Dialog not appearing over icons in System Tray

Hi all,

As of this morning, when I hover my mouse over the icons in the System Tray, the explanatory dialog balloons or boxes or whatever they are - the text - is not displaying.

What happens is that a little outline of the dialog box rises up above the System Tray but doesn't rise up high enough for the text to be visible.

I'd really like the text to appear properly when I hover my mouse over those System Tray icons.

Could anyone please help?

Running Windows XP Pro Service Pack 2.

Thank you!

Gail

 

Well, you aren't alone here. It's a bug in XP that I think everybody experiences once in a while. There is no permanent fix that I know of but you can fix it for now or until it happens again anyway. Right click on the taskbar>properties and uncheck the line that says keep the taskbar on top of other windows. Click apply, then ok. They should work after doing this. Now, go back and put the check back in the box.

This will more than likely fix it for you but for how long I don't know. Sooner or later it will probably happen again. If you wait long enough, they'll more than likely start popping up on top again by themselves. Mine do anyway. Logging off and then back on or rebooting will more than likely straighten it out too. That's about all I can tell you about it.

 

Hi Zander,

Thank you so much for replying! I tried what you told me to do, but it didn't work. The dialog texts still aren't rising high enough to see.

You are probably right about a reboot helping. I'll try it when I can; right now I have a bunch of windows open that I need to keep open for awhile.

This never happened before and I've had this computer since last June. Do you think they'll make a hotfix for this problem?

Thanks again, so much.
Gail

 

Give this a shot:
Tool Tips Hidden Behind the Task Bar: FIX

Go to Start/All Programs: Hover over any program listed, right click and select Sort by Name. Repeat once more. All done!

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There is at least three "commonly most used fix's" that have worked for people having this problem. Two Zander has covered and the above is the third. Sometimes one method didn't not work but another did.

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If your curious or interested in a gazillion posts about theorys and reasons why this happens:
http://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&q=xp+tooltips+behind+taskbar

 

It's one of XP's little aggravations for sure. I generally have it happen to the clock when I leave the bubble on too long and it times out. My fix is to right click it (the clock) and choose Properties and close the screen. The fix is instant. That also works on the other Systray item but I must right click the open taskbar and choose Properties > close as before.

Don't you think it would be fixable? I understand Vista does the same thing. Bubble Trouble.

 

I'm sure it is but my guess is that MS doesn't think it's worth the effort. There's bigger fish to fry so to speak. I haven't noticed it in Vista but I haven't really paid attention to it so.....

You'd think that they would at least have it fixed in Vista. FWIW, when this happens to me, it happens to everything on the taskbar. Window buttons, quick launch, and the tray. Usually doing what I said fixes it although I guess once in a while I have to do it a couple times.

Ann, I wasn't aware of your fix. I'll give it a try just for giggles the next time it happens. Thanks for the info.

Actually though, I've just got to the point where I ignore it. Sooner or later it starts working on it's own again. Who knows? That might be due to something I do and don't even realize it like the thing Ann mentioned. For all I know, there might be a whole bunch of things you do in Windows everyday that will set it straight again. I wasn't aware of Dudes fix either. So.....

 

Goddez1, and Surferdude2, thank you so much for your tips! The text came back by itself, but next time this happens I will try your tips. Thank you so much for replying, and for your help!

Gail

 

Zander, thank you for your additional reply - I didn't see it at first! You were right that it can come back on its own - it did. But next time it happens, I'll try your's and Ann's and Superdude2's suggestions again. Thank you all so much!

Gail