Login with username and password (forgot your password?)

Source added to Terminator archive, maybe someone can make it a lot better, (and neater please).

I thought I was doing good... then I'd compare, and I'd be down to .1km different, and you'd be .001km different... very impressive!

Thanks!  As I said, too much free time  

On the flip side, I get to drive all the friends/relatives nuts with challenges as payback for all the "look it's a new virus" emails over the years  

It also didn't help that I missed the first Australia location...

It always helps if you know the general environs of the country, the architecture of the only building and the strip road gave it away for me but apart from that I had to go looking.

I try to keep to a time limit of an hour on these otherwise I'd be going nuts, (I always like to know where I am - it's a caveman thing   )

[VIndicator.exe /debug]

f I am not mistaken there is a 5 second delay before the icon appears once the VPN connects, could that be reduced to say 2 seconds?

The time the icon is displayed is within a second or so of VIndicator receiving the Event Norification, so this might come down to the host machine generating an absolute sh*tload of events for some reason.
I can try and make my Notification hook a bit more discriminatory but can you do VIndicator.exe /debug, do a connection then disconnection, wait 30 seconds, exit VIndicator and send me the log.

NOTE: Remove any password/username but please leave the line they appeared on.

EDIT: I've shortened the interval, (at least I think I have), so don't bother with the debug output.

It would be nice if there was a way for the program to close on VPN disconnect but not essential.

That's easy enough.

If you can get the icons to indicate activity it would be a bonus....

Discovered at 0200 last night...I really should stop taking the netbook to bed

The only thing I am not certain about is the log, it's picking up login details. Not something I would want lying about if there was more than one user on a computer.

Now that's just plain wrong.....your event texts must be different from what I get.  That it's apparently happening on Disconnect is even stranger as the password wasn't in any event I received.

Hmmm......maybe there's a difference when the connection is initiated via CLI.....have to check that but it still seems contrary to MS' MSDN docs unless I misread something, (wouldn't be the first time ).

EDIT: Mea culpa    Was getting wrong line on disconnect, however, password is never reported in disconnection event so I can only think that for some of your VPNs the password is the same as the username, (which I was mistakenly getting).

BTW, how is it you have a CPUScore of 9.9 ?

Maximum is supposed to be 7.9, have you been fudging the figures    

UPDATE up there
Fix: Hopefully reports which connection was disconnected rather than username in the log now
Added: Menu item Quit on Disconnect added, setting is saved to .ini for subsequent starts - obviously the icon needs to be visible to select it
Added: Icon toggles if amount of data Rx/Tx changes, only does this every 500ms - any more often increases CPU load
Added: Tooltip shows data Rx/Tx and rate
Maybe: The event checking has been reduced to 2 seconds - CPU load increases the shorter the interval

About the only changes I'd make now, (barring bugs - that's squashing not adding), is refine the Tx/Rx icon toggling so it only happens after a set amount of data has been transferred and autoscale the data measurement, (ie. kB, MB, etc).

There is something very weird about that registry key: {BA126AD7-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E}
If I search for that in regedit it simply does not appear, if I search for it in a third party program it shows one entry under HKLM and if I tell it to go to the key it opens {BA126AD8-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E} ?

I just did a search for the first group of characters:

[attachthumb=1]

[Generic Code]

Okey dokey, back with an all new dang-fangled program that may or may not work.

VPN Indicator a.k.a. VIndicator

Works different to PPTPchek, instead of polling rasdial every so often it just sits back and waits to be told what's happening - a side benefit is virtually no processor usage, (>2% on my netbook).

Start it by just double-clicking on the icon, from that point it just runs in the background.  Works on x86 or x64.
If a PPTP/L2TP VPN is active an icon will show, on disconnect it gets hidden.

Stop it by running it again or choosing Exit from the icon menu when it's visible.

It creates a log file like so, (vi-yyyymmdd.log, max size of 64kB each):

Formatted for Generic Code with the GeSHI Syntax Highlighter [copy or print]
### VPN Indicator Log ###
 
2013-05-22  16:49:20  (0001)  Program start
2013-05-22  16:49:20  OS Version: WIN_2008R2 Build: 7601 CPUScore: 0
2013-05-22  16:49:21  (0002)  GetState: PPTP-UK
2013-05-22  16:49:44  (0004)  Disconnected: freecloudvpn.com
2013-05-22  16:50:22  (0003)  Connected: PPTP-US
2013-05-22  16:50:37  (0004)  Disconnected: freecloudvpn.com
2013-05-22  16:50:42  (0007)  Program exit

Second line is purely for my debugging purposes, CPUScore is what's reported in the Windows Experience Index, (it shows 0 because WHS2011 doesn't use WEI).

What it does:
1) When first run it checks for other instances of itself, if it finds any it tells it to exit and then exits itself.
2) It gets the current VPN status - this is the only time it calls rasdial.exe, (which I'll try to find a way around).
3) It sets up a Notification Event on the EventLogs and then waits.
4) When an Event is signaled it fetches the data and if it matches the particular source, (RasMan), and EventIDs, (Vista+ = 20267/20268, XP = 20158/20159), it does all the icon-y things.

Because most of the time it spends sitting on its bum I'll look at finding where the network stats are hidden and poll them every 250ms or so, so if they change I can just toggle icons to show activity, (that's the theory anyway).

Haven't tested it on XP, (not really required), but it shouldn't do anything nasty - it'll either indicate something or it won't.

PS.

Formatted for Generic Code with the GeSHI Syntax Highlighter [copy or print]
devcon status "*DEV_001C*" | find /i "disabled" >NUL
if errorlevel goto running
 
rem Enable device
goto alldone
 
:running
rem disable device
 
:alldone

UPDATE: v0.3.0.20
Fix: Hopefully reports which connection was disconnected rather than username in the log now
Added: Menu item Quit on Disconnection added, setting is saved to .ini for subsequent starts - obviously the icon needs to be visible to select it
Added: Icon toggles if amount of data Rx/Tx changes, only does this every 500ms - any more often increases CPU load
Added: Tooltip shows data Rx/Tx and rate
Maybe: The event checking has been reduced to 2 seconds - CPU load increases the shorter the interval

Here's one, 3 and 5 gave me the most trouble with 5 being a semi-accurate guess, (only 678km away).

Number 4 borders on the DUH! 

Just for interests sake on that last puzzle, don't look if you haven't done it:

so... have you like been everywhere

Far from it but I kind of look at it the same way as the old TV program Through The Keyhole^w.

The clues are all there, (one of them I had to travel a fair few kilometers down the virtual road to get one), but it's asking the right questions, (in a search engine in this case), that'll get you a precise location.

It says to "figure out where you are" and I'm sitting in front of the best tool for the job, I'm pretty sure they expect me to use it.  I just look at it as an exercise in logic.

If I create a shortcut to any PPTP/L2TP VPN, in 'properties' they all show the same 'target':
{BA126AD7-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E}
I cannot find that anywhere, as a device ID, a file name, or a registry key, so what is it?

It's a CLSID, (Class Identifier), entry in the registry, (look under HKCR\CLSID), for Dial-up Connection Class, ie. the PPTP/L2TP connections are in the same class as dial-up modem connections.

In Network Connections under 'Device Name' all PPTP/L2TP VPN's show 'WAN Miniport'.
Is there a way to 'trigger' from that instead of rasdial?

I looked at that, as well as Network Performance data for the network but couldn't seem to separate out the VPN stuff from normal LAN connection traffic.

However, I have a new program I'm playing with that seems like it might work OK - it'll run all the time and just appear when a VPN connection is active, then hide again when it isn't.

Unfortunately, now my Win8 netbook doesn't want to make VPN connections, so the only things I'll have to test it against are WHS2011 and XP x86, (even though it won't be used on XP, it should still work).

2) link

[attach=1]

Here's a new challenge -- beat my first try!

[attach=2]

I can see I'm going to have to ignore this thread    

Dammit!!

Couldn't resist...

Challenge URL

[attach=3]

This one wasn't too bad, got within 200 meters on all of them I think....definitely have too much free time.

There's no better bushy-tailed tree rat than a dead bushy-tailed tree rat.

Yes there is 

[Generic Code]

I tried it with CleanTray and PPTPchek shut down every time. I then tried it with Terminator and it hung, went back to CleanTray and it was hanging with that as well.

OK, now that's just strange, I'll go back to seeing if I can find another way to check for PPTP/L2TP connections.

In the meantime, your batch file could do with a little rearrangement, (didn't really take notice before  ).  By rights you should be closing down in the opposite order to the setting up, so:

Formatted for Generic Code with the GeSHI Syntax Highlighter [copy or print]
netsh interface show interface "Router Connection" | find /i "disabled" >NUL
if errorlevel 1 goto running
 
rem Turning Internet items ON
start /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\D4" D4.exe
start /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\network-activity-indicator" NetworkIndicator.exe
start /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\Sandboxie" SbieCtrl.exe
start /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\PeerBlock" peerblock.exe
 
netsh interface set interface "Router Connection" ENABLED
 
goto alldone
 
:running
rem Internet is ON, turn it all OFF now
 
rasdial /disconnect
netsh interface set interface "OpenVPN Adapter" DISABLED
netsh interface set interface "Router Connection" DISABLED
 
terminator.exe /b peerblock.exe
terminator.exe /c SbieCtrl.exe
terminator.exe /m NetworkIndicator.exe
terminator.exe /m D4.exe
 
:alldone

Also, if Terminator works there shouldn't be a need for CleanTray to be run, soooo, having the VPN disconnection first might be enough of a delay such that by the time Terminator runs, PPTPchek has already exited because the VPN no longer exists.

Anyways, back the PPTPchek drawing board...

There must be some strange timing issues on your computer, (which don't seem to appear on any of mine), for /m not to work with D4 and NAI occasionally.

I actually tried setting them all to /m before I tried /k but only the /k worked properly.

/m won't work on PeerBlock/SandBoxie because they won't allow other programs to close them, (security measure I presume), therefore it's context menu or just kill them.

No, it was purely cosmetic so that you do not actually see the icon moving.

Yes...well, given your systems fussiness towards things that are too fast....it's set at the second fastest setting.  At the fastest, the mouse gets teleported to the position - exactly what CleanTray does but your system didn't like that.

Oh, forgot, can you try Terminator.exe /c on PeerBlock/SandBoxie again - added a couple of small, (5ms or so), delays into the mix.

[terminator.exe /k]

Try terminator.exe /k instead.

12 attempts, worked every time.

There must be some strange timing issues on your computer, (which don't seem to appear on any of mine), for /m not to work with D4 and NAI occasionally.

Question 1) Is it possible to hide the cursor from showing over the icons?

The cursor is moved over the icon so Windows can remove it, then it gets put back in it's original position, (at least I think I put that part in = I'll check when I wake up).

EDIT: Yep, it's in there - the mouse moves back to wherever it started before the program was invoked.

Are you saying that the mouse stays over the tray icon position after it's already killed the program?

If so, this might be the cause of the inconsistent results with CleanTray/Terminator - something eating mouse movements or the system being abnormally slow to respond, (although I can't think of much that's slower than my Win8Pro Atom N270 netbook with a 4200RPM HDD   ).

Question 2) Is it possible to create Terminator2 that leaves out NAI (not needed on XP)?

Um, can't you just not have that line in your batch file?

Question 3) When you've answered question 1 any chance of a copy of the code so that I can see if I can translate it into AHK?

Can't wait to see that  When I've cleaned up the code a bit.

Question 4) I can edit the 2 AHK programs I put together with Resource Hacker, that doesn't work with Terminator (with the exception of the icons), would that be true of all AutoIt programs?

I have no idea, Terminator was compiled as a CLI program, wasn't designed to be run from the Windows interface.

There's an update to CleanTray and Terminator so try:

CleanTray.exe /pilgrim

and

Terminator.exe /m d4.exe
Terminator.exe /m networkindicator.exe

or

Terminator.exe /b <process>

[any]

I am trying to avoid adding any extra software to my Netbook and curbing a previously held bad habit at the same time.

If you want to completely avoid running any extra software, your only option is to remap the keyboard, (as IainB has said), using remapkey or some other program, (I've used KeyTweak for years - attached below).

AFAIK, the Fn key on netbook keyboards, (my Aspire One in equivalent to your NC10), is hardware coded/wired within the keyboard - there's no way to get at it short of rewriting the keyboard BIOS or rewiring the keyboard.

[terminator.exe /k]

Try terminator.exe /k instead.

[Generic Code]

OK, at this point you should de-fiddle your system because those things don't appear unless the mouse has been over the target icon for at least 400ms by default, so this implies you've dropped the delay to almost, (if not), 0.

I just tried manually moving the cursor over the USB SR icon and a 400ms delay seems about right.

Well, in that case I'm stumped as to why you'd be getting the tooltips appearing so quick, I've got Zentimo running and it's menu doesn't appear unless the mouse is stationary over the icon, (or moving very slowly - far slower than CleanTray moves it).

At this point because I can't replicate exactly what you're seeing on any of my machines, (XP x86, Win7 x64, Win8 x86, WHS2011 x64), I'll have to say there's not much more I can do with CleanTray unless someone else can provide a bit more insight.

Looking at the basic script I started from the only figure that I can see that could relate to a delay is the 200?

That's a question for our AHK specialists  

I'll give the new version of Terminator a run and let you know.

Assuming it might work:

Formatted for Generic Code with the GeSHI Syntax Highlighter [copy or print]
netsh interface show interface "Router Connection" | find /i "disabled" >NUL
if errorlevel 1 goto running
 
rem Turning Internet items ON
start /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\D4" D4.exe
start /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\Sandboxie" SbieCtrl.exe
start /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\PeerBlock" peerblock.exe
start /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\network-activity-indicator" NetworkIndicator.exe
 
netsh interface set interface "Router Connection" ENABLED
 
goto alldone
 
:running
rem Internet is ON, turn it all OFF now
terminator.exe /c peerblock.exe
terminator.exe /c SbieCtrl.exe
terminator.exe /m D4.exe
 
netsh interface set interface "Router Connection" DISABLED
 
netsh interface set interface "OpenVPN Adapter" DISABLED
 
rasdial /disconnect
 
terminator.exe /m NetworkIndicator.exe
 
:alldone

Just out of curiosity where do you put the exe, in the same folder as the batch file, System32?

Anywhere in a path or call it with the full path to it, if it was me I'd try to keep all "foreign" files out of System32 and just put it in the same directory as the batch files, (which you might need to add to the system path).

[Addendum:]

Something I noticed yesterday which has probably been going on all the time is that my Windows 7 PC and my Netbook (XP) both have programs that produce pop-ups when you hold the cursor over the tray icons, on 7 it is USB Safely Remove, on XP it is Battery Monitor, when I run any of the tray cleaning programs the pop-ups appear.

Although I know it's not you usual program of choice I am wondering if it is possible to prevent the pop-ups appearing when using the AHK script?

OK, at this point you should de-fiddle your system because those things don't appear unless the mouse has been over the target icon for at least 400ms by default, so this implies you've dropped the delay to almost, (if not), 0.

I've set mine to 30ms and they don't appear, CleanTray moves the mouse at the fastest speed AutoIt can which takes less than 10ms to traverse an area the width of your SysTray three times.  With the /debug switch it takes ~1.5 seconds to do it.

Add to the fact that to remove 4 icons it will do a total of 5 cycles, that's 15 runs in total over that area in less than a second.

Your icons are about 24x24 pixels by the looks, (tray height of 28), a total of about 26 icons: 630 pixels in ~3ms / 26 = ~0.11ms per icon.

Even with the /debug switch it's ~20ms per icon.

I set my taskbar the same, (as close as possible), a single row at the bottom with about 28 notification icons, and 4-6 orphaned at the left - in every case CleanTray worked no matter where the taskbar was located, (top, bottom, left, right), or whether it's hidden or not, (provided the icon had no background process).

I am attaching the tray cleaning program .....

Doesn't do a thing here, exits immediately.

Addendum: Since you said Terminator worked for both D4 and NAI I've been playing with it a bit more and you can try this version out.

Terminator: Terminate a program that has a SysTray icon

Terminate.exe [/mess] [/context [/test]] [/kill] [/blitz] [/list] <process>
Where: /mess    - sends a WM_CLOSE message to programs window
           /context - opens the programs SysTray context menu and chooses
                          the last entry (usually Exit/Quit)
           /kill       - kill the process and then remove the SysTray
                          icon
           /blitz     - tries everything
           /list       - list processes with SysTray icons
           /test      - opens the icon context menu and selects the
                          last item but doesn't activate it
                          (only valid with /context switch)

The switches can be abbreviated to the first character, ie. /l, /t, /m, /c, /k

If you put multiple methods on the command line it'll only do one in this order: message, context menu and finally kill.

eg. Terminator.exe /kill /context peerblock.exe will use the context menu to try and close peerblock.exe

NOTES:

• Only works with programs that have a SysTray icon
• Only works with programs that don't open a modal requester, (currently), ie. "Are you sure?"
• Not sure if it will work for the hidden icon area in Vista+

So in your case you could try:

terminator.exe /m d4.exe
terminator.exe /m networkindicator.exe
terminator.exe /c peerblock.exe
terminator.exe /c sbiectrl.exe

It doesn't do anything that's OS unfriendly, (/k does the same thing as taskkill), tested it here on Win7 on various tray dwelling programs, (but only for D4, NAI and PeerBlock in your specific case), and it seemed to work OK - system didn't crash, all my drives still seem to be full of junk.

I'm sure one of the other programmers here could come up with something a lot nicer  

UPDATE:

• Tries sending WM_CLOSE 5 times at 5ms intervals, (the Pilgrim factor)
• Added /blitz option

Source added to archive 20130523

[netscan.exe /hide /auto:"c:\desktop\result.csv"]

SoftPerfect Network Scanner

C:\> netscan.exe /hide /auto:"c:\desktop\result.csv"

As it says right in the docs

Just add it as a scheduled task to Windows.

[CleanTray /once]

I just possibly realised why both the AHK and my efforts weren't quite there.

When the mouse runs over the icons Windows removes them if there's no underlying process, it then updates the following icon positions even though the display might not as yet changed.  So even though the mouse appears to run over a position where an icon is, it's not really in that position - it's been moved.

Hey, it's a theory...it explains why both the AHK script and CleanTray need to run multiple times if they're just moving the mouse around.

It also only seems to happen if the icons are situated next to each other, if they are separated by other non-orphaned icons then the slight delay as the cursor travels over them appears to be enough to allow the Notification Area to "settle" into it's new state after an icon removal.

So it all comes down to a matter of timing....

You can test this by doing CleanTray /once and CleanTray /debug /once, the /debug now adds a slight delay so you can watch the mouse move, (so I could check the movement borders), and the /once means it only runs through the cycle once.

With /debug there's enough of a delay for everything to update so that everything completes in a single cycle, (at least on my Phenom x6).

New version up there, default is it moves the mouse at fastest speed and multiple times if the number of icons reduces between runs.

Could you give /m switch a try as no matter how many times I used it, it didn't lose icon positions and it's a lot faster if there's multiple icons to remove.

Just as a matter of interest, I couldn't get the AHK script to work at all, (however it did generate some orphaned icons for me to nuke since I had to kill their tasks  ).

Now I'll go back to playing with Terminator since avoiding the problem in the first place is always a better solution

Where, and how, do I get the debug results?

I tried it in the cmd window and it wasn't recognised.

More and more I start to wonder about your system 

You are using cleantray 0.1.0.0, (Properties on the executable) ?

And if so, you should get something like:

[attachthumb=1]

What I did get was a lot of context menus left open including one for the next icon in line that is running all the time and one for the taskbar itself?

Probably need to fine tune it's positioning.

CleanTray.exe - Only removes the icon furthest to the left.

cleantray /debug and attach the results thanks.

It appears in C:\Windows\SysWOW64 in netcenter.dll and netshell.dll but when you go to view it in iconsext it changes.

eg.

[attach=1]

[attach=2]

Ah, it's a multi-image icon, just extract it and step through the various images within it.

[AutoIt]

"Arnie" never moved anything.  

It doesn't "move" anything, all it does is send a WM_CLOSE message to the process, (which worked 100% of the time for D4 here), and if that failed it went to the tray icon, opened it's menu and chose the last item, (normally Exit/Quit - that had a ~95% success rate on the other two programs).  ie. You use it to end the processes instead of taskkill.

I asked you before about how the various scripts were different, does the AHK script in reply 1 translate into AutoIt or is that what you have been trying?

Tested on XP x86, Win7 x64 and Win8 x86, (medium, high and low spec hardware respectively).

CLI use only.

CleanTray: Clears orphaned icons from Notification Area

CleanTray.exe [/debug] [/once] [/timer] [/mensa] [/nuke]
Where: /debug - outputs debug information to the console
           /once  - only runs over the Notification Area once (only valid for default method)
           /timer - displays time taken at the end
           /mensa - only moves mouse to orphaned icons
           /nuke  - blitzes the tray using system calls (icon positions will be lost)
           /pilgrim - adds a 1ms delay between mouse movements

Default method is to traverse the tray using the mouse.

The default method is the slowest if there is more than one icon to remove and /mensa has priority over /nuke if you happen to enter both on the command line.

Formatted for AutoIt with the GeSHI Syntax Highlighter [copy or print]
#NoTrayIcon
#region ;**** Directives created by AutoIt3Wrapper_GUI ****
#AutoIt3Wrapper_UseUpx=n
#AutoIt3Wrapper_Change2CUI=y
#AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Fileversion=0.2.0.20
#AutoIt3Wrapper_Res_Fileversion_AutoIncrement=y
#endregion ;**** Directives created by AutoIt3Wrapper_GUI ****
 
#include <Array.au3>
#include <_SysTray.au3>
#include <_OsVersionInfo.au3>
 
Global $debug = False, $once = False, $timer = False, $method = 0, $pilgrim = False
 
If $CmdLine[0] > 0 Then
	For $i = 1 To $CmdLine[0]
		Switch StringLower(StringStripWS($CmdLine[$i], 8))
			Case "/debug", "/d"
				$debug = True
			Case "/once", "/o"
				$once = True
			Case "/timer", "/t"
				$timer = True
			Case "/mensa", "/m"
				$method = 1
			Case "/nuke", "/n"
				If $method <> 1 Then $method = 2
			Case "/pilgrim", "/p"
				$pilgrim = True
			Case Else
				_DisplayUsage()
				Exit
		EndSwitch
	Next
EndIf
 
Global $posTray = WinGetPos(_FindTrayToolbarWindow()) ; find the tray
If $method <> 2 Then
	$oldPos = MouseGetPos() ; save mouse position
	MouseMove($posTray[0], $posTray[1], 0) ; move mouse to tray
	WinWait("[CLASS:Shell_TrayWnd]", "", 5) ; wait for the tray to open if hidden
EndIf
 
If $debug Then
	ConsoleWrite("Desktop Width: " & @DesktopWidth & @CRLF & "Desktop Height: " & @DesktopHeight & @CRLF)
	ConsoleWrite("Notification area dimensions: " & _ArrayToString($posTray, ",") & @CRLF)
	$delay = 1
Else
	$delay = 0
EndIf
 
If $timer Then $start = TimerInit()
Switch $method
	Case 0
		$count = 1
		$ret = 0
		$j = 0
		While $count <> $ret
			$j += 1
			$count = _SysTrayIconCount()
			$ret = _SeeYouNextYear()
			If $once Then ExitLoop
		WEnd
	Case 1
		_TharHeIsGetIm()
	Case 2
		_NukeEmAll()
	Case Else
EndSwitch
If $timer Then ConsoleWrite("Time: " & Round(TimerDiff($start) / 1000, 2) & " seconds")
If $method <> 2 Then MouseMove($oldPos[0], $oldPos[1], 0) ; move mouse back where it came from
Exit
 
Func _DisplayUsage()
	Local $data = "CleanTray: Clears orphaned icons from Notification Area" & @CRLF & @CRLF & _
			"CleanTray.exe [/debug] [/once] [/timer] [/mensa] [/nuke]" & @CRLF & _
			"Where: /debug - outputs debug information to the console" & @CRLF & _
			"       /once  - only runs over the Notification Area once" & @CRLF & _
			"                (only valid for default method)" & @CRLF & _
			"       /timer - displays time taken at the end" & @CRLF & _
			"       /mensa - only moves mouse to orphaned icons" & @CRLF & _
			"       /nuke  - blitzes the tray using system calls" & @CRLF & _
			"                (icon positions will be lost)" & @CRLF & _
			"Default method is to traverse the tray using the mouse." & @CRLF
	ConsoleWrite($data)
EndFunc   ;==>_DisplayUsage
 
Func _SeeYouNextYear()
	If $posTray[0] >= @DesktopWidth Then $posTray[0] = @DesktopWidth - $posTray[2]
	If $posTray[1] >= @DesktopHeight Then $posTray[1] = @DesktopHeight - $posTray[3]
	If $posTray[0] < 0 Then $posTray[0] = 0
	If $posTray[1] < 0 Then $posTray[1] = 0
	Local $y = $posTray[1]
	While $y < $posTray[3] + $posTray[1]
		Local $x = $posTray[0]
		While $x < $posTray[2] + $posTray[0]
			MouseMove($x, $y, $delay)
			If $pilgrim Then Sleep(1)
			If $debug Then ConsoleWrite($x & ',' & $y & @CRLF)
			$x += 12
		WEnd
		$y += 12
	WEnd
	Return _SysTrayIconCount()
EndFunc   ;==>_SeeYouNextYear
 
Func _TharHeIsGetIm()
	$flag = False
	Local $count = _SysTrayIconCount() ; get number of icons in tray
	For $i = $count - 1 To 0 Step -1 ; step backwards through the list
		Local $handle = _SysTrayIconHandle($i) ; get handle of the icon
		Local $pid = WinGetProcess($handle) ; get process ID for ithe handle
		If $pid = -1 Then ; if no process then
			Local $iPos = _SysTrayIconPos($i) ; get icon position
			MouseMove($iPos[0], $iPos[1], $delay) ; move mouse there
			If $debug Then ConsoleWrite($iPos[0] & ',' & $iPos[1] & @CRLF)
			If _SysTrayIconCount() < $count Then ; if number of icons has reduced, set flag and exit for/next loop
				$flag = True
				ExitLoop
			EndIf
		EndIf
	Next
	If $flag Then _TharHeIsGetIm() ; if flag set call func again (a little pseudo-recursion)
	MouseMove($oldPos[0], $oldPos[1], 0) ; move mouse back where it came from
EndFunc   ;==>_TharHeIsGetIm
 
Func _NukeEmAll()
	$count = _SysTrayIconCount()
	For $i = $count - 1 To 0 Step -1
		$handle = _SysTrayIconHandle($i)
		$pid = WinGetProcess($handle)
		If $pid = -1 Then _SysTrayIconRemove($i)
	Next
 
	If _OsVersionTest($VER_GREATER_EQUAL, 6, 1) Then
		$countwin7 = _SysTrayIconCount(2)
		For $i = $countwin7 - 1 To 0 Step -1
			$handle = _SysTrayIconHandle($i, 2)
			$pid = WinGetProcess($handle)
			If $pid = -1 Then _SysTrayIconRemove($i, 2)
		Next
	EndIf
EndFunc   ;==>_NukeEmAll

Or perhaps right-click on the icon and select Exit? 

In spite of my fast approaching senility that was the first thing I looked at.   No context menu on the icon when this happens!
I also tried a couple of the options we have come up with for cleaning the tray, nothing worked so it would seem the icon is not orphaned.

Only thing I can think of is you happening to use rasdial, (to disconnect), at the same instant PPTPchek wants to use it.  I'll put a simple check in to delay PPTPchek if the radial.exe process exists, I've also changed the delay to 2 seconds.

Give it a try and let me know, I'm still looking at another way to get PPTP VPN status that isn't so "hacky".

I have used these connections for several years without a problem and nothing in my set up has been changed.
If the router is passing other PPTP connections it can't be that and the same applies to the firewall and AV.

Can you think of anything I've missed?

Sorry, can't help you as I rarely use VPNs - closest I get is over a SSH tunnel to my VPS.
No PPTP VPN will work on my Win7 machine currently, (time to reinstall), but a SSH tunnel is damn near bulletproof.

That's why my testing is only on my WHS machine atm.