Get rid of that annoying QuickTime notification icon for good!

If there is one thing I can't stand, it's a ton of icons in the notification area. That's the area near the time on the Start bar, FYI. Usually the icons represent a program which is loaded and eating away at your computers resources, most likely RAM. And having as much RAM available is a good thing. So, we want to avoid something taking that away unnecessarily.

One of the little buggers that likes to rear it's ugly head, even when it's disabled, is the QuickTime icon. A simple uncheck and file name change will remedy this problem for good...at least until QuickTime upgrades then it will happen again. So, here is my simple guide to clearing this unnecessary, resource taking task icon. It may seem like a lot of steps but I like to s-p-e-l-l things out so there is less confusion. Let's get started!

1. In Windows click on Start > Run and type "msconfig" (without the quotes) in the text box and click OK. The "System Configuration Utility" window will open.
   
2. You will see a number of tabs across the top. Click on the "Startup" tab.
3. You will see a number of items with check boxes next to them. Scroll through the list and find the "Startup Item" named QTTask and uncheck the box and click OK.
4. A window will pop up asking you if you want to restart Windows or exit without restart, select exit without restart.
5. Now open up Windows explorer by clicking Start > Run and typing "explorer" (again, without the quotes) in the text box and clicking OK.
6. Make sure your folders are visible by selecting the "Folders" button at the top of the Explorer window.
7. Navigate to My Computer > C: > Program Files > QuickTime. In the QuickTime folder, you will see a file named "QTTask.exe".
8. Rename the file by right clicking on it and selecting "Rename" from the menu and naming the file "QTTask.old" (without the quotes) and hitting the key. You may be prompted to confirm changing the file extension type, select "Yes".
   
9. Close all your open windows and reboot your PC. When you log back into Windows a window will pop up stating you have made changes, blah blah blah. Just check the box in that window and click OK.

That's it! Pat yourself on the back for saving that precious RAM from QuickTime.

Sometimes when QuickTime updates it will see "QTTask.exe" has changed and will write a new file to replace it. Just go through these simple steps to resolve the problem again. I hope you found this post helpful and informative. Please post your comments on it!