When icons start disappearing from Windows Vista’s system tray—like the networking, volume control, or time display—and you can’t restore them from the standard options menus, the itch to re-install can be strong indeed. The How-To Geek, however, finds the balm for disappearing Vista icons in the registry, where a few key options need to be deleted to restore your system tray to functionality. Hit the link for instructions on how to kill out the options yourself, or download a registry hack that does it for you.
Please follow these simple steps to restore your volume, power etc. icons that are grayed out for Vista! Simple:
Go to Start Menu
Click on Programs
Click on Accessories
Click on System Tools
Click on Control Panel
Click on Taskbar & Start Menu
Click on Notification Area, your boxes are no longer grayed out, click the ones you want open, I searched for months without finding a solution & a friend gave me this, please post it EVERYWHERE!
Mine are still greyed out