Problem with Taskbar

TroganTrogan London, UK
edited January 2011 in Science & Tech
Something has happened to my taskbar and I'm lost on how to fix it and I don't know how it happened.

What happens is the taskbar drops down to the bottom and I can't drag it back up becuase it won't move and so I can't access the START button. If I hit the windows key the start menu appears half way up the screen. But, If I add any toolbar like Quick Launch, the taskbar pops up like normal (like in the attached pic) but then I get no backround programs. For example, if I minimize 'Notepad' it won't be visible on the taskbar becuase the toolbar is covering it.

Here's a screenshot...I've minimized 'Notepad' but as you can see its not visible. Whats happened coz i'm baffled? Thanks

Comments

  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    First thing:

    Drag your quicklaunch buttons over to the right a bit. If that doesn't do it:

    look at your task bar properties, make sure that your options match these:

    especially the ones that I underlined.
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    I've tried dragging Quick Launch to the right but even that won't move and I copied your task bar properties but still no luck.

    Any other ideas? Thanks
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    Try dragging the quicklaunch bar completely off the taskbar. (You'll need to unlock the taskbar first.) Then change your screen resolution temporarily and see if that makes a difference. Then change back to your preferred resolution and see if things work OK.
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    I tried everything you said prof but still no go :(

    Only if Quick Launch would slide over to the right than I could get the taskbar back to normal :mad:

    Any other suggestions? If not, no worries. I have 'TrayIt' so i'l just minimize all programs and software to the tray area.

    Thanks :)
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    See the attached pic: That is what happens because the taskbar won't pull up unless I have a toolbar.
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    At this point, I would say that a repair install of windows is in order...
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    How do I do a repair install? I don't have an XP CD if thats needed...

    ...And I don't won't to reformat just for a messed up taskbar lol

    Thanks
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    Check out fix #117 at this site. It will download a registry file. Just double-click it, Windows will ask you if you want to enter it into the registry, say yes, then reboot after it says it was successful.

    Then cross your fingers. :cool:
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    I had high hopes for that registry file to work but it didn't....don't know if I should ;D or :bawling:... :D

    Thanks for the link prof

    Whats involved for a repair install? Will I lose any data?
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited June 2005
    I've had this problem before, a repair install was the required fix. you need a windows cd to do one, and speaking of which even if you pirated windows I'm not sure how you end up without a cd...
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    Try switching to the "Classic Start Menu" and see if it makes a difference.
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    Changing to the "classic start menu" didn't work but thanks for the suggestion :)

    I havn't pirated windows. When I bought this COMPAQ pc 2 years ago, it never came with an XP CD...

    I may just create a new user account for the sake of it ;D

    Thanks for the help though :)
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    TheBaron wrote:
    ...I'm not sure how you end up without a cd...
    Some computer manufacturers give you a set of "Restore" CD's instead of an XP disc. Windows is embedded in there with all the other stuff the company bundles with the computer.

    The better companies will do a restore and leave your data intact. Many of them simply format your drive and put the system right back to where it was the day you took it out of the box. :eek:

    EDIT: Bingo!
    Trogan_1000 wrote:
    ...When I bought this COMPAQ pc 2 years ago, it never came with an XP CD...
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    Yeah! When I took the computer out the box, the first thing I checked for was an XP CD but nothing came out.

    Compaq has a built-in 'Destructive Recovery' file that resets everything back to factory settings like prof mentioned.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    More ideas (in the straw-grasping department)

    1) Have you tried running in Safe Mode to see if it appears normal there?

    2) Have you scanned for viruses, spyware, etc.

    3) Run Regedit (from the Run command) and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer. Delete "StuckRects" and Restart Windows.
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    1) Just been into Safe Mode and its still the same there

    2) I am pretty sure its not spyware related (I TRY to keep the pc clean) and I recently ran Ad-aware etc. This problem is only on my account.

    3) In the drop down of 'Explorer' there is a folder named "StuckRects2" and not "StuckRects", should I delete that?

    Cheers prof :thumbsup:
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    Trogan_1000 wrote:
    ...In the drop down of 'Explorer' there is a folder named "StuckRects2" and not "StuckRects", should I delete that?

    Cheers prof :thumbsup:
    Go for it. :ninja:
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    ;D well, I went for it and deleted that folder and rebooted. When windows loaded I went back to regedit to see if the folder was gone but it came back lol :rolleyes:

    Anyways, thanks prof for ALL the suggestions. You never cease to amaze me :thumbsup: You can take a summer vacation now :D.

    I'l create a new user account :p
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    I created a new user account and the taskbar is normal :)
    T.bmp 53.3K
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited June 2005
    I thought by no XP CD you meant no recovery CD of any sort, sorry for inferring incorrectly. my old IBM had a recovery CD like that which had a repair option when you booted off the disk.

    good job getting it fixed, you never know what the cause of these kinds of problems is with windows...
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited June 2005
    Thanks :thumbsup:
  • maximusbadmaximusbad The Burg
    edited June 2005
    you know the funny thing is that it is a simple fix, when the taskbar was at the bottom all you had to do was click and hold the left button and move the mouse upwards and it would restore it to whatever size you wanted.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    maximusbad wrote:
    you know the funny thing is that it is a simple fix, when the taskbar was at the bottom all you had to do was click and hold the left button and move the mouse upwards and it would restore it to whatever size you wanted.
    He tried all that. Something was fubar in his registry for that user account.
  • navyjax2navyjax2
    edited October 2007
    It was actually likely a corrupt NTUSER.DAT file, as this file controls user preferences - I've seen issues like this one myself, and actually have this exact issue at home now and didn't remember the solution I used for similar issues until I read this forum, but I'm sure it'll work now after hearing that he just created another user account and it worked.

    So to correct this in the future without having to create an additional user account, having to move documents, favorites, e-mail, etc. into the new account, try this:

    1. Log in as Administrator in Safe Mode from a fresh reboot (keep pressing F8 intermittently and repeatedly until the menu shows up when booting to access Safe Mode).
    2. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\%userprofile% (where that is the user account you had been logging in with normally).
    3. Delete NTUSER.DAT, reboot, and re-log in as normal under the normal account. A new NTUSER.DAT will be created. It may take longer than normal to get in on this first boot while everything is being set back up to their XP defaults.

    Doing this, you will likely have to re-setup things like your Start Menu if you customized it (i.e. taking off the Recent files used folder, adding "My Network Places", etc.), and add things back to your desktop such as the "My Computer", "My Documents" icon, etc. if you had it where "Show on Desktop" was active for them before, since by default XP only has the Recycle Bin on the desktop. You'll also have to re-add any background/wallpaper to your desktop and if you customized your toolbar positioning of where your taskbar resided (i.e. top of screen vs. bottom of screen, etc.) and in Internet Explorer, you'll have to re-do your IE/Google/Yahoo toolbar positioning in that if you don't like the default. But otherwise, all of your data is intact and takes maybe 5-10 minutes to set everything back up if you know what you're doing, instead of a repair install that can take 30-60 mins.

    Commentary - Fixes that won't work for this issue: No adware/spyware remover will fix this (since it's not from an infection), no antivirus scan will find this (as it's not usually a virus that corrupts the file - it just corrupts from data being constantly written and re-written to it), and no registry correction software (i.e. HijackThis!, RegClean, PC Bug Doctor) will work, either, since it's a file issue and not a registry issue. Maybe in "Vista II", Microsoft will write these preferences to the registry instead of NTUSER.DAT, but for now, that's what we're stuck with.

    -Tom, MCSA
  • ravendawsonravendawson
    edited January 2011
    Try logging in as Administrator in Safe Mode. Click Start and Choose My Computer. Click Manage and choose Local Users and Groups. Right click on Users and select New User. Create your User Name and Password. Copy your old settings, log off, and press ctrl + alt + del two times. When you see Log into Windows, type Administrator and your password. Right click Start and select Explore. Go to your old user account, edit and copy your documents, and paste them on your New User’s Documents. Exit and restart your computer.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    ... This thread has been dead for 3 1/2 years.

    As your signature says
    Lurk before you leap...
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