Taskbar disappears, won't come back without reboot

AstaLaVista · May 1, 2009

I click on my login, type in my password, wait a bit, get on the desktop, Everest now asks me to confirm startup (it didn't used to ask me that since I have it on a scheduler task), after that, I get a little glimpse of the taskbar and all of a sudden, it dissapears from the screen.

I have to do a hard reboot for it to come back. This happens sporadically (sp?) but it is starting to be worry me and I have no idea what it can be. This has started occurring more and more and started a couple of months ago.

Drivers are all up to date (Beginning of April. I usually check once a month).

Latest Installs... Left 4 Dead (Game)

Have found a few work-arounds on Goggle that I will try tonight when I get home but I wanted to see if others are suffering from this particular problem as the ones I found on Google are similar but not the same as mine.

kavita · May 1, 2009

Hi astalavista, did you try disabling all startup items and services in msconfig to diagnose this problem?

Jerin · May 1, 2009

Hi AstaLaVista,
Also try to go to safe mode and then check if the same occurs there ?
This happen due to some service that loads in the system because you said that you can see the Taskbar for few seconds in the initial stage of the Boot ???

AstaLaVista · May 2, 2009

kavita said:
Hi astalavista, did you try disabling all startup items and services in msconfig to diagnose this problem?

Well no, I have not due to the fact that this is an intermitent problem and not an every day occurance, hence, the problem of associating a virus or application to it.

Jerin said:
Hi AstaLaVista,
Also try to go to safe mode and then check if the same occurs there ?
This happen due to some service that loads in the system because you said that you can see the Taskbar for few seconds in the initial stage of the Boot ???

Tried it on Safe mode and the taskbar was there, but then again, as I explained before, since this is an intermitent problem I don't know what to think.

I have also noticed that the fonts on my browser and/or everything else I open has changed to a bolder type font. I know for a fact I have not done that since I wouldn't even know how or where to do it... I suspect a virus and I am running Avast as I type this.

Only annoying thing is that it won't let me schedule a boot scan like I used to do in XP, perhaps is not compatible with x64?

kavita · May 3, 2009

Yes the boot scan feature is not available in 64 bit. i suspect a virus too. did you find anything? did you try system restore?

AstaLaVista · May 3, 2009

Avast didn't find the culprit even after I used it on Safe Mode. After that I tried Malaware bytes and it found something in the registry. I know I should have been more patient and write down the path but I was to eager to delete the pesky worm so I just recalled it was named something along the lines of "display properties".

After deletion I proceed to restart the pc, the taskbar is there, but then again, this is an intermitent issue so I won't know if I am out of the woods just yet. I am still experiencing the BOLD FONTS in the apps which tells me that there is something else there... I just don't know what to do.

This is usually happening either when I turn the pc on from a cold start and/or when I wake it up from sleep.

I sure hope windows 7 will not be as quirky as vista. I could go back to XP but that would mean loosing out on 8 GBs of Ram and having to do everything again so I will stick it out for a while longer... I just don't know what else to run.

Not being very knowleageble in Vista, can I run a Recovery from boot w/o fear of loosing everything? I wouldn't mind having to install windows updates but I would hate having to loose all my data, pictures and e-mails.

I know I can always make a back-up of all that (and I will) but still... I always seem to loose backing something that I later regret.

H2SO4 · May 3, 2009

AstaLaVista said:
After deletion I proceed to restart the pc, the taskbar is there, but then again, this is an intermitent issue so I won't know if I am out of the woods just yet. I am still experiencing the BOLD FONTS in the apps which tells me that there is something else there... I just don't know what to do.

This is usually happening either when I turn the pc on from a cold start and/or when I wake it up from sleep.

One possible explanation for the lack-of-taskbar is that the process which "paints" the taskbar is itself dead 'n' gone - Explorer.exe. When this happens the next time, you might want to bring up the Task Manager (ctrl-shift-esc) and check the list of processes for Explorer.exe. If it's not there, it has presumably crashed and that's why your taskbar is missing. You can restart Explorer (or any other process) from TM's File|Run... menu.

Afterwards, you might want to troubleshoot the reasons for the crash (it'll be an add-on most likely), but let's cross that bridge when we get to it.

kavita · May 4, 2009

Try a scan from The home of Spybot-S&D! or get a system check using ESET SysInspector

AstaLaVista · May 4, 2009

H2SO4 said:
AstaLaVista said:

After deletion I proceed to restart the pc, the taskbar is there, but then again, this is an intermitent issue so I won't know if I am out of the woods just yet. I am still experiencing the BOLD FONTS in the apps which tells me that there is something else there... I just don't know what to do.

This is usually happening either when I turn the pc on from a cold start and/or when I wake it up from sleep.

Click to expand...

One possible explanation for the lack-of-taskbar is that the process which "paints" the taskbar is itself dead 'n' gone - Explorer.exe. When this happens the next time, you might want to bring up the Task Manager (ctrl-shift-esc) and check the list of processes for Explorer.exe. If it's not there, it has presumably crashed and that's why your taskbar is missing. You can restart Explorer (or any other process) from TM's File|Run... menu.

Afterwards, you might want to troubleshoot the reasons for the crash (it'll be an add-on most likely), but let's cross that bridge when we get to it.

Wouldn't loosing Explorer.exe also mean that I would not have any ICONS showing on the desktop as well? So far, the only thing I am missing is the TaskBar. Perhaps you can loose either one of them and all of them as some point?

Now, let's just say (for argument sakes) that it is missing, how can I repair ir w/o having to do all this everytime? (TM's file/Run, etc, etc etc.).

kavita said:
Try a scan from The home of Spybot-S&D! or get a system check using ESET SysInspector

Well, I did run MalawareBytes and it was able to find the pesky worm. It was my understanding that MB was better than Spybot S&D, at least, it is what I read and the reason I tossed it away and got MB.

Seeing as to how I am still experiencing the issue, I am going to test S&D and ESET in hopes that it will kill whatever it is.

It is not a good thing that Avast can't work in DOS as it has an Anti Rootkit option as well. I am hoping that will soon change as that was one of the things I loved about Avast with XP x32.

Thanks fellas.

AstaLaVista · May 4, 2009

Spybot did not find anything and I have no clue whatsoever what does Eset sysinspector does or how to use it.

I think is time I call it quits, make a back up of my data, pics and e-mails and try to do a Repair from Boot with the Vista CD. If that fails, well... a fresh install won't kill me I guess

H2SO4 · May 4, 2009

AstaLaVista said:
I think is time I call it quits, make a back up of my data, pics and e-mails and try to do a Repair from Boot with the Vista CD. If that fails, well... a fresh install won't kill me I guess

If explorer.exe is still running but the taskbar disappears nontheless, it's very probably a shell extension that's responsible. Temporarily deactivating non-default shell extensions until you find the culprit may help you fix the problem without a reinstall.

There are many ways to manage explorer shell extensions and some are simpler than others. A quick web search turned up this utility (I've never used it myself):

ShellExView - Shell Extension Manager For Windows

AstaLaVista · May 5, 2009

H2SO4 said:
If explorer.exe is still running but the taskbar disappears nontheless, it's very probably a shell extension that's responsible. Temporarily deactivating non-default shell extensions until you find the culprit may help you fix the problem without a reinstall.

Explorer.exe is running, the taskbar no longer dissapears but still, there are some issues still hanging with this.

1.- Some of the desktop icons don't open and when I force them to open (by right clicking and clickin on Run as Admin), Explore opens and I get a "No responding" error. When I tell it to close it, it re initialize Explorer. exe but nothing happens from here... perhaps is that shell extension you are talking about.

2.- The desktop and Browser still have a different font and the letters are bolder than normal... I have no clue why.

3.- It only lets me go back to Restore a couple of previous points but nothing earlier than that. I remember that on XP I could go back at least a month, is that not the same with Vista? perhaps whatever worm I have doesn't let me go before it took a hold of my OS?

H2SO4 said:
There are many ways to manage explorer shell extensions and some are simpler than others. A quick web search turned up this utility (I've never used it myself):

ShellExView - Shell Extension Manager For Windows

Well, I will try that when I get home. I only hope that is not as simple as the Eset Sysinspector or I won't be able to use it :huh:

Thanks for the quick replies, you have no idea how I appreciate it. If it wasn't for you responding, I would have given up on the issue already. :cry:

AstaLaVista · May 5, 2009

Well, I downloaded the Zip file for x64 but I was unable to figure it out.

Would I be doing anything if I were to insert my windows vista x64 DVD, reboot and run a Repair from it or the problem will still exist after I am done with it.

I hate it when something like this happens and I am at a total loss.

H2SO4 · May 5, 2009

AstaLaVista said:
...
1.- Some of the desktop icons don't open and when I force them to open (by right clicking and clickin on Run as Admin), Explore opens and I get a "No responding" error. When I tell it to close it, it re initialize Explorer. exe but nothing happens from here... perhaps is that shell extension you are talking about.

What's not responding - Explorer or the app you just opened? If that behaviour is common to just about everything you start (by double-clicking), it may indeed be down to "shell extensions". Think of them as add-ons for (Windows) Explorer. Not every add-on is coded to a high standard, so sometimes add-ons can cause crashes and hangs.

AstaLaVista said:
2.- The desktop and Browser still have a different font and the letters are bolder than normal... I have no clue why.

Me neither, sorry. You might want to ask this as a separate question and someone who's more into UI tweaks may be able to help you.

AstaLaVista said:
3.- It only lets me go back to Restore a couple of previous points but nothing earlier than that. I remember that on XP I could go back at least a month, is that not the same with Vista? perhaps whatever worm I have doesn't let me go before it took a hold of my OS?

It's a function of how much disk space is devoted to restore points ("snapshots"), the size of the individual snapshots, and the frequency with which they're generated on your machine. Obviously, a machine that only does one snapshot per month will make a given size disk repository last a lot longer than another box on which snapshots are generated daily.

AstaLaVista · May 5, 2009

Thanks H2SO4 for all your help. Unfortunately, some of that stuff is just Greek to me. I think the easiest solution for me will be to install a fresh copy of Vista again, make an Image (which I knew I should have done!

) and smile again after that... I'll leave that for a weekend chore though.

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