Problem returns

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

On 11/25/2012 12:10 PM, Gordon wrote:
My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

Did you try toggling Hybrid Sleep yet? Another thing I would try is to
enabled Hibernation mode (Hybrid Sleep must be off I believe). Then
changing how your computer sleeps and changing it to hibernate instead.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v12
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 8

"Gordon" wrote in message ...
My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

Right-click the Taskbar Properties Taskbar Notification area
Customize Set the 'Always show icons' box.

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:10:22 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

Not that it will help you but I don't think I have ever had a computer
where the "sleep" modes worked properly... at best they would
sometimes work and then inexplicably stop working after several
cycles. I pretty much have given up on using sleep mode, I either
just leave the computer on or turn it off.

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 19:10:40 -0000, "Dave-UK" wrote:


"Gordon" wrote in message ...
My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

Right-click the Taskbar Properties Taskbar Notification area
Customize Set the 'Always show icons' box.

Excellent idea. I had trouble with icons in Win 7 and I expect Win 8
has same philosophy: that unless told otherwise, Windows itself decides
what icons you should see.

--
Robin Bignall
Herts, England

On 11/25/2012 2:39 PM, Ashton Crusher wrote:
On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:10:22 -0600,
wrote:

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

Not that it will help you but I don't think I have ever had a computer
where the "sleep" modes worked properly... at best they would
sometimes work and then inexplicably stop working after several
cycles. I pretty much have given up on using sleep mode, I either
just leave the computer on or turn it off.

Oh I wouldn't like that. My experience is just the opposite. I have
about 20 computers here and they work very well with Standby or
Hibernation modes with the exception of Windows 7. Funny Windows 8 on
those same machines works just fine. And Windows 7 isn't that big of a
deal. As the external monitor plugged into the docking port when Windows
7 comes out of Standby is blank (monitor shows no signal). But if I lift
up the lid of the laptop the internal one turns on. Lower the lid and
the external fires up just fine. It is probably a driver problem. I
should fix it one of these days. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v12
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 8

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:10:22 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

I may have stumbled onto a solution to this problem. I just noticed
that I had inadvertently connected the monitor to the computer, using
both of the supplied monitor cables. I took the white one off and have
been checking the monitor sleep related problem. So far it has come
out of sleep mode with no loss of the Notificateion Area or the Time
and Date box. All seems to be working well.

I still intend to check this out with the white cable replaced and the
blue one removed, but I should wait a while just to be sure things are
working well with only the blue cable connected.

Thanks to all who have responded. I've learned a bit from all this and
I hope the problem is now resolved. Gordon

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:44:43 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:10:22 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

I may have stumbled onto a solution to this problem. I just noticed
that I had inadvertently connected the monitor to the computer, using
both of the supplied monitor cables. I took the white one off and have
been checking the monitor sleep related problem. So far it has come
out of sleep mode with no loss of the Notificateion Area or the Time
and Date box. All seems to be working well.

I still intend to check this out with the white cable replaced and the
blue one removed, but I should wait a while just to be sure things are
working well with only the blue cable connected.

Thanks to all who have responded. I've learned a bit from all this and
I hope the problem is now resolved. Gordon

White cable? Blue cable? I wonder if you could tell us what kind of
cables they are?

Here's a link which will help you, and will also help you to help us:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/video-c...vi-hdmi-ports/

It should give you an idea not only of the names of the cables, but of
how they differ. It's brief, so it's not too hard to read compared to a
total encyclopedia :-)

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:00:09 -0800, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:44:43 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:10:22 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

I may have stumbled onto a solution to this problem. I just noticed
that I had inadvertently connected the monitor to the computer, using
both of the supplied monitor cables. I took the white one off and have
been checking the monitor sleep related problem. So far it has come
out of sleep mode with no loss of the Notificateion Area or the Time
and Date box. All seems to be working well.

I still intend to check this out with the white cable replaced and the
blue one removed, but I should wait a while just to be sure things are
working well with only the blue cable connected.

Thanks to all who have responded. I've learned a bit from all this and
I hope the problem is now resolved. Gordon

White cable? Blue cable? I wonder if you could tell us what kind of
cables they are?

Here's a link which will help you, and will also help you to help us:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/video-c...vi-hdmi-ports/

It should give you an idea not only of the names of the cables, but of
how they differ. It's brief, so it's not too hard to read compared to a
total encyclopedia :-)

Thanks Gene. This site did clear up my questions as to what these
cables are technically called. In my setup the white cable is a DVI
and the blue one is a VGA. I've seen these cable definitions before,
many times, but had never committed them to memory. I just thought
things would work out okay as long as the cables matched the sockets
on the computer and monitor. I guess I can't justify making this kind
of assumption, huh??? Gordon

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:20:31 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:00:09 -0800, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:44:43 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:10:22 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

I may have stumbled onto a solution to this problem. I just noticed
that I had inadvertently connected the monitor to the computer, using
both of the supplied monitor cables. I took the white one off and have
been checking the monitor sleep related problem. So far it has come
out of sleep mode with no loss of the Notificateion Area or the Time
and Date box. All seems to be working well.

I still intend to check this out with the white cable replaced and the
blue one removed, but I should wait a while just to be sure things are
working well with only the blue cable connected.

Thanks to all who have responded. I've learned a bit from all this and
I hope the problem is now resolved. Gordon

White cable? Blue cable? I wonder if you could tell us what kind of
cables they are?

Here's a link which will help you, and will also help you to help us:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/video-c...vi-hdmi-ports/

It should give you an idea not only of the names of the cables, but of
how they differ. It's brief, so it's not too hard to read compared to a
total encyclopedia :-)

Thanks Gene. This site did clear up my questions as to what these
cables are technically called. In my setup the white cable is a DVI
and the blue one is a VGA. I've seen these cable definitions before,
many times, but had never committed them to memory. I just thought
things would work out okay as long as the cables matched the sockets
on the computer and monitor. I guess I can't justify making this kind
of assumption, huh??? Gordon

I would guess (without any actual knowledge, but what the hell it's my
birthday) that you should use one cable but not both. It's either DVI
or VGA.
(Leave it until tomorrow to tell me that I'm totally and utterly wrong!)
--
Robin Bignall
Herts, England

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:23:53 +0000, Robin Bignall
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:20:31 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:00:09 -0800, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:44:43 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:10:22 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

I may have stumbled onto a solution to this problem. I just noticed
that I had inadvertently connected the monitor to the computer, using
both of the supplied monitor cables. I took the white one off and have
been checking the monitor sleep related problem. So far it has come
out of sleep mode with no loss of the Notificateion Area or the Time
and Date box. All seems to be working well.

I still intend to check this out with the white cable replaced and the
blue one removed, but I should wait a while just to be sure things are
working well with only the blue cable connected.

Thanks to all who have responded. I've learned a bit from all this and
I hope the problem is now resolved. Gordon

White cable? Blue cable? I wonder if you could tell us what kind of
cables they are?

Here's a link which will help you, and will also help you to help us:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/video-c...vi-hdmi-ports/

It should give you an idea not only of the names of the cables, but of
how they differ. It's brief, so it's not too hard to read compared to a
total encyclopedia :-)

Thanks Gene. This site did clear up my questions as to what these
cables are technically called. In my setup the white cable is a DVI
and the blue one is a VGA. I've seen these cable definitions before,
many times, but had never committed them to memory. I just thought
things would work out okay as long as the cables matched the sockets
on the computer and monitor. I guess I can't justify making this kind
of assumption, huh??? Gordon

I would guess (without any actual knowledge, but what the hell it's my
birthday) that you should use one cable but not both. It's either DVI
or VGA.
(Leave it until tomorrow to tell me that I'm totally and utterly wrong!)

So far so good! I haven't hooked the DVI cable back up, yet. I've been
playing around with the VGA hook-up to see how it works. Then, if I
don't run into any problems I may take the VGA cable off and hook the
DVI cable back up and see how it goes.

The thing that baffles me is why did the computer have a socket for
each cable on both the monitor and the computer's box and the two
seprarate cables? It just looked like I was expected to hook up both
cables. There were no specific instructions...just some minimal
sketches and a bit of choppy language.

Gordon

Gordon wrote:

just some minimal sketches and a bit of choppy language.

Gordon

Isn't it amazing what passes for user manuals ?

They try to save a few bucks, by not making translations
for a hundred different languages. And the result is
cryptic to say the least. Lucky me, my monitors only
have the one connector, so I can't screw this up :-) :-)

Paul

On 11/27/2012 2:23 PM, Robin Bignall wrote:
... but what the hell it's my birthday)

Happy Birthday Robin!

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v12
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 8

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:20:31 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:00:09 -0800, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:44:43 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:10:22 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

I may have stumbled onto a solution to this problem. I just noticed
that I had inadvertently connected the monitor to the computer, using
both of the supplied monitor cables. I took the white one off and have
been checking the monitor sleep related problem. So far it has come
out of sleep mode with no loss of the Notificateion Area or the Time
and Date box. All seems to be working well.

I still intend to check this out with the white cable replaced and the
blue one removed, but I should wait a while just to be sure things are
working well with only the blue cable connected.

Thanks to all who have responded. I've learned a bit from all this and
I hope the problem is now resolved. Gordon

White cable? Blue cable? I wonder if you could tell us what kind of
cables they are?

Here's a link which will help you, and will also help you to help us:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/video-c...vi-hdmi-ports/

It should give you an idea not only of the names of the cables, but of
how they differ. It's brief, so it's not too hard to read compared to a
total encyclopedia :-)

Thanks Gene. This site did clear up my questions as to what these
cables are technically called. In my setup the white cable is a DVI
and the blue one is a VGA. I've seen these cable definitions before,
many times, but had never committed them to memory. I just thought
things would work out okay as long as the cables matched the sockets
on the computer and monitor. I guess I can't justify making this kind
of assumption, huh??? Gordon

Actually, I would've thought that having both cables installed would be
OK, but it looks like I'd be wrong :-)

When there is more than one cable connected, my monitor lets me decide
which input to use, and so does my video card, but different monitors,
different video cards, and different video driver software most likely
will behave differently. Also, maybe it matters, at least on some
systems, when both cables go to the same video card.

I prefer to use the digital interface (DVI - white cable, or HDMI when
available), but these days the cards and the monitors seem to do just as
good a job with the analog interface (VGA - blue cable). So my attitude
is probably more like superstition than anything else.

And I agree with the remarks by Robin, Paul and Bill, including Happy
Birthday, Robin!

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:51:49 -0800, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:20:31 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:00:09 -0800, "Gene E. Bloch"
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:44:43 -0600, Gordon wrote:

On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:10:22 -0600, Gordon
wrote:

My new HP Pavilion desktop computer's problem with the Notification
Area and the Time and Date box has returned. After I set all the
possible sleep and turn off monitor settings to automatic after 30
minures of inactivity, these problems didn't show up for a while. The
comptuer went through two or three phases of going into sleep and
being restored to activity and these icons were in place as the
belong.

But, this morning, after being shut off and completely powered down
over night the problem returned. By "powered down" I mean that I went
through the key sequence Windows + I to open the Settings screen then
used the Power option to turn the comuter off. After it was off and
all the lights had gone out I turned the power supply off for the
night.

This morning when I powered this computer back up the process went
normally except the icons at the right end of the Task bar were
missing, again.

Fortunately, all I have to do is press the computer's power button
momentarily then press it again to cycle through a restart process and
the task bar comes up complete with the Notification Area and the Time
and Date box where they belong.

What might I try next...other than throwing this computer in the trash
barrel and buying a different one??? Gordon

I may have stumbled onto a solution to this problem. I just noticed
that I had inadvertently connected the monitor to the computer, using
both of the supplied monitor cables. I took the white one off and have
been checking the monitor sleep related problem. So far it has come
out of sleep mode with no loss of the Notificateion Area or the Time
and Date box. All seems to be working well.

I still intend to check this out with the white cable replaced and the
blue one removed, but I should wait a while just to be sure things are
working well with only the blue cable connected.

Thanks to all who have responded. I've learned a bit from all this and
I hope the problem is now resolved. Gordon

White cable? Blue cable? I wonder if you could tell us what kind of
cables they are?

Here's a link which will help you, and will also help you to help us:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/video-c...vi-hdmi-ports/

It should give you an idea not only of the names of the cables, but of
how they differ. It's brief, so it's not too hard to read compared to a
total encyclopedia :-)

Thanks Gene. This site did clear up my questions as to what these
cables are technically called. In my setup the white cable is a DVI
and the blue one is a VGA. I've seen these cable definitions before,
many times, but had never committed them to memory. I just thought
things would work out okay as long as the cables matched the sockets
on the computer and monitor. I guess I can't justify making this kind
of assumption, huh??? Gordon

Actually, I would've thought that having both cables installed would be
OK, but it looks like I'd be wrong :-)

When there is more than one cable connected, my monitor lets me decide
which input to use, and so does my video card, but different monitors,
different video cards, and different video driver software most likely
will behave differently. Also, maybe it matters, at least on some
systems, when both cables go to the same video card.

I prefer to use the digital interface (DVI - white cable, or HDMI when
available), but these days the cards and the monitors seem to do just as
good a job with the analog interface (VGA - blue cable). So my attitude
is probably more like superstition than anything else.

And I agree with the remarks by Robin, Paul and Bill, including Happy
Birthday, Robin!

I switched cables, and am now using the white DVI cable and all seems
to be going very well. I can't tell any difference in the performance
or stability. At least the disappearing Notification Area and the Time
and Date box problem seems to be resolved and that is what matters. I
think I will leave the DVI cable in place for a day or two and see if
it continues to work well. If it does, it should be the best choice,
since it is of a more recent design.

And, yes, Happy Birthday, Robin.

Gordon