I have an icon stuck in the system tray at the bottom of my screen. I
think it was put there by someone who got past Zone Alarm.
Right-clicking on it just results in opening it. It cannot be dragged
into the recycle bin. I don't know what the file would be called, so I
don't know how to find it elsewhere to delet it. The icon is the
universal symbol for "do not enter", and the information in the window
that pops up when you open it is in Polish. It's sitting between my
Earthlink icon and the internet connection icon. I am using a Compaq
Presario 1681 laptop running Windows 98.

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Request for Question Clarification by sgtcory-ga on 09 Nov 2002 16:11 PST

Hello shiroihana,

This is a great question, but it may take me a few walkthroughs to get
you all set. At first I will work with you in the form of
clarifications, because I need more information before I can help any
further and offer a definitive answer. I will stick with you until we
get rid of this hideous icon :-)

Here is what you need to do:

1) Click on 'Start' in your lower left hand portion of the screen.

2) Click on the portion that says 'Run'. A box should pop up.

3) In that box, I need you to type 'msconfig' , without the quotes.

4) Click OK. You should now see a system configuration box in front of
you.

5) Click on the top tab that says 'Startup'. You should see a list of
stuff.

What I will do now is post this as a comment until you get back here
with a copy of all the things that are listed within this window that
you are looking at on your computer.

Simply type a small list of all the program names you see in that
window, and offer them here as clarification so I can view them.

This will help me , to help you further.

Thanks,
SgtCory

shiroihana-ga,
I have had a similar problem and it annoyed me to no end.  Let me
share my solution with you.
   First, close all running programs so your taskbar is empty.  Then,
press control+alt+delete at the same time.  A window should pop up
with a list of programs.  Select the very last program and click 'End
Task'
If the task dissappears from the list, along with the icon in your
system tray, all is well.  If the task does not immediately
dissappear, wait for the 'Program is not responding..." dialog to
appear and force the tast to end.  If the system tray icon does not
dissappear, wave your mouse over the icon in the system tray a few
times.  Sometimes a residual image is left even after the task is
closed.  Some processes are crucial windows processes but no worries,
Windows won't allow you to close them.  If the icon does not go away,
then proceed to the next task on the list and repeat until the icon in
the system tray dissappears.  At that point, note the task name of the
program you just closed.
   Next, goto Start > Run and type in 'msconfig' without the quotes. 
Goto the startup tab.  Find the program with the same or similar task
name and uncheck it.  Click 'ok' and restart and the system tray icon
should dissappear.

Hope that helps, if not, request clarification.

-Tox-ga

Normally, those Systray icon programs get loaded on the start-up of
your computer. And their executable path names are placed in a
specific Windows
registry entry. Assuming you know about the functionality of other
Systray icon progarms in your computer(you can find it out by just
placing your mouse pointer on any of those icons. They normally comes
with some tool-tips), here is what you can:

1) Click on 'Start' in your lower left hand portion of the screen. 
 
2) Click on the portion that says 'Run'. A box should pop up. 
 
3) In that box, I need you to type 'regedit' , without the quotes. 

4) An registry editor will pop-up. On this editor, expand the "My
Computer" by clicking in the "+" sign on it's left

5) You'll see another expandable "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", expand it.

6) Then inside this "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", expand "SOFTWARE"
7) Expand "Microsoft" inside it
8) Expand "Windows" inside "Microsoft"
9) Expand "CurrentVersion" inside "Windows"
10) The finally expand "Run" iside "CurrentVersion". This is the
registry key where you need to act.
(So, the full key path will be 
"My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run")
You'll see different entries here, which are there to load those
Systray icon programs.
11) Look for your problematic Systray icon program in this key. It has
to be here, so you just can't miss it.

As soon as you see it, right click on it's "Name", you'll find the
"Delete" option, Confirm deletion.
You just got rid of your annoying Systray program.
Now, if you restart your PC, I'm sure you'll feel happy :)