Desktop Crashing

[Rainy]

Hi.. I found out through a response to a previous post that the reason my
icons were not showing on the right side of the taskbar, but indeed were
loaded and running in the background. I asked what I could do to correct
this... so I am reposting the question...Can I fix this?

Here is part of the original thread...

I went online to find a solution and ended up at annoyances.org.. and this
is what I found..

How do get the taskbar and desktop back if Explorer crashes?


Intended For
Windows XP
Windows 2000

From time to time, Explorer (the application responsible for the taskbar,
desktop, and Start Menu) will crash, and the taskbar and all your desktop
icons will disappear. Now, there's a built-in safeguard for this that
relaunches Explorer automatically if such a crash is detected, but it
doesn't
always work as it's designed. For example, if you have a separate Windows
Explorer window open and the Launch folder windows in a separate process
option (in Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View tab) is enabled, and the
taskbar disappears, Windows will mistakenly open another Windows Explorer
window instead of reinstating your taskbar and desktop. Here's how to get
your taskbar and desktop back:

a.. Close all visible Windows Explorer windows. Other running applications
can be left alone.
b.. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del, and then click Task Manager.
c.. In the Windows Task Manager application that appears, select New Task
(Run) from the File menu.
d.. Type Explorer and click Ok.
Note: so far, a cause for the frequent crashing of Explorer in Windows 2000
and Windows XP hasn't been found, but when it has been discovered, a
solution will be posted here at Annoyances.org.

I tried this and I just got a new window.. it did not work as they said it
would! thanks Rainy

 

[Sharon F]

Hi.. I found out through a response to a previous post that the reason my
icons were not showing on the right side of the taskbar, but indeed were
loaded and running in the background. I asked what I could do to correct
this... so I am reposting the question...Can I fix this?

Here is part of the original thread...

I went online to find a solution and ended up at annoyances.org.. and this
is what I found..

How do get the taskbar and desktop back if Explorer crashes?


Intended For
Windows XP
Windows 2000

From time to time, Explorer (the application responsible for the taskbar,
desktop, and Start Menu) will crash, and the taskbar and all your desktop
icons will disappear. Now, there's a built-in safeguard for this that
relaunches Explorer automatically if such a crash is detected, but it
doesn't
always work as it's designed. For example, if you have a separate Windows
Explorer window open and the Launch folder windows in a separate process
option (in Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View tab) is enabled, and the
taskbar disappears, Windows will mistakenly open another Windows Explorer
window instead of reinstating your taskbar and desktop. Here's how to get
your taskbar and desktop back:

a.. Close all visible Windows Explorer windows. Other running applications
can be left alone.
b.. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del, and then click Task Manager.
c.. In the Windows Task Manager application that appears, select New Task
(Run) from the File menu.
d.. Type Explorer and click Ok.
Note: so far, a cause for the frequent crashing of Explorer in Windows 2000
and Windows XP hasn't been found, but when it has been discovered, a
solution will be posted here at Annoyances.org.

I tried this and I just got a new window.. it did not work as they said it
would! thanks Rainy

No. Sorry. You really can't fix this on your own. Each program is
responsible for loading its icon and for providing a mechanism to reload
the icon if Explorer should crash. If that mechanism is not present or if
it fails, the icon won't appear.

I can't vouch for the directions from annoyances.org. To restart Explorer,
I would close all open windows (including running programs). Then open a
command prompt window (Start> Run: type cmd and click OK). Leave that
window and task manager up. Then using Task Manager, end the Explorer
process. The desktop will disappear. Then use Task Manager's File> Run to
start explorer.exe again. The desktop will return.

Logging off and then logging back on will accomplish the same thing in
regards to the taskbar/notification icons. Since some items will remain in
memory, the missed items get a second chance at loading correctly.

Another thing to try is to test starting Windows with different programs
allowed to run at startup. Reason: If one tray icon is taking its sweet
time to load, another icon may have to wait its turn. The waiting icon may
consider the delay a failure to load. Its reload mechanism may trigger and
fail. End result - no icon for that program. By disabling different startup
items, you may be able to pinpoint the program that is ruining it for the
others. The goal is to find a combination of startup programs that allows
the most icons to load without a problem.

 

[Rainy]

Thanks Sharon you always give a great response.. I did log off and back on..
and it loaded correctly.. but will look at the rest of your response and try
to figure out which one is the culprit.. thanks again.. Rainy ps. I have
a feeling it's window blinds... but don't see it in the startup list.

 

[Sharon F]

Thanks Sharon you always give a great response.. I did log off and back on..
and it loaded correctly.. but will look at the rest of your response and try
to figure out which one is the culprit.. thanks again.. Rainy ps. I have
a feeling it's window blinds... but don't see it in the startup list.

You're most welcome, Rainy. It's possible that it's window blinds but I use
that program and am not having trouble with my notification icons. However
I'm probably running a different mix of software at startup (only 8 icons
load at startup and 2 are for networking). The particular mix being used
could very well explain the difference.

If you do suspect window blinds, check that you're running the most current
version available. A few versions back it was loading the taskbar too early
but that has been fixed in the recent versions.

 

[Rainy]

I have 9 load, but didn't ask for 2 of them, window blinds 4.5 (free
version) actually all I use are the free versions, gadwins printscreen,
incredimail, yahoo messenger 5.6 (I had the latest but it wouldn't let me
skin it so I search for a older version, zone alarm, AVG, and remove
hardware safely something from my HP printer, .. although I have not
configured that to load with windows.. The reason I suspect window blinds,
is because it's the latest one.. Rainy