I’m using a PC laptop with Windows 7. I’m on my home wifi. In the system tray at the bottom right of the screen, I normally see the usual stair-step bars when I’m connected to the internet.
Today I’m seeing thisinstead. Sorry it’s so tiny, but this is a screen capture. I’m am indeed connected to the internet as evidenced by my posting this message. When I manually turn off the wifi connection using the slider on the side of the laptop, this symbol does not change. When I open “Network and Sharing Center,” it shows that I am connected.
What is this symbol and why is there a red “X” on it?
ETA: Did a google image search and didn’t get anything informative.
Usually if you hover over the icon you will get some description. I have the same icon without the X and it says:
global.corp.(redacted) Internet access
But I AM connected, right this second. I’m posting, therefore I am connected
I always use an external mouse but this symbol only appeared in the last couple of days.
I believe you are the closest. I believe this icon is related to connectivity, because when I hover over it, I get the name of my wifi modem and the words “Internet Access.” (I don’t get a message about the mouse.)
The thing is, I have NEVER connected over a wired connection. Why would I get the the stair-step signal strength indicator since forever and then in the last couple of days get this icon?
Well, you are NOT connected to the internet by a wired network. You’re connected by wifi, which has a different icon. It’s possible that this was always visible in the popup systray, but something recently happened to put it in the “always show” or “show only notifications” state.
Try clicking on the little up triangle at the left of systray (at least, that’s where it is for me on Win7) and hit Customize. Look for the icon, and set it “hide”.
Also look for the wifi icon that’s missing, and set it to the right state (probably “always show”).
Try rebooting. Possibly it’s a bug with the software that controls the network status display. But still, check your systray icon settings; who knows, something might jump out.
I shut down the laptop after my last few posts and took it elsewhere to work, but when I got there, they didn’t need me, so I came back home. I am now at home where I originally posted. When I booted up, the strange icon with the X is gone and the usual stair-step signal strength icon is back.
I did look at all of the “Notification Area Icons” and the strange one is not there.
So, first off, if your WAN (wireless network connection) is working fine this symbol is nothing to worry about. However, if you’re still curious, here are some possible ideas:
Have you recently connected an ethernet (aka network) cable to your laptop? There could be a device at the far end that looks (to the computer) like a internet connection, and it’s complaining that the connection is broken. Follow the first step of all troubleshooting: list everything that changed (by you, somebody else, or by an application) shortly before this behavior started appearing, even if they don’t seem relevant (something you normally do without problem could be affected/changed by it).
*I found this result on the second page amidst a bunch of other useless results (I skimmed the actual contents of each link, just in case) , so don’t feel bad for missing it.
My computer is a virgin where ethernet cables are concerned. (I never let her go to bars where those types hang out.) Seriously, I’ve only ever used wireless wifi with this computer.
Also, no one ever touches this computer except me. The only things I change are the microsoft updates, and yeah, after an update some things seem to change.
You wish. We all wished it was a joke…before the rise of the machines…our only hope was a man named John Conner…because nobody else believed, his mother taught him…
A storm is coming…
IT guy here - can confirm that this icon is for the wired LAN connection. The red x, as others have stated, means that there is no cable connected. It’s nothing to worry about unless you have an ethernet cable attached and are still seeing it. If you can still connect over wifi, I wouldn’t be concerned about it. As another poster upthread mentioned, you can hide the icon by clicking the upward triangle near the icon (to the left) and selecting hide notifications.
