Hey all. I formatted yesterday (for a few reasons) and everything seems to be going well now but I haven't been able to get the recording icon to come up in the taskbar (the red circle) when a program is recording - even though the programs do in fact record.  I installed SP1 and same issue is occuring.

Anyone know what is going on?  This wasn't an issue prior to the format.  And yes, "Show taskbar notifications" is checked.  I'd appreciate any help - as I will likely format (again) otherwise.

You didn't set the 'recording' icon (even inadvertantly) as 'always hide' by chance?
That said, even if it's set to 'hide when inactive', it might not be there for long.

Right-click taskbar > properties > 'notification area' tab > click "customize..." next to "hide inactive icons."  Find your most-recent 'recording xxx' entry- what's it set to do?
Me, I like "always show" for that one - it, well, makes sure that it's always shown.  :)

Thanks for your reply.  No, it hasn't been set to be hidden and has never shown up at all since the format - so I don't have past recordings that have any settings.  I am getting errors downloading the guide data though (also happened when I initially did setup).  I had just tried to run setup again but seems there is an issue. =(

I have the same problem but did no reformating just stopped working recently.  It is setup and is not hidden but does not come up in tray.  Any suggestions or fixes?

Mine also disappeared.  I think it happened to me around the time I added a 2nd analog tuner.  I'd really like to get that icon back.

I'm reformatting right now.  Then I'll update everything (to SP1) and then I'll run the setup for media center and I'll let you know how it turns out.

Now it's working - though it took a while for it to download the guide (several failures and error 13's)

not about to reformate for this minor issue?  Anyone else know a fix?

The Fix

***Insert typical registry hacking warning here***

Seriously, be careful.

I found the post linked above to be effective.  Basically, search for iconstream in your registry, and delete the entry.  I had to restart my computer for the change to take affect, but once I did, I got my system tray notification that something was recording as soon as I started recording something.

Just come across this problem in the last few days - oh how annoying..
Anyway, tried the Registry search and delete - nope,
Tried forum search - seems to be common (I'm using Vista Home)
But this might be a clue

If I log in as a different (Less frequent user) and the HTPC is recording, then the Icon shows up..
Arr.. So it must be a setting, So before you all start saying that it must be the Show Icons, This has been toggled numerous times - and I have still have them set to show always, and the Auto Hide is Off (i.e. if there is an Icon it will display)

So from this - it must be a setting that can be found and tinkered with.
What is needed is for the actual setting to be found and then for somone to tell us (The users suffering from this) what it is so that it can be flushed and things to go back as they are..
I want my Red Ball back !

I feel So silly, And why this has not been answered before like this I do not know.
OK, the problem is that the Red Recording Icon does not show,
Well, Inside Media Center setup .. There is an option stating "Show Tray Notifications" Now I thought that this meant showing those really silly bubble pop-ups from other applications, So that you can see when they have finished doing their jobs..
Well
No it's not.
It the settings for the Recording Icon !!, So Set it's check and Save.
Or go to the following location in the registry and set the value to 1
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\CurrentVersion\Media Center
EnableNotifications = DWORD:1

This seems to be a general Vista issue, in fact it happens on XP as well come to think of it, typically after rebooting it comes back whenever the first recording starts again.  Sometimes it sticks for days, or even weeks and then does its disappearing act again.  Lather and repeat.