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Taskbar icon for SyncBack

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mclemens
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Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by mclemens »

Each time I install an update to SyncBackSE the icon for SyncBack on the taskbar disappears. I have to reenable it in task bar settings. It stays enabled until I install a new version. I'm using Windows 10 64bit fully patched.

One additional item about the taskbar icon - On a beta channel Windows 11 system I have that is running SyncBackSE the icon will not show up in the taskbar following a restart of the system even though it was enabled before the restart.

It also sometime won't appear even when it is re-enabled using taskbar settings. Sometimes it shows up after one re-enable, sometimes it shows up after the second re-enable and sometime it won't show up at all.

Thanks
bhenshaw
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by bhenshaw »

mclemens wrote:
Sun Sep 19, 2021 7:30 pm
Each time I install an update to SyncBackSE the icon for SyncBack on the taskbar disappears. I have to reenable it in task bar settings. It stays enabled until I install a new version. I'm using Windows 10 64bit fully patched.
I have this exact same problem. I reported it several years ago and nobody at 2BrightSparks seemed to think it was a problem. SyncBackSE is the only program I use that has this problem.

Bill
mickyj
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by mickyj »

Hi, I've spent many, many hours on many, many different occasions looking into this and I simply cannot figure out what is happening. We cannot force Windows to show (unhide) the system tray icon. For obvious reasons the user has control over what is shown and what is hidden. Windows does not allow developers to decide this (otherwise everyone would decide their icon is super duper important). Why Windows keeps hiding our icon (because we don't and the installer doesn't) I do not know. I have asked someone else to investigate this to see if they can discover what is going on because I'm completely stumped.
bhenshaw
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by bhenshaw »

Thanks for looking into this mickyj.

I don't know what could be happening either. What I do know is that I have "select which icons appear on the taskbar" set to On for SyncbackSE. When I install an update to SyncbackSE, this gets changed to Off and the icon gets hidden in the tray. This only happens to me for SyncbackSE so it has to be something directly related to SyncbackSE.

Bill
mickyj
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by mickyj »

Hi, we now know what was causing this. However, the fix is not perfect due to the way SyncBack uses the notification (system tray) icon. Basically, each instance of SyncBack can have its own notification icon but only one instance can have the "main" icon that does not get hidden by Windows. It's difficult and complex to explain, but unless SyncBack only ever has one notification icon (no matter how many instances are running) it cannot be properly fixed.
bhenshaw
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by bhenshaw »

I guess I really don't understand. I only have one instance. If I install an update then why does the icon get hidden and the option turned off in settings? And why is SyncBack the only program this happens for? I have multiple instances of other programs and it doesn't happen for them.

Bill
mickyj
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by mickyj »

Hi, at the moment it gets hidden because the tray icon component in Delphi uses the old (Vista) method of registering the icon with Windows which relies on Windows to remember the setting based on the executable itself. So when a new version is installed the executable changes so the setting is lost. We created a new component to use the correct method which uses a fixed and unique identifier so when you now update or upgrade then the setting is not lost (as it is tied to that unique identifier and the icon itself and not the executable). So in that sense the issue is fixed. However, keep in mind that when you update to the new version the icon will still be hidden again because the current releases don't use the new method, so Windows will forget the icon setting, so it's only really fixed when you update again after this upcoming update.

With SyncBack each instance has its own notification icon, which could be a problem for some people in certain cases (although for most people it won't be a problem). The notification icon needs a unique ID. You cannot have multiple icons using the same unique ID. Windows ties the hidden or not setting to that unique ID. Ideally SyncBack would share a single notification icon, but that would be a huge change.
bhenshaw
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by bhenshaw »

Hi,

I do thank you for the attempt to explain it to me, but I still don't understand. :-) I think it all going over my head. I guess I really don't need to understand as long as you do. As for a fix, will that only be in version 10? I'm still n version 9.

Thanks!
Bill
mickyj
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by mickyj »

Hi, the fix is in the V9 and V10 betas: https://www.2brightsparks.com/downloads-beta.html

But as mentioned, if you install the beta the icon will still be hidden again by Windows (as before). Future updates after installing this fix will see the benefit.
bhenshaw
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by bhenshaw »

I had SyncBackE showing in the tray. I installed the 64 bit beta. I restarted the computer when prompted. Now I have 2 SyncBackSE entries in the taskbar settings. One is off and one is on. Nothing is showing in the tray. Is that expected?

I turned off the one that was on and turned on the one that was off. Now SyncBackSE is showing in the tray.

How do I get rid of the extra setting?

Bill
mickyj
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by mickyj »

Hi, AFAIK, Windows does not allow entries to be removed. I have entries for other software I want to remove as well that I cannot. Just leave them and hopefully Windows will clean them up automatically.
bhenshaw
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by bhenshaw »

Weird. I have never had another program with two entries in those settings. SyncBackSE is the only one I've ever had. Again it must be something in the way SyncBackSE is doing things. Oh well... I'll just ignore it.

How about the other question I asked.

I had SyncBackE showing in the tray. I installed the 64 bit beta. I restarted the computer when prompted. Now I have 2 SyncBackSE entries in the taskbar settings. One is off and one is on. Nothing is showing in the tray. Is that expected?

Bill
bhenshaw
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by bhenshaw »

mickyj,

I am still seeing problems. I just downloaded and installed version10. This forced a restart of the computer which I did. After the restart, the SyncBackSE tray icon was again hidden. I thought after installing 9.5.54.0 this wasn't supposed to happen anymore.

Also, I now have 3 occurrences of SyncBackSE in the settings for "Select which icons appear on the taskbar". Before installing the 9.5.54.0 beta I only had 1 occurrence. Installing 9.5.43.0 added another. Now installing 10.0.0.0 added another. This is kind of crazy. Am I going to get another one with every install of a new version?

Bill
bhenshaw
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by bhenshaw »

I just updated to 10.0.0.4 and again the tray icon was hidden and there is a new entry in "Select which icons appear on the taskbar". I had to turn on the new one and turn off the old one to get the tray icon to appear again.

Bill
bhenshaw
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Re: Taskbar icon for SyncBack

Post by bhenshaw »

I was just updated to SyncBack SE 10.1.0.0. After the update the icon was appearing in the tray. Also, in the taskbar settings there was only one entry for SyncBack SE.

Thanks for fixing this. I really appreciate it.

Bill
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