Hidden icon on taskbar

I just did a format and fresh install of XP Pro. I checked the box to allow inactive icons to be hidden. it worked for a while but now the inactive icons are not being hidden regardless of whether the box is checked. I'm not sure what happened.

Any suggestions? I hate having 12 icons on the bar.

 

1) make sure you dont have all 12 set on never hide.


2) why would you possibly need 12 applications running on boot?....I suggest turning off most of them in msconfig and running them from the start menu when you need them.

 

They are set to "hide when inactive"

Norton (3), Messengers (2), Mailwasher, Ad-aware, etc. Stuff I use often that loads on boot. Never was a problem before and it worked fine until earlier tonight.

 

Doesn't XP have a lock task bar feature, if it's locked, it may be stopping the hide inactive feature?