Icons for active USB dvcs missing from system tray

[AlanV]

Is there something particular to Windows 98 that prevents icons for active USB devices from appearing in the system tray? At first I thought it was just bad software from the vendor of my Nexstar 350U2 external hard drive enclosure, but now my Hawking HUF2 wireless adapter does the same thing. As the device is attached I may sometimes see a flash along the toolbar at the bottom of my screen indicating that the device has just attached and the monitoring software is being loaded. After the toolbar clears, I expect to see an icon in the system tray. In the case of the external hard drive, I should have to open the icon for a dialog to safely disconnect the drive. In the case of the wireless adapter, I can open a window to monitor the signal strength and change settings. Am I just unlucky to have bad software?

[GaryRouth]

Are the devices plugged into ports directly connected to the motherboard, or to a powered hub?

I'm not sure that Windows 98 provides an icon for USB devices like Win2000 & WinXP do. I believe such icons in Windows 98 are provided by applets generally installed from the device manufacturer's installation program. Might take a peek at the websites for Hawking & Nexstar, and see if they've had anyone ask this question before.

In Windows XP, detection problems can be due to a lack of power to the device, faulty or over-long USB cables, etc.

. . . Gary