Windows 7: Question on network icon in system tray

Hi everyone,

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium (with Service Pack 1 installed) on a standalone laptop at home with access to the internet via a cable modem. Very occasionally after booting up, the "blue circle" sign, indicating "busy", does not clear from the network icon in the system tray, and it remains there during the entire session. (It's there as I type this.) However, everything still seems to work OK regarding internet access - I can access my mail server and anything on the web. So what is the significance of the blue circle? Should I be concerned if it fails to disappear?

It might be because of the wi-fi is still looking for a connection if the wi-fi is still enabled. You can try to disable/turn off your wi-fi and check to see if it does it. Most modern laptop have a key at the top to enable and disable wifi.

Same here, just ignore it if you have a connection.

Thanks for the quick replies, but my wi-fi already is disabled.

Any other thoughts?

I would highly recommend adding a router to that list as it would increase your security from the outside. Chances are, something is waiting for a response from your cable modem's network, but it could also be a timeout that isn't clearing in your drivers. Do you have the latest drivers loaded for your NIC?

Re your first comment, I'm not sure what "list" you're referring to. Anyway, I think I'm probably sufficiently protected by Norton's Internet Security from internet-based "attacks" - it tells me from time to time that it's detected and stopped an attempted attack.

I don't know about the NIC drivers, and I think I'll need a bit of step-by-step guidance here. For a start, how do I find out what NIC my computer has? If this is of any help, it's an HP Pavilion DV7 laptop, which I bought about 18 months ago.

You can find out in your device manager. Go to control panel, system and security, system, in left pane click device manager. In device manager look for network adapters, expand network adapters...there is should tell you what make you have. What's the make and model of laptop and/or PC, and we can locate the drivers for you?

The list of equipment you have...laptop, cable modem...etc. I'd add a router in between. Norton doesn't do a great job of protecting you, unfortunately, but it does a wonderful job at chewing up resources. There is also the golden rule....never let software do the job of hardware.
Since it is your laptop, and you know the exact model number, go to HP's website, click support and drivers, and put in the model number. It will show you a list of drivers for your system, including the latest NIC drivers.