volume and brightness bar missing

the volume and brightness bar used to pop up on the screen and all of a sudden they don't. They both still work when I use the buttons on my keyboard, but the bar doesn't show up on the screen any more. I've tried to change the quickset notification settings, but that didn't work. It says it's not active, so the settings will change once it's active again?

I have a Dell Inspiron N7010, windows 7. Please help.

If you are running 32-bit then you might try uninstalling and reinstalling Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics (Graphical User Interface version), v.A1377A0
http://support.us.dell.com/support/d...l=en&cs=&s=gen

how do I know if I'm running 32-bit?

Open the Control Panel.- System. (icon view) or System and security - System.(Default view). It will show you in the middle of the window. (System Type)

thanks, i checked and it says 64-bit, so now what?

Did your laptop come with W7 or did you upgrade?

If you upgraded then have you ever seen the volume and brightness bar since the install, because it would be a Dell utility, not native to W7 and I only see a 32bit version listed.

I use 3RVX for my volume but it doesn't do brightness - that is controlled by my monitors built-in OSD.

my laptop came w/ W7

Do you have a restore point you could try? Or maybe the system repair disc (this is not a reinstall - just repair system files)?

just a reinstall disc

You're absolutely sure you computer never made a restore point, some should occur automatically?

If you type "restore point" into the windows orb - search, you should see "restore system files and settings from a restore point"