How do I make system tray icons go away permanently?

I use a program called PS Tray Factory to control the system tray icons. It givce a list of all the current icons and allows one to check a box beside each one indicating that that icon is to be hidden. Right-clicking on the PS Tray Factory icon quickly shows a list of the hidden icons for those times that one *does* need to access them. It's a wonderful program and I highly recommend it.

Leo, just got back to the post. When the two icons disappeared I would right click taskbar, properties, notification area tab -- and the places to check/uncheck the icons is greyed out and no way to restore. I cannot find any settings in the Control Panel application settings for them.

CCleaner.exe has an excellent Startup tool. It not only gives the option of disabling a startup item but it also can delete it entirely.

Of course, some items repopulate themselves, and Java for me is one of the biggest offenders. Anytime Java is updated, it loads the startup item again. So anytime I've updated Java, I immediately turn off automatic updates for Java, and then also go into startup (using msconfig or CCleaner) to disable it there, as well.

Are the user’s Customize Notifications settings (in XP SP3) supposed to remain locked in after you reboot the PC? I find that a couple of my “Always Show” behavior settings will frequently revert to its “Hide When Inactive” default settings, and the icons become hidden after a reboot (this includes, strangely enough, Norton Security which provides "active" real time protection). Also, what is the purpose of listing the “Past Items” icons and allowing us to change their behavior settings? Thanks…