Windows - Tray Notification - Reset Tooltip Text

What the tray tooltip reset Worklet does

This Automox Worklet™ resets the Automox Agent tray icon tooltip text on Windows endpoints back to the default value of "Automox". The tooltip is the small label that appears when a user hovers over the Automox Agent icon in the system tray, and many fleets customize it during onboarding, mergers, or rebranding rollouts. When that custom label drifts from the current organizational standard, this Worklet reverts the endpoint to the shipped default in a single run.

The Worklet drives the agent's own command-line surface rather than editing the tray UI directly. It locates amagent.exe under C:\Program Files (x86)\Automox\ (falling back to C:\Program Files\Automox\ on 64-bit installs), invokes the notifications set_tray_tooltip subcommand with --text "Automox", and waits on the agent process exit code before declaring success. The agent itself is responsible for repainting the tray icon, so there is no Stop-Service amagent or Restart-Service call required and no end user logoff.

After a successful reset, the Worklet opens C:\Program Files (x86)\Automox\tray_branding_text_state.csv and removes the tooltipText row so the agent does not re-apply the old custom value on its next branding refresh. If that row was the only entry in the file, the file itself is deleted; if other branding state keys remain (for example, balloon text), they are preserved untouched.

Why restore the default tray tooltip

Inconsistent tray tooltips look cosmetic, but they hit the helpdesk first. When one laptop reads "Patch Management," another reads a former parent company name, and a third still says "Automox," end users stop recognizing legitimate agent notifications and start reporting the icon as suspicious software. Support tickets get triaged against the wrong product, security awareness training loses a recognizable trust signal, and an audit finding about brand integrity becomes plausible. Resetting to the shipped default removes the ambiguity in seconds without disturbing patching, scheduling, or any other agent function.

Tray tooltip drift is one of those things that sits invisibly on dozens of endpoints for months. A custom string set during a brief pilot rollout lingers because the rollback step was never written, a help-desk technician set the value during a one-off support session and forgot to revert it, an acquisition brought in laptops with another organization's tooltip text already in place. The Worklet reads the agent's TrayTooltip registry value on every cycle, calls amagent.exe notifications reset_tooltip when the value is not the default Automox label, and prunes tray_branding_text_state.csv so the reset survives the next agent restart.

How the tooltip reset works

1. Evaluation phase: The script reads the installed Automox Agent version from HKLM:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* by filtering for DisplayName equal to "Automox Agent" and comparing DisplayVersion against the required minimum of 2.5.0. Endpoints on an older agent log the detected version and exit 0 (compliant, no remediation). This Worklet is designed for on-demand FixNow execution, so the evaluation phase always exits 0; switching it to scheduled enforcement is a one-line change to Exit 2 in evaluation.ps1.

2. Remediation phase: The script re-verifies the agent version, locates amagent.exe under C:\Program Files (x86)\Automox\ or C:\Program Files\Automox\, and runs amagent.exe notifications set_tray_tooltip --text "Automox". On exit code 0, it imports tray_branding_text_state.csv, filters out any row whose Key equals tooltipText, and writes the trimmed file back via Export-Csv -NoTypeInformation -Force. If the filtered set is empty, the CSV is removed with Remove-Item. The Worklet exits 0 on success and 2 on failure, with the failing branch (missing executable, non-zero amagent exit, or version mismatch) written to stderr for the Automox activity log.

Tray tooltip reset requirements

• Windows 10, Windows 11, or Windows Server 2016 and later, on either workstation or server SKUs

• Automox Agent version 2.5.0 or higher, verified against HKLM:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* DisplayVersion

• amagent.exe present in C:\Program Files (x86)\Automox\ (32-bit install path) or C:\Program Files\Automox\ (64-bit install path); the Worklet probes both

• PowerShell 5.1 or later in the Automox agent execution context (SYSTEM); no interactive logon required

• Write access to tray_branding_text_state.csv under the Automox program directory (granted to the default agent context)

• Best executed through FixNow on individual endpoints or via the endpoint page; scheduled policy execution is supported once evaluation.ps1 is switched from Exit 0 to Exit 2

Expected tray icon state after reset

After a successful run, hovering over the Automox icon in the system tray displays "Automox" instead of any prior custom string. The tooltipText row is gone from C:\Program Files (x86)\Automox\tray_branding_text_state.csv, and if no other branding keys remain, the CSV file itself has been removed. The agent does not need a Stop-Service amagent or Restart-Service amagent cycle for the change to apply; amagent.exe repaints the tray label on the next icon redraw.

Endpoints that fail the version gate or are missing amagent.exe are skipped with a logged reason and do not change state. To validate at scale, query a small pilot group with a one-liner such as Get-Content "C:\Program Files (x86)\Automox\tray_branding_text_state.csv" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue and confirm the tooltipText row is absent. Cross-check the Automox console activity log for exit code 0 on the policy run, then expand the policy to the rest of the fleet. The reset is non-destructive to all other agent functions: patching cadence, FixNow targeting, device groups, and any other tray branding keys are untouched.