Hidden icon for program causes concern

Included in the e-mail I received concerning last week’s Secunia PSI article were a couple of question I best address.

Question: After downloading and installing Secunia PSI its icon indicating it’s running in the background did not appear in my Windows 7 Taskbar Notification area.

My response “prefaced with a short Notification area tutorial”: Your Taskbar Notification area on the right end of the taskbar displays information about the status of programs to include information about the programs which are running in the background and links to a few system commands to include Clock, Volume, Network, Power, and Action Center.

If you’re a Windows 7 user you’ll also discover a little triangle on the left end of your Notification area. By clicking on the triangle you’ll see icons not included in your Notification area.

By clicking on “Customize” you can decide for each Program and System icon currently displayed or currently hidden whether to:
1. Show icon and notifications.
2. Hide icon and notifications.
3. Show only notifications.
4. Turn system icons on or off.
5. Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar.
6. Restore default icon behaviors.

Note: You can also make these adjustments from your Control panel or by right clicking on your Taskbar, clicking on Properties, the Taskbar tab, and Customize.

The point I’m trying to make is for some the Secunia PSI icon may be hidden. But it can be added to the Notification area by highlighting the Secunia PSI icon in the Customize panel and selecting “Show icon and notifications”.

Warning: If you hide icons and notifications you’ll not be:
* Notified about changes and available updates.
* Able to expeditiously access via the Notification area features of the programs you specifically designated as run in the background programs.

I suggest unless for whatever reason you’re uncomfortable about advertizing your icons in your Notification area there’s no reason not to have all of them visible.

Question: After scanning my computer Secunia found many programs that needed to be updated. Secunia provided an opportunity to initiate a download update directly from their Web site. Is initiating a download up date from their Web site safe and secure?

My response: In my opinion it’s safe and secure. I’ve used it many times and never had a problem.

I have found that being able to download most updates from one location is far less tedious than trying to find an appropriate download on a software’s Web site.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.