Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition shield icon does not appear in the system tray

Situation:
You install Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition to a client computer, and you confirm that it installed successfully. When you restart the computer, the gold shield icon does not appear in the system tray.

Solution:
There are several reasons that the icon may not appear.

The icon is not configured to display
By default, Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition does not display an icon in the system tray on managed clients. This can be configured in the Symantec System Center.

To enable the system tray icon in the Symantec System Center

1. Right-click the server group, client group, or parent server in the Symantec System Center console, click All Tasks, Symantec AntiVirus, and then click Client Administrator Only Options.
2. Click "Show Symantec AntiVirus Icon on Desktop," and then click OK.
   
    

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   Notes:

   • Settings created at the client group level will replace settings created at the parent server. Settings created at the server group level will replace settings created at the client group.
   • If "Show Symantec AntiVirus Icon on Desktop" is already checked, it may help to uncheck this option, click OK, and then repeat steps one and two above.

If the icon does not appear on unmanaged clients, then you must modify the registry to make this change.

To enable the system tray icon on unmanaged clients

1. Exit all open programs.
2. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
3. Type regedit and then click OK. The Registry Editor appears.
   
    

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   WARNING: Back up the system registry before you make any changes. Incorrect changes to the registry can result in permanent data loss or corrupted files. Modify only the keys that are specified. See the document Backing up the Windows registry before proceeding.

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4. Navigate to the following key:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Intel\Landesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\AdministratorOnly\General
   
    
5. In the right pane, double-click the following value:
   
   ShowVPIcon
   
    
6. Change the value to 1.
7. Close the Registry Editor.
8. Restart the computer.

The registry value that launches the icon is missing
The shield icon is launched by an application called Vptray.exe, which is launched from the Run key in the registry. If the value in the Run key is missing, the shield will not appear. In this case, the Load Symantec AntiVirus Services option may appear disabled within Symantec AntiVirus.

To add the registry value to the Run key

1. Exit all open programs.
2. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
3. Type regedit and then click OK. The Registry Editor appears.
4. Navigate to the following key:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
   
    
5. Click Edit, click New, and then click String Value.
6. Name the value "Vptray" and press Enter.
7. Double-click Vptray.
8. Type the path to Vptray.exe, enclosing it in quotation marks, and press Enter.
   
   Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP: "C:\Program Files\Symantec_Client_Security\Symantec AntiVirus\Vptray.exe" or
   "C:\Program Files\Navnt\Vptray.exe"
   
    
9. Close the Registry Editor.
10. Restart the computer.

Timing conflicts
If the icon is set to display, and Vptray.exe is in the Run key correctly, there may be an issue with the timing of the process as Windows starts.

To change the timing with which Vptray.exe starts

1. Create a shortcut to Vptray.exe, and copy it into the Startup folder in the Start Menu.
2. Remove Vptray from the Run key:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

This will cause Vptray.exe to start later in the startup sequence. This will not affect the level of antivirus protection on the computer, because File System Realtime Protection or Auto-Protect does not rely on Vptray.exe.