Missing Power Volume Network icons from Taskbar in Vista

Sometimes, Windows Vista loses the icons that are normally displayed in the taskbar area. In order to get them back you would normally do the following...
1. Right hand mouse click on the Windows Start Button
2. Select PROPERTIES
3. Select the NOTIFICATION AREA tab
4. Check the appropriate icon check boxes

If the check boxes are greyed out, there is a possibility that another software driver has over-ridden the default Windows icons. In this case, you would click on the CUSTOMIZE button and check through the list of icons available in there and select SHOW next to the icon.

If the icon is not there, then a registry edit is required (as per instructions from Microsoft).

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945011/en-us

Here is the workaround as proposed by Microsoft
(NB: editing the registry can cause damage to your PC operating system if done incorrectly. If you are not certain or confident of the procedure, please contact us or your preferred I.T. consultant)...

You can make the icons reappear by deleting two subkeys from the registry. To do this, follow these steps:

1.	Click Start , type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
2.	Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify
3.	In the Details pane, click the IconStreams registry entry.
4.	On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.
5.	In the Details pane, click the PastIconsStream registry entry.
6.	On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.
7.	Exit Registry Editor.
8.	Restart the Explorer.exe process. To do these, follow these steps: a. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC. b. On the Processes tab in Windows Task Manager, click the explorer.exe process, and then click End Process two times. c. On the File menu, click New Tasks (Run), type explorer, and then click OK. d. Exit Windows Task Manager.

I have personally tested this and it appears to work for my Vista system with no adverse side effects.... AL.