"Offering free computer help, hints, and tips to the Internet populace." Now with over 3,820 tips!

Windows XP Taskbar - Toolbar - Start Menu

Remove the Taskbar Balloon Help

SUMMARY: Prevent the Windows XP Taskbar balloon help from notifying you of events or errors.

Occasionally the Windows XP Taskbar pops up help in the form of small balloons, such as when a network connection is established or disconnected or when the desktop cleanup wizard needs to run. If you find these balloon tips intrusive, you can disable them via a registry patch.

To disable the balloon tip notifications, access Microsoft Knowledge Base article 307729 at the following URL:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?
scid=KB;en-us;307729

Note that while the balloons can be intrusive, if you have automatic updates turned on that require user intervention before downloading or installing updates, removing the balloon tips will cause you to never see these important updates.