How can I hide my network connections in the task bar when I'm not connected?

Question

How can I hide my network connections (the PC with the red X icon on the task bar) when I'm not using a that connection.

Typically, I switch back and forth between wireless and wide connections depending on my location, so I don't want to just simply disable the network device.

Answer 1

Go to 'Network Connections' or 'Network and Sharing Center', right click on the connection you want to hide and click on Properties. Then uncheck 'Notify me when this connection..'.

Answer 2

Does unchecking the box in the properties that says "Notify me when this connection has little or no connectivity" do what you want?

Answer 3

Since Tofystedeth's suggestion didn't work, can you convince XP to still "diplay" the icon, but just hide it out of sight instead?

1. Right-click the Start button and choose properties
2. Switch to the Taskbar tab at the top.
3. Tick "Hide Inactive Icons" if it isn't already ticked.
4. Click the "Customise..." button
5. Set the relevant icon to "Always Hide".

Answer 4

I'm facing the same problem. Once my wifi lost connection, the red X icon would display on the taskbar. Fun fact is that someone had give an correct answer but you need to clear items history of Notification Area first. So the whole steps are blow:

1. Start –> Run –> regedit (or Win + R, -> regedit);
   
2. Find the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\TrayNotify
   
3. Delete IconStreams and PastIconsStream from the right hand pane. This will clear off the notification area history which Windows is maintaining (like caches). You need to restart Windows explorer or restart the computer for the changes to take effect
   
4. Right click the taskbar and choose properties;
   
5. Tick "Hide Inactive Icons" if it isn't already ticked;
   
6. Click the "Customise(c)..." button;
   
7. Set the network connections icon to "Always Hide".
   

Answer 5

Goto 'Network Connections' right click on the connections not in use and click 'disable'.

That will turn off the hardware for the connection and make the taskbar icon disappear.

I typically turn off all of the connections that are not in use because it also has the added benefit of saving power.

Note: If you want to add 'Network Connections' to the 'Start Menu', right click on the 'Start' button, goto 'Properties', and find the option in the menu to add a link to the 'Network Connections' folder in the 'Start Menu'.

SideNote: You can also turn off your cd drive in Control Panel->System->Hardware find it in the menu, right click and disable. It's especially nice if you have a cd drive that is unnecessarily loud/obnoxious.

Answer 6

Check out my screenshot in my answer to a different question here. Click the show the tray icon in your case.

Hope this helps.