Left Half of Start Menu disappears/goes black

[Woo]

Hi - I am using XP SP 2 Home Edition. After using my computer for a little
while, the left half of the start menu will go black. When I press the Start
button, the top legend with my user name, the bottom legend with log off/turn
off computer and the right side with My Documents down through Run in a blue
background are all there, but the left side between the top and bottom
legends is black - this is the area where commonly used programs are normally
listed with a white background.

In addition, the "All Programs" button does nothing when clicked, and most
other things like My Documents will give "shortcut can't be created here,
create on desktop" instead of initiating the correct action.

I tried TweakUI's rebuild icons, which doesn't fix it, and I can't run
"regsvr32 /i shell32.dll" because the run command gives me the shortcut
message. The only fix is to log off and log back in. Any ideas?

Thanks
Woo

 

[Elmo]

Hi - I am using XP SP 2 Home Edition. After using my computer for a little
while, the left half of the start menu will go black. When I press the Start
button, the top legend with my user name, the bottom legend with log off/turn
off computer and the right side with My Documents down through Run in a blue
background are all there, but the left side between the top and bottom
legends is black - this is the area where commonly used programs are normally
listed with a white background.

In addition, the "All Programs" button does nothing when clicked, and most
other things like My Documents will give "shortcut can't be created here,
create on desktop" instead of initiating the correct action.

I tried TweakUI's rebuild icons, which doesn't fix it, and I can't run
"regsvr32 /i shell32.dll" because the run command gives me the shortcut
message. The only fix is to log off and log back in. Any ideas?

Thanks
Woo

Maybe one of these:

Line 117. Restore Taskbar and Start Menu
Line 164. Restore Taskbar and Desktop to Default Functionality
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm