Sherry,

What OS are you running? I'm running XP, so my advice will be geared towards that OS.

You can see what's in your task bar by using the JAWS key+F10. You can also get to it by tabbing past the Start Menu. For example, you can use control+escape followed by the escape key and then tab once or twice to get to the task bar. this will depend on how you've configured your system. You can then move around your task bar with the left and right arrow keys. I think of the task bar as the list of applications that have some window or user interface up on the screen.

You can get to the elements in your system tray with JAWS key+F11. You can also get to it just like your task bar except that it's one or two tabs past your task bar. It should be the last thing before your desktop, but again this will depend on how your system is configured. You'll use the up and down arrow keys to move between the different items in your system tray. I think of the system tray as those things you have running on your PC that don't have a window or a user interface running at the time.

If you're not seeing system tray items when you're using JAWS key+F11, it may be because you have unused icons hidden. I'd suggest unhiding them so you always know what's running. You can do this by going into the property settings for the Start Menu. I do this by hitting control+escape and then escape and then shift+F10. You can then arrow down to Properties and press enter. Control+tab until you get to the Task Bar tab and then tab over to the "Hide inactive icons" check box and make sure it's unchecked.

Rather than hiding the icons you don't want to see, I'd recommend not starting the applications that place those icons in the system tray in the first place, at least if you don't want those applications running. I'd first look to see if you can stop the application from starting automatically in the application's settings itself. Use JAWS key+F11 to go into the system tray and arrow down to an application you don't want to start automatically. Tab over once to the right mouse button and press the space bar. Now look for an option that's called something like Properties, Settings or something like that. If you find it, there may be an option somewhere that says start automatically at Windows start up.

Some applications just won't have a way to keep them from starting automatically, and for these applications, you can use a utility like msconfig, Anvir's Task Manager or WinPatrol. To use msconfig, go to your start menu and press R to get to the Run dialog. Now just type in msconfig. Control+tab over to the start tab and unselect those items you don't want starting automatically.

Once you've done all of this, I wouldn't worry about those icons in the system tray anymore, but if they're still bothering you, you can always go back and check that option to hide the inactive system tray icons.

I suspect my way of thinking about the system tray and the task bar is horribly flawed, so maybe someone else has a better way of thinking about it. Also, the keys I use and the examples I gave above are not the most efficient way of doing things. They just happen to be what I got used to using. If others have more efficient ways of doing things, hopefully they'll volunteer their wisdom!

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Christopher
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Hello list,

I'll start with a basic question - is there a difference between what is called the system tray and the task bar?  There are a number of things to the left of the time at the bottom of the screen that I never use and would like not to have to deal with.  I went into Control Panel / Task bar & start menu then clicked on the customize button.   I marked a number of things as always hide then clicked apply and ok to exit.  These things are still showing up on my task bar even after a reboot.  I went back into the task bar settings and they are still marked as always hide.  A couple examples of things that won't go away are the blue tooth icon and the no shock detected.  I think the problem may be that these items along with volume & safely remove hardware are in the system tray not the task bar.  When I use Jaws keys insert + F11, it says system tray not task bar.  The items I want to be rid of are not spoken by Jaws when using insert +F11  Yet I can see them there across the bottom of my screen.  Any ideas how I can clean up this display?  Thanks.

Regards,
Sherry Wells

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