HELP: bootcamp icon disappears in windows system tray

1) Though you should always find BootCamp in Control Panel, in order for it to be in taskbar tray, I guess it has to be checked in the "Msconfig" Startup Tab. To run Msconfig, You have to activate Run by
rightclick->Taskbar->Properties->StartMenuTab->Customize. When you have run in Start Menu type msconfig.

2) To left of Taskbar Speaker. net activity icons should be what could be called a carat icon. When pressed you either see BC icon there or need to click Customize to set preferred View.

3) Regards F key settings, with Mac Aluminum KBD, pressing fn key and F1 key makes F1 key a windows F1 key

I've never seen the Bootcamp icon in my system tray (running XP). It shows up twice in the selections for the taskbar in the control panel. I have it set to "always show" for both of them. It never shows.

I followed your instructions for step one. Bootcamp was already checked in the msconfig. window.

There are other anomolies with taskbar show/hide/inactive selections. Noticed that a very long time ago. Does things you tell it not to do and doesn't do things you tell it to do ("Windows Messenger is not..??" keeps showing up against my orders).

But I would sure feel better if I could see the Bootcamp icon in the taskbar.

In all likelihood it's still there, just not visible on the taskbar. The fastest way to find it is to hit the Start key and type Boot. If the Boot Camp Control Panel is installed on your system you will see it and can either hit the Enter/Return key or just click on it.

Thanks for suggestion Doc

my problem is i have no idea what the "Start Key" is.

Common problem. getting tangled in most basic stuff.

thanks, bill

Start = Command key or just point/click at the Start orb in the lower left hand corner of the task bar.

OK. that I know. just never heard it referred to as "Start Key" before. thanx

{quote}I'm having this constant problem that after a while of using windows, the bootcamp icon would disappear from the system tray, which creates annoyance as you cannot use the function keys to dim screens etc.{quote}

I have the same problem as the OP, so I'd like to restate it and see if anyone out there has any idea what is happening. Although I am running XP Pro and not Windows 7 my problem is virtually the same. After the first couple of boots, my system tray icon disappeared completely and I lost some of the Apple keyboard functionality, namely the volume and brightness keys. It's extremely annoying, as I can see Boot Camp in Taskbar --> Properties and have set it to 'Always Show', and yet it's not there, and it's not running its functions.

I have a possible fix: try this, but make sure you don't edit the Registry any way other than I have specified otherwise you can **** up your PC. Use System Restore if you don't trust yourself.


1. Run the Registry Editor (go to Start, Run, and type "regedit").

2. Go to the following folder: HKEY LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

3. There should be a bunch of startup programs that your computer uses on the right hand side. Look for 'Apple_KbdMgr'. *If it doesn't exist*, then you may have found your problem. Go to Edit, New, String Value, and name it 'Apple_KbdMgr'. Set the Data Value to C:\Program Files\Boot Camp\Bootcamp.exe (if you haven't changed the Boot Camp directory). If you have, alter the data value as appropriate.


I sincerely hope this works for anyone who is getting this problem. Please post back regardless and tell me how you got on.