This has happened to me. I made sure it was active, I still didn't see it in my systray. So, I tried to hotsync and there is was.
Now one thing you want to check. With the Hotsync is the systray, right click on the systray icon. Go to Setup and click on it to open it up. When the setup is open, go to the General tab, make sure the "Always available (put in Startup folder)" is clicked. Click on Apply, and then OK.
There are times that you may have restart your hotsync application. Nailing down when this happens may be difficult to pinpoint. Sometimes it could happen if the hotsync process was interrupted. I would not be alarmed if you had to do this sometimes. Just follow the steps I outlined here.
If you run into a constant problem with your hotsync, you could uninstall your palm desktop software, restart your computer, and reinstall it. Follow the instructions. This could be one resolution.
Carol Casey