Solved How to disable the enhanced icons notification bar

[JefeRyback]

Hello all

I'm new on this forum, I hope i'm posting this question in the right place and if my writting kills the Oxford dictionary please forgime me, my english isn't so good.

I'm having trouble with the infamous yellow notification bar that appears on the "Devices and Printers" section of "Control Pannel" on Windows 7. I want it to NOT SHOW anymore, if possible via GPO (on a domain environement). All the tutorials/tips that I've found on internet only allow me to configure the "I don't want to search those icons" option (the same it can be done via configuration windows). For example, the explanation on this link: Q. How can I disable the information bar shown in Drives and Printers that prompts to use enhanced device icons and information? | Systems Management content from Windows IT Pro

But in this case, EVERY TIME that somebody opens the "Devices and Printers" window, this annoying yellow bar appears again asking another time if I want to download those icons. I really don't want it, I don't give a F about this icons and I don't want lusers on my company (some of them even fall in panic when wallpaper changes ) calling me about this "cryptic and frightening message". I just want to find how to say Windows: NO, i don't want you to download this and DO NOT ASK ME AGAIN NEVER EVER.

All help would be very apreciated. Thanks for your attention.

 

[Brink]

Hello Jefe, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Usually you could either select (dot) Yes or select (dot) No and check "Replace generic device icons with enhanced icons" at step 6 in the tutorial below to no longer have the yellow bar.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2803-device-installation-settings.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[JefeRyback]

Hello Brink

Thanks for the tip but unfortunately it didn't work it when i tried before I've posted the message. The problem is that if I uncheck the "Replace generic device icons with enhanced icons", every time I return to the devices & drivers windows the bar appears again asking if i wank those damm icons. I said it that NO before, but it asks again and again...

I understand why M$ wants this bar to be so annoying; the more PC activate it, the more information about our hardware and peripherals they will gather to do their data analytics and market statistics. So I supose that if the option to disable it forever exists (I hope so, but still no luck founding it); for sure it will be tricky, hidden and from regedit directly.

 

[Brink]

Yeah, unfortunately the only way that I know to remove that yellow bar is to "check" the "Replace generic device icons with enhanced icons" box to allow it to download icons.

 

[A Guy]

Forgive me if this is just the manual method to do the same thing the GPO setting you mentioned did.

How to control the Devices and Printers pop-up | MSitPros Blog

A Guy

 

[JefeRyback]

Unfortunately yes, it's the same method (the GPO modify the same registry key). And they are activating the icon update to prevent the bar to show again. What I want is to deactivate this feature and make the bar don't appear asking again to activate it.

I'm beggining to think that's impossible without change .DLL code (something I really don't wanna do cause it's far beyond my capabilities).

Thanks for the help anyway

 

[Slartybart]

Try this: right click on the bar and tell it to never show the bar again!

 

[JefeRyback]

Jurmmmm... This is an option that never appeared to me on any win 7 I've used (and tried to deactivate this bar)

It's something you have see or just guessing?

 

[Slartybart]

Try this: right click on the bar and tell it to never show the bar again!

Jurmmmm... This is an option that never appeared to me on any win 7 I've used (and tried to deactivate this bar)

It's something you have see or just guessing?

It's something I've seen and have done - that msg always bothered me too., so one day I right clicked it and the alternate menu gave me a choice to never see the msg again.

Have you tried right clicking the notification bar? What are the alternate menu choices given to you?

edit: Just thought of something. How do you have Device Installation Settings configured?
Right click on your computer in Devices and Printers,
select Device Installation Settings from the alt menu

See attached to compare to mine.

 

[JefeRyback]

It's something I've seen and have done - that msg always bothered me too., so one day I right clicked it and the alternate menu gave me a choice to never see the msg again.

Right-click or left-click the bar always showed me the same options: one that opens the help to explain what the bar means, one that opens the Device Installation Settings window and another (marked with UAC symbol) that ACTIVATES the searching of enhanced icons (thus, making the bar don't appear again because the option has been activated yet).

But as I said on the first post, I don't want to activate this search. I don't want M$ list the hardware on my company (and made profit with this info), i don't want that trafic on the net (even if it's ridiculous), i don't want those icons changing at random (and usually showing images that don't match) and then I don't want that crapy bar remembering to activate something I don't want to and making some users asking from time to time about "what is that 'error' that appear on my computer".

I don't care a sh** about this crappy windows feature and want to get rid of it but it seems that M$ made it to keep bothering people unless it's activated. I really like Windows 7 a lot (and Windows 8 makes me like 7 a lot more ). But there are a few features that really bother me because they are very dumb and make me lose time, patience or both.

Anyway, thanks all for the help, don't doubt I apreciate it.

Edit: Just thought of something. How do you have Device Installation Settings configured? ... See attached to compare to mine.

Mine is the same unless the last option that i don't check (is that I want, deactivate this option). As you have activated it yet, this crappy bar don't show again on your computer asking to activate it, of course.

 

[Slartybart]

Yeah, I'm not certain of the order. You might have to turn on "replace generic icons..." to turn off the msg bar.

Since the msg bar is already off on my machine, I can't really test turning off the msg bar anymore (another annoying "feature"). I recall finding that once, but the goal was to turn it off, so I forget what I did to make it display again (not important).

Wish I could give you the 1, 2, 3 steps but I didn't write them down 2 years ago. All I can suggest is that you try configuring Device Installation Settings (automatic or include "replace generic icons...") and see how that affects the msg bar alternate menu (right click).

That's all I have, so I'll back out of this thread.

Good Luck... I agree, it is an annoying constant nag.

Bill
.

 

[Shimshom]

I stopped mine (Win7 Ultimate X64) using gpedit Computer Configurations, System, Device Installations, and enabled Prevent Device Metadata Retrieval from Internet. It might be slightly different in your gpedit but give it a go
Regards
Simon

 

[JefeRyback]

First things first, I'm sorry to re-animate such an older thread I made so much time ago.

I used to check this thread for some months until I lost any hope somebody had the solution. Now that I face again the same problem I remembered that thread and come here to found that Shimshon answered it perfectly so much time ago. :shock:

I felt that I must to thank him/her help even after all that time. I just hope this nigromantic arise of this rotten-dead thread doesn't break the forum's rules neither upsets nobody.

After check the Shimshon info I searched the internet for more details and found (here: https://www.stigviewer.com/stig/windows_server_2012_2012_r2_member_server/2014-04-02/finding/V-21964) that, for those who don't wanna use GPO, the register key associated to the policy is:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Device Metadata\PreventDeviceMetadataFromNetwork (DWORD that must have 1 as value)

Cheers

 

[Brink]

Thank you for posting back with your findings.

Here's some information about Device Metadata Retrieval Client if anyone would like to know more about it.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff541449(v=vs.85).aspx