App Hides One Icon

[platypus]

I've got a multi-boot desktop in my home office. I use XP Pro_SP3 most of the time. I know it's an old
system, but I have no security problems. I mount a virtual image of XP before I go online. I save important
documents and files before going offline. The image is always replaced with a clean copy before going online
again, so there is no chance of malware, viruses, etc.

I never liked how XP managed removable USB devices, so I gradually made several positive changes.

I'm using an old app called TraySaver. It can hide any tray (notification area) icons. It also hides itself. It seems
foolish to continue using this app because all it does is hide a single icon!

Newdev.dll loads removable devices. This is the system command:

rundll32.exe newdev.dll,ClientSideInstall \\.\pipe\PNP_Device_Install_Pipe_0.{Registry Key}

The newdev.dll icon you see in the attached image appears as a blurry blob in the tray. Actually, if all devices
loaded instantly this icon would never be visible.

I've got a script that runs at system startup. I need a little applet (or something) that I can add to my startup
script. I want to hide the newdev.dll icon, so I can uninstall TraySaver.

[penpen]

If i rmember right, (and didn't get you wrong,) you don't need any (batch) script to achieve your goals:
Open the Customize Notification Icons dialog (right click the xp task bar -> Properties -> activate the checkbox hide inactive icons -> Customize)
and choose the behaviour "Always hide" for any item you want to hide.

If you want a batch script to do the work, which i don't recommend in this case, you probably have to manipulate the regsitry (once i think) items at:
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\TrayNotify".
(See: "reg.exe /?")

penpen

[platypus]

It was foolish of me not mention the obvious. The "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" has the option to hide
inactive icons. This feature of XP is a horror! If you google there are countless negative posts about this topic.
After each reboot you never know which icons will appear in the tray. Half an icon could be peaking out from the
"hide" portion of the taskbar!

It's frustating for me because I finally got the system working smoothly by unregistering a couple of DLLs and adding
my own scripts. I can rapidly plug-in and eject several flash drives from a hub without XP hanging, which was a
common problem.

Most tray manager apps like TraySaver have their own set of problems, that's why I prefer a Registry hack or maybe
something I can add to a script. It's probably not possible without using a tray manager, but I'll keep trying until
I run out of ideas.