BleepingComputer.com: Volume and Safely remove hardware Icons missing.

Hi, After installing and attempting to play a system demanding video game (which obviously my system was not designed to handle) the system crashed. Before running the game I shut down all system services and start-up in msconfig except Windows Audio and Plug and play in an attempt to maximize system performance. (This protocol seemed to work well with less demanding games.) Anyway, the system crashed badly and since then the Volume AND Safely Remove Hardware icons in the system tray only appear occasionally, say every 2nd or 3rd boot. Sound/Audio Properties are set correctly. The system appears to function normally with or without the icons, however they are not there to use.
Any ideas? Thanks, Rick

Try the fix at Kelly's Korner.

Restore Safely Remove Hardware Icon - #5 on the left.
Restore Volume/Net Icon to Notification Area - #320 on the left.

Right click on it and save the .reg file to your desktop. Then, double click on the file icon (on your desktop) to merge it into your registry. You may need to reboot your computer for the changes to take affect.

With any fix like this you should create a new restore point and backup the registry first. For backing up the registry I like to use ERUNT.