Windows Taskbar

J

James

I just seem to have got a problem with the taskbar on my
PC. Every time I turn the thing on, all the toolbars and
quicklaunch icon's keep changing position. I put them
back to how I like them and carry on. It has only
started happening in the last week, and keeps coming up
with a layout i've never used. Can someone please help
me, as I really like my taskbar the way it is, and to
keep having to put it back to how I like it is really
annoying!
Thanks!!
 
R

Ramesh [MVP]

Do you see a Search Assistant Taskbar item?

--
Ramesh - Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k

AumHa VSOP: http://www.aumha.org

I just seem to have got a problem with the taskbar on my
PC. Every time I turn the thing on, all the toolbars and
quicklaunch icon's keep changing position. I put them
back to how I like them and carry on. It has only
started happening in the last week, and keeps coming up
with a layout i've never used. Can someone please help
me, as I really like my taskbar the way it is, and to
keep having to put it back to how I like it is really
annoying!
Thanks!!
 
W

Whatshisface

Usually, Windows places icons for programs in the taskbar
in the order that those programs started or are active
(doing somthing, that is). You might want to check and
see if your programs are starting up and running
correctly.(you might try msconfig.exe) If not, then you
might have bigger problems than just a screwy taskbar.
As for the icon positions and order changing, I have no
idea. Sorry I can't help you anymore.
 
R

Ramesh [MVP]

The "Search Assistant" bar is a malware, and it seems to reset the Taskbar settings.

Type the command in RUN box.
Regsvr32 /u C:\Windows\System32\omniband.dll

Then, rename C:\Windows\System32\omniband.dll to old_omniband.dll and restart Windows.

Download all the spyware cleaners and run them.
Lavasoft Ad-Aware - www.lavasoftusa.com
SpyBot S&D - http://www.safer-networking.org/
CWShredder : http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/CWShredder.exe
Online Spyware scan: Do you have parasites?:
http://aumha.org/a/noads.php

If the Taskbar preferences are not saved, apply the fix 240 at Kelly's site:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
(Programs Aren't Minimized in the Taskbar - This repairs the taskbar)

If nothing helps, run this program and post the Log file here:
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Deskbands.exe

--
Ramesh - Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k

AumHa VSOP: http://www.aumha.org

Yeah, that's the one that keeps appearing at startup.
 
J

James

Have tried this, and has removed the search assistant,
but after all this every time It starts up, it has none
of the toolbars apperaing which I had when shutting
down. This means I have to select them again every time
at start up. The two I use on the taskbar are the
quicklaunch and the desktop toolbars.

Heres the log file from the program.

List of installed Deskbands

{01E04581-4EEE-11d0-BFE9-00AA005B4383}
&Address
%SystemRoot%\System32\browseui.dll

{0A4286EA-E355-44FB-8086-AF3DF7645BD9}
Windows Media Player
C:\PROGRA~1\WINDOW~1\wmpband.dll

{0E5CBF21-D15F-11d0-8301-00AA005B4383}
&Links
%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll

{540D8A8B-1C3F-4E32-8132-530F6A502090}
Language bar
C:\WINDOWS\System32\msutb.dll

Thanks
-----Original Message-----
The "Search Assistant" bar is a malware, and it seems to reset the Taskbar settings.

Type the command in RUN box.
Regsvr32 /u C:\Windows\System32\omniband.dll

Then, rename C:\Windows\System32\omniband.dll to
Click to expand...
old_omniband.dll and restart Windows.
 
R

Ramesh [MVP]

James,

Windows Media Player band may be causing it (from previous newsgroup posts)

Similarly, unregister this DLL.
C:\PROGRA~1\WINDOW~1\wmpband.dll

Reboot. Make changes to QuickLaunch. Reboot again. If that does not help, apply the fix 240 at Kelly's site:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
(Programs Aren't Minimized in the Taskbar - This repairs the taskbar)

--
Ramesh - Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k

AumHa VSOP: http://www.aumha.org

Have tried this, and has removed the search assistant,
but after all this every time It starts up, it has none
of the toolbars apperaing which I had when shutting
down. This means I have to select them again every time
at start up. The two I use on the taskbar are the
quicklaunch and the desktop toolbars.

Heres the log file from the program.

List of installed Deskbands

{01E04581-4EEE-11d0-BFE9-00AA005B4383}
&Address
%SystemRoot%\System32\browseui.dll

{0A4286EA-E355-44FB-8086-AF3DF7645BD9}
Windows Media Player
C:\PROGRA~1\WINDOW~1\wmpband.dll

{0E5CBF21-D15F-11d0-8301-00AA005B4383}
&Links
%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll

{540D8A8B-1C3F-4E32-8132-530F6A502090}
Language bar
C:\WINDOWS\System32\msutb.dll

Thanks
-----Original Message-----
The "Search Assistant" bar is a malware, and it seems to reset the Taskbar settings.

Type the command in RUN box.
Regsvr32 /u C:\Windows\System32\omniband.dll

Then, rename C:\Windows\System32\omniband.dll to
Click to expand...
old_omniband.dll and restart Windows.
 
J

James

Did this, and reaplied the fix 240, but it still doesen't
work. Any other suggestions?

Thanks
-----Original Message-----
James,

Windows Media Player band may be causing it (from previous newsgroup posts)

Similarly, unregister this DLL.
C:\PROGRA~1\WINDOW~1\wmpband.dll

Reboot. Make changes to QuickLaunch. Reboot again. If
Click to expand...
that does not help, apply the fix 240 at Kelly's site:
 
R

Ramesh [MVP]

Delete the registry keys mentioned (by David) in this thread:
http://tinyurl.com/26ubq

--
Ramesh - Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k

AumHa VSOP: http://www.aumha.org

Did this, and reaplied the fix 240, but it still doesen't
work. Any other suggestions?

Thanks
-----Original Message-----
James,

Windows Media Player band may be causing it (from previous newsgroup posts)

Similarly, unregister this DLL.
C:\PROGRA~1\WINDOW~1\wmpband.dll

Reboot. Make changes to QuickLaunch. Reboot again. If
Click to expand...
that does not help, apply the fix 240 at Kelly's site:
 
J

James

Tried with the explorer not running (Take it was the
explorer.exe in the task manager) and did the reg editing
but this didn't help.

When I do this It forgets things like auto hide task-bar,
which I have on, and I can re-enable the this and it
remembers it fine. It's just the toolbars I have
activated It forgets, coming up with none on at startup
 
D

David Candy

What do you mean by none? Get regmon from www.sysinternals.com and set a filter (Edit menu) of stuckrect and tick Write. Delete it again then start explorer. Does anything appear writing to that key. PS Changes are saved at logoff so CAD means changes won't be saved so don't configure too much till you solve the main problem.

Also delete these keys.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StreamMRU
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam

If you have Pro
Type
tasklist /m /fi "imagename eq explorer.exe"

Then type each name in full (eg shell32.dll) at
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/dllinfo.asp?fr=0&sd=msdn

and list here any that aren't in that database.
 
D

David Candy

repeat the regmon thing with taskbar as the filter too. You delete that one when you nuke streams.

--
----------------------------------------------------------
http://home.comcast.net/~wizardofwhimsy/index.html
What do you mean by none? Get regmon from www.sysinternals.com and set a filter (Edit menu) of stuckrect and tick Write. Delete it again then start explorer. Does anything appear writing to that key. PS Changes are saved at logoff so CAD means changes won't be saved so don't configure too much till you solve the main problem.

Also delete these keys.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StreamMRU
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam

If you have Pro
Type
tasklist /m /fi "imagename eq explorer.exe"

Then type each name in full (eg shell32.dll) at
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/dllinfo.asp?fr=0&sd=msdn

and list here any that aren't in that database.
 
J

James

Hey, Tried that as well.

There is no writting to it at all when I do that, to
either stuckrect or taskbar.

It does query the entry and says not found in the results
collumn.

I've only got XP home eddition, so I couldn't do the
other bit.

Any other ideas?

I really appreciate the help!
-----Original Message-----
repeat the regmon thing with taskbar as the filter too.
Click to expand...
You delete that one when you nuke streams.www.sysinternals.com and set a filter (Edit menu) of
stuckrect and tick Write. Delete it again then start
explorer. Does anything appear writing to that key. PS
Changes are saved at logoff so CAD means changes won't be
saved so don't configure too much till you solve the main
problem.
 
D

David Candy

When you stop explorer the taskbar, start menu etc all disappear. Is that what happened. Hope so.

Pro has more tools.

Create another Administration user or use another existing one. Logoff. Logon to the new/other user. Type regedit in Start Run. Choose Help - Help Topics and type Load Hive. Read it carefully especially the last paragraph (cos I didn't first time I did it and spent some time puzzled). You can name it anything. I always name it 1 cos I'm lazy. Your user hive is at C:\Documents and Settings\<your name>\NTUSER.DAT. This load your HKEY_CURRENT_USER tree (cos the one you now see is the logged on user not yours) at HKEY_USERS\1. Navigate to Taskbar and Stuckrects2 and delete them here again. Also go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop
and Export these then delete (not sure if these are auto created). These are used as the base for the user ones.

Then unload hive, log off, then back into your normal account. Wish you had Pro, we;d just ask it. See if the keys have been created. At local machine and current user. If not,

Make sure those keys are gone. Then in Regmon choose
Edit menu - Log Boot.
Reboot
 
J

James

Hey, did that, and they were gone before I restarted with
the Log Boot.

One rebooting, my PC went to the xdreaded windows blue
screen of death twice, and I had to restart my PC with
the last known best settings.

Got back in and the files were back, but I don't know if
they are new or ones from the last known config.

Should I try again with this or do u think It caused the
crash at boot?

Did try and read the log but got to line 52135 and the
rest looked like gobuldy gook, so am guessing perhaps
this crash could have caused it. Searched what was
there, but no mention of stuckrect or taskbar.

-----Original Message-----
When you stop explorer the taskbar, start menu etc all
Click to expand...
disappear. Is that what happened. Hope so.
Pro has more tools.

Create another Administration user or use another
Click to expand...
existing one. Logoff. Logon to the new/other user. Type
regedit in Start Run. Choose Help - Help Topics and type
Load Hive. Read it carefully especially the last
paragraph (cos I didn't first time I did it and spent
some time puzzled). You can name it anything. I always
name it 1 cos I'm lazy. Your user hive is at C:\Documents
and Settings\<your name>\NTUSER.DAT. This load your
HKEY_CURRENT_USER tree (cos the one you now see is the
logged on user not yours) at HKEY_USERS\1. Navigate to
Taskbar and Stuckrects2 and delete them here again. Also
go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVers ion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop
and Export these then delete (not sure if these are auto
Click to expand...
created). These are used as the base for the user ones.
Then unload hive, log off, then back into your normal
Click to expand...
account. Wish you had Pro, we;d just ask it. See if the
keys have been created. At local machine and current
user. If not,
 
D

David Candy

Don't play with blue screens. They can destroy your data. Skip boot logging.

I think home has security for regkeys (well it does I mean user access to it).

Go to the parent keys of taskbar (desktop key) and also the stuckrect key. Right click and choose Permissions (if not there try booting into safe mode - works with file security that way in home). Deny everybody and everything WRITE ONLY access.

Reboot and see what happens.

PS Make sure you have a spare admin account (which you have already created?) that you can use to repair this one if it doesn't like this.

I'm going to see if auditing can be turned on in home. You may see Auditing in the security dialog but it needs turning on elsewhere first, which home doesn't have the elsewhere part.
 

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