disappearing task bar?

[ziskan1013]

Hello,


I'm running Windows XP, SP2 on a Dell laptop. Just recently, my task bar (with the start menu to the left and the clock and ...ect on the right, incase of confusion) just disappeared. The bar will show during start-up after a reboot or whatever but disappears soon after. I believe it's a piece of malicious software or something but i've run full scans with Ad-Aware 6, S&D, and AVG as well and I've got nothing in return. Its very frustrating and I'm not sure as to why this happening...

Here is a screen shot:

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/4530/desktopmp6.jpg


ANY help would be appriciated greatly. Thanks!

[keybowvio]

does it show up if you run your mouse along the bottom of the screen?

[roccenstein]

I have mine set that way on purpose, so its likely that the settings were changed and not anything malicious.  If the task bar appears when you mouse over it, then it has been set to auto hide.  Mouse over it then right click and select properties, then check to see if "auto-hide the taskbar" is checked.  If it is, and you don't want it to be, then un-check it and hit apply.

[ziskan1013]

I've checked to make sure auto-hide isn't on. I have it set on always up usually. I checked nonetheless with every combination and nothing. I've included a second screenshot to illustrate this:

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9408/desktop2rf1.jpg

As you can see, if I hit the windows key, the start menu pops up -- without the bar.

[roccenstein]

Hey, R6 Vegas, great game .   Anyway, that's strange.  Have you tried changing resolutions, just out of curiosity, or manually adjusting the screen size with the monitor controls? 

[ziskan1013]

Just tried different resolutions, nothing.

This really sucks because it seems like I'll have to wipe my system...

[roccenstein]

Well I wouldn't go to that extreme just yet.  Just keep this topic bumped and eventually one of the real smart veterans will respond.  One other thing I just thought of, and forgive me if I'm telling you stuff you already know, but did you check to see if the taskbar was collapsed?  If it was then it wouldn't appear at all.  Move the mouse to the bottom of the screen and if you see the little two headed arrow, then just click and drag it up and it should be there.  The only thing that would stop you from doing that would be if the taskbar is locked, so you'd have to unlock it first.  If those don't work, then I'm out of ideas...

[ziskan1013]

Any response is better than no response. Thank you for your time!

I've tried checking to see if the bar was collapsed but its not there. I went through the control panel to the task bar settings to make sure it wasn't locked but still nothing.

[patio]

Uninstall any add-on toolbars you have including but not limited to google and yahoo...

[ziskan1013]

Uninstall any add-on toolbars you have including but not limited to google and yahoo...

I've uninstalled google toolbar but hasn't done anything yet...

Although its interesting that you mention this because the problem started when my sister apparently installed something that I thought was a virus or malware. I found the yahoo tool bar on IE7 but got rid of it soon after. I never related the two however. What effect do these applications have in regards to the taskbar, if you don't mind me asking?

[patio]

How did you remove the Yahoo toolbar ? ?

In answer to your other question they are just poorly written apps.

[ziskan1013]

How did you remove the Yahoo toolbar ? ?

In answer to your other question they are just poorly written apps.

I went through the control panel and searched for them in Add/Remove Programs and uninstalled through that. I've just quickly skimmed through the registry data and it seems like there are still some logs of yahoo even after deletion. Any significance of this?

[soybean]

Download the Slim version of CCleaner and run it's Issue scan; that may remove some of that stuff from the registry.  When you run the scan, it will prompt you to backup your registry.  Do so, and then tell CCleaner to remove all that it finds.  Repeat the scan, since it may find additional items upon a repeat scan.

I also suggest running CCleaner's Windows and/or Applications scan.  It's a good disk cleanup utility.

[yosemite1960]

I have had this problem myself so I send this information that is sure to help everyone that has this same problem with the disappearing taskbar. I am running Windows Vista Home Basic, & have noticed my taskbar disappearing from time to time the last couple of weeks. I searched the web until I found the topic of "The Mystery of The Disappearing Taskbar" at http://www.windowsvistaplace.com/the-mystery-of-the-disappearing-taskbar/ .  If you follow the short instruction to the letter, you'll get your taskbar back up & running in no time. best thing is, you don't have to restart your computer. I'm sure this will help everyone.