Vista - Right click on taskbar??

This is really strange. When I want to close a program by right clicking on
it in the taskbar the small options box does not show up( the box i refer to
is the one with the Close/minimize/restore/etc options) instead the program
becomes highlighted orange and I must open it up and click the close button
on the top right side. In addition, whenever I want to open a minimized
program while it is in the orange state, I have to click on it once to
nullify the orange, then once again to open it. The Notification Icons are
also malfunctioning. Whenever i right click to bring up its options the
message box will stay there even if I click on the desktop. When I click on
the desktop the message box will position itself behind the taskbar like any
other program and I MUST click on an option to get rid of it. Can someone
help me?