Ask A Geek

Q: I have a computer with Windows vista and when I turned on my computer the desktop icons and taskbar came up as usual. However, after about 30 seconds the desktop items and the taskbar disappear. They came back after a couple of seconds and then went away again. This continued for a few minutes until the desktop icons and the taskbar were just gone for good. Can you help me?

Q: My window explore task bar and icons are gone every time I start my laptop and also IE don’t work either. I don’t know what to do.

Q: I am using Microsoft Windows XP and I have different applications running. How come they do not show up on the taskbar but I can see they are running from the Windows Task Manager via the Application tab? How do I resolve this problem?

Q: I hit a button on my keyboard and now my taskbar to Internet Explorer only shows when I move my cursor over it. It’s like I’m stuck in full-screen mode because the bottom bar is also gone. I know this must just be a setting but I have no idea how to fix it. Also, the taskbar that shows up when I move the cursor to the top of the page is only from the Back and Forward arrows down (i.e. I don’t have the bar saying what program I’m using or File, Edit, Tools, etc. either). Help please (I have an HP a1220n, if that helps to know what keyboard comes with it)!

A: Sometimes fullscreen mode is useful but other times people get into it by accident. To enter or exit fullscreen mode in Internet Explorer all you have to do is press the F11 button.

Q: My start bar keeps popping up without me touching it and I don’t know why. It happens whenever I’m typing something important in word and sometimes it happens in other programs.

Q: I hit a button on my keyboard and now my taskbar to Internet Explorer only shows when I move my cursor over it. It’s like I’m stuck in full-screen mode, because the bottom bar is also gone, although it doesn’t show when I move the cursor to the bottom of the page. I know this must just be a setting but I have no idea how to fix it. Also, the taskbar that shows up when I move the cursor to the top of the page is only from the Back and Forward arrows down (i.e. I don’t have the bar saying what program I’m using or File, Edit, Tools, etc. either). Help please (I have an HP a1220n, if that helps to know what keyboard comes with it)!

Q: I am having a problem with my Dell Inspiron E1405 laptop running with Windows XP Home Edition.

Whenever I turn off the computer and reboot, windows re-starts but the icons do not appear, nor does the bottom task bar. I can see my background image and I can access the task manager by hitting ctrl+alt+del.

I can see processes running but no applications. I can resolve the problem by restarting usually up to 2-3 times, and eventually the system boots up with the icons and runs normally.

I have contacted Dell and outside of using their pay to help service, run all the hardware diagnostics to no avail.

I have used Malware Anti-Bytes (Spam Blocker), A CCleaner (Registry Cleaner), and Avast! Antivirus, but the problem still persists.

I am out of ideas and any help would be very much appreciated!

Q: A vertical task bar has attached itself to a friend’s browser. It is on the right. It covers his scroll down slider and his mouse has no effect on it. There is a black icon of a bug that covers the X that closes it out. The techs at Norton say it’s not a virus or an infection but they could not remotely remove it. Rebooting doesn’t affect it. It doesn’t seem to do anything but be annoying. Any ideas?

Q: I’ve had this problem for a couple of weeks now. All the application icons in my taskbar have disappeared. The quick launch, desktop and other toolbar icons are still there though, and only the program ones aren’t showing. I’ve resulted to hitting alt+tab to switch between all the windows that I’ve got open. I’ve gotten used to it admittedly, but I’d really like my icons back. I am running Windows XP.

A: For the problem of disappearing programs from your task, there is a commonly cited solution at Ask Leo:

“Restoring [your currently running programs], while not obvious, is not hard. It appears to only need a registry change and a restart of Windows Explorer.

Kelly Theriot, a Microsoft MVP, has a set of tweaks available at Kelly’s Korner. They’re fairly light on documentation, and perhaps even a bit techie if you want to understand them. On the tweaks page scroll down to item #240, and click on “Programs Aren’t Minimized in the Taskbar”. That will run, or download, a “vbs” (VBScript) program which will, after confirming, reset the Taskbar’s properties. Note that several other aspects of the Taskbar will also be reset to their default states, but you should get your “running programs” area back.”

Q: I’ve had this problem for a couple of weeks now. All the application icons in my taskbar have disappeared. The quick launch, desktop and other toolbar icons are still there though, and only the program ones aren’t showing. I’ve resulted to hitting alt+tab to switch between all the windows that I’ve got open. I’ve gotten used to it admittedly, but I’d really like my icons back.