G'day GK,
You can get rid of the icons in the "Quick Launch" area by right-clicking an empty part of the Taskbar, left-clicking the "Toolbars" options and removing the appropriate ticks.
Managing some icons in the System Tray might be done in the application itself (eg in Windows NT you used to be able to specify icon or no icon) but this is not common in Win 2K Apps;
Failing that, you might have to do it using a bit of Visual Basic programming. See these links to the MS Knowledge Base.
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q162/6/13.asp
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q149/2/76.asp
http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q177/0/95.ASP
Is it worth it, I ask myself?
Personally, I only have four icons in the Quick Launch area (next to "Start") and I never even notice them, let alone remember to use them. I also have nine in the System Tray that I use all the time to see what the PC is up to and to control some Applications.
Might this be a moment to invoke the old saying "If it ain't broke..."?