Odd behavior of Windows 10 recently…

[WSBatBytes]

Recently my Windows 10 Pro has started placing an icon in the system tray area on startup. Not sure if this just started after a recent update but it has never happened before. The icon has no info when hovered over. If I right or left click the icon it opens file explorer. Right click also does not pop up any options like exit or quit. I have all icons turned off except for ZoneAlarm, AVG, Iconoid, Network, & Volume.  Some on microsoft forums suggested system restore and reinstall but I don’t trust windows 10 enough for that. It is very annoying. Does anyone know how to stop this from happening?

Reply | Quote

[PKCano]

It would be helpful to know what version of Win10 you are using.

Reply | Quote

[WSBatBytes]

As stated… “Recently my Windows 10 Pro has…”.  The only thing I can add is ver. 2004, 32bit.

Reply | Quote

[PKCano]

The version is important – we need to know you have version 2004. Win10 could be any number of VERSIONS and each is different.

Reply | Quote

[WSBatBytes]

Windows 10 Pro
version 2004
OS build 19041.572
32 bit

Reply | Quote

[Cybertooth]

What does this mystery icon look like? Maybe you can try uploading a screenshot focusing on the icon, in case somebody can tell what it’s for.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

Reply | Quote

[WSBatBytes]

As I stated in the first post, it is windows file explorer which opens when the icon is clicked.

Reply | Quote

[Cybertooth]

I do understand that it opens File Explorer if you click on the icon, but does this icon look the same as the File Explorer icon?

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

Reply | Quote

[Ktech]

Have you checked the startup in task manager to see if you have something starting there?

Reply | Quote

[WSBatBytes]

It does not appear to be the same as file explorer icon. Am including images of icon & tray

Attachments:

You must be logged in to access attached files.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

[WSBatBytes]

>> Have you checked the startup in task manager to see if you have something starting there?

Everything in startup is stuff I have used for years.

Reply | Quote

[Phil F]

Have you hovered your mouse pointer over this icon when it appears?

This looks like the icon I see after a fresh boot which indicates that a “network drive has been disconnected”. My WD MyBookLive network drive  has a dynamic IP address, so I may need to click on the link to reconnect.

This is on a Win 10 Pro X64 2004 system originally upgraded from Win 7 Pro.

Phil

Reply | Quote

[WSBatBytes]

>>The icon has no info when hovered over.

I get a popup box on startup when my network drive is not on… much, much larger than an icon.

Reply | Quote

[PKCano]

That looks like a “can’t reconnect network drive” icon.
If you have a persistent network connection set up, be sure it is working.
Perhaps re-do the connection?
I suspect that may be why it is opening File Explorer when you click on it.
You may need to use the IP address or the DNS name (\\192.168.1.nnn\<sharename>\ or \\<Devicename>\<sharename>\) ?

Reply | Quote

[anonymous]

Agreed it’s a network drive disconnected icon.  We have a home file server connected to various computers; if the server is turned off, that icon appears on all the devices.  It can also appear if your computer is not set up to automatically connect to a network device even though the device is powered up.   In File Manager, go to Network locations (easier to see details if Navigation Pane is visible, it’s in View), expand it and see what’s not connected.  The context menu and Properties have settings needed to enable the network device.

Network and Sharing Center>Advanced Sharing Settings>Network Discovery should be enabled, maybe that got disabled somehow.   File and Printer Sharing is optional, it allows acccess to your computer’s files and printers, maybe not a good idea.

Our server is on Ububtu, most of our devices are Windows, some Linux.  Once you figure out how to get them all to communicate, it’s simple;  sorting through samba, cockpit, ssh, putty, and all the other weird terminology to get there, isn’t.

🙂

Reply | Quote

[WSBatBytes]

PKCano, looks like you win the prize. It is indeed an icon for an offline network drive. Why it would just recently start popping up in the tray when it has never done it before only M$ knows. I guess M$ just can’t keep their #$% hands off things that have always worked satisfactorily. Thanks to all who gave input.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Elly

Reply | Quote

[Alex5723]

In ‘Notification Area’ – ‘Select which icons appear on the taskbar’ you have a list of all icons shown/hidden with icon’s description.

Reply | Quote

[Author]

Posts