How to get back old service tray behavior?


cheaterslick

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Windows 11 Pro 22H2
Back in the olden days, I used to be able to visibly pin running icons in the service tray to let me know they were running in the background. This was particularly helpful with my VPN running with its status indicator letting me know at all times whether it was connected or not.

Is there any way to get back this behavior, besides pinning it to the taskbar and then running out of space on the taskbar itself?

Thanks
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Pro
    Memory
    16GB
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ExpertBook
    Memory
    16GB
I use ExplorerPatcher to bring back the Windows 10 taskbar. With the taskbar icon size set to small, I can reduce the taskbar height to just a single row. I.e., unlock the taskbar, drag the top edge of the taskbar a little bit downward, and lock the taskbar again. In the middle is what's called a Taskbar Toolbar, with a bunch of shortcuts on it. Next to my Start button, I have put another Taskbar Toolbar that only has one shortcut on it ("%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Shows Desktop.lnk"). Using 3840×2160 display resolution, personally, I, find that Windows Settings | Display | Scale should be set to 150% for the best result. On my 55 inch 4K TV (that I use as my primary display through my laptop's HDMI output) it looks like this:

taskbar.png

As you can see for yourself, a status icon takes up just 48 pixels in total width, or only one eightieth (1/80) of my screen width.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
Hi and thanks for your response.

Yeah, I've heard there were problems using ExplorerPatcher with the latest build. I just want something simple to let me know that there are programs actively running in the background and not leaving me in the dark, constantly having to hit the Up arrow next to the clock and clicking on the icon. That is for the birds.

I'm not going to totally rule out ExplorerPatcher but if there still another way (without being able to use the service tray) and it not taking up my whole taskbar, then I'd most like to hear about it.

I'd even just settle for some kind of status indicator letting me know my VPN is running.

This whole thing has turned out to be a very poor design.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Pro
    Memory
    16GB
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ExpertBook
    Memory
    16GB
I haven't been able to reproduce those critical bugs that were reported on the latest build. I have been using ExplorerPatcher on the production channel of Windows 11 over the past 15 months, and I have always been able to get the Windows 10 taskbar back with it so, even after it was causing explorer to crash persistently on startup sometimes after finalizing the install of a Windows Cumulative Update, I could still fix that problem, simply by reinstalling ExplorerPatcher. The only exception to this was when I needed to repair Windows by performing an in-place upgrade, which happened to me only one time, and actually I doubt it had something to with ExplorerPatcher.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF

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