`Safely Remove Hardware` Icon Missing in Win2k

Recently the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon is missing from the notification tray on my Windows 2K box, which is a problem since I use it a lot to disconnect my JumpDrive and external harddrives.
Does anyone know what Service and/or dlls are associated with this notification tray icon? Or what could remedy the situation?

 

What SP are you running?

 

Thanks for the reply -- SP4. I found the following command on a webpage which brings up the "Unplug or Eject Hardware" manager window (which was what I was looking for, I just made a shortcut out of it) -- "C:\WINNT\system32\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll" -- but when I run it and load up the "Unplug or Eject Hardware" window, it is now empty. Which I guess explains why I'm not seeing the icon in the notification taskbar.
I guess the question is now, "Why is the HotPlug manager not seeing my JumpDrive and external harddrives anymore?" They are showing up in Windows Explorer, and I get an "Unsafe Removal of Device" error when I remove them with the operating system running. Could a problem with the hotplug.dll cause this? Or could a dependent service not working cause this? My "hotplug.dll" is 75 kb and from 6/19/2003 and version 5.0.2195.6601.

Thanks!
Chad

 

Periodically happens to me in XP also. I logoff then login and it is back. I realize it isn't a fix but it works for me. Better than shutting down the computer.

 

ckieffer - try start~run~sfc /scannow with your 2K install CD in the drive.

 

Ok, ran System File Checker without incident per your instructions. Then did a hard boot after it had completed. But it didn't seem to fix the problem. It's still not listing the" hotplug-able" drives as "hotplug-able" and the "Safely Remove Hardware" didn't return to the notification tray.