icon. I also noticed that not all of the icons I disabled (visible in the screenshots posted previously as "hidden") are still there. I'm really at a loss at this point.
I'll do that next. One moment.
One thing you might try... if you get desperate enough: System Restore. Before installing the updates, Windows should have saved a snapshot of the computer to System Restore. You might be able to use it to roll-back before the update. If successful, you might then be able to manually run the updates one at a time, until you identify which messed up your sound settings. It is a pain, I know. I've done it often enough myself when all else fails.
I suspect you've likely used System Restore before, but just in case:
(Start Button/right-click on "Computer"/left-click "Properties"/left-click "System Protection" on left column/"System Protection" tab/"System Restore" button. Follow its instructions).
I did, and my taskbar icon was successfully restored. I thank you for the link.
HOWEVER...now my Action Center icon is greyed out where it wasn't before. I realize these are likely just the shortcut links to said features, and they can more than likely be accessed manually. But, in the grander scheme of things, is this something I need to worry about? Granted, I don't use my action center on this laptop. Even so, is there an issue with my registry I need to fix?
It is odd that the action centre got disabled because the volume icon registry change doesn't touch it. The reason for having action centre notifications is in case something like your AV or firewall have been disabled for any reason and you can also use it to modify various security settings. There is a fix for the missing action centre icon on the same page I linked for the volume icon fix. You could try that and see what happens.
I have no idea what would have caused a problem like this, but perhaps it would be best to rollback as steamwright suggested and reapply the patches. Try doing the update once more with all recommended patches and if the same problem happens, then rollback again and do them one at a time.
As a side note, I use a little utility called Volumouse. It allows you to adjust the volume by using your scroll wheel over the taskbar. It might be handy once you get the current issue resolved.
I'll look into the utility you mentioned. Thanx for the help.
I'm still at max graphics but I'm currently not getting the benefit of them any longer.
"Where monsters rampage, I'm there to take them down! Where treasure glitters, I'm there to claim it! Where an enemy rises to face me, victory will be mine!" -Lina Inverse