Unresponsive taskbar - permanent hourglass

[jawa_dude]

Sorry about the delay, removing Kaspersky is taking a while longer than I'd originally thought. Once I have an AV with the latest definitions I will run a full scan and report any findings...

Are you convinced that this is an issue with malware?

[Allan]

Nope. Just another step in the troubleshooting process - but one that's needed.

[jawa_dude]

Update. Still unable to remove Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 via safe mode, despite using Kaspersky's remover tool. Would I need to purchase a new license to progress with the troubleshooting? As the problem with removing kaspersky from my system seems to warrant its own thread...

Completely stumped here as what to do next/how to get around this.