Taskbar is gone!?!?

[Jeppe Jespersen]

When I boot my Vista laptop, my taskbar/startbutton has disappeared. Screen
turns black, and only "My Documents" folder is shown.

I have tried restoring to an earlier point, but no luck.

Jeppe Jespersen
Denmark

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Jeppe,

I've seen this a few times, and it seems to be caused by an alteration of
the shell string in the registry. Click start and type regedit, then hit
<enter> and agree to the UAC prompt. Expand the plus (+) signs to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Double click the shell string on the right, change the data value to just
explorer.exe and click ok. Close the registry editor and restart the system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Mamamegs]

Hi Rick,

How can he click the start button if it's not there? ;-)
</q>

Jeppe,
Does pressing the windows button on your keyboard bring up the
startmenu? If not, then type regedit.exe <enter> in the addressbar of
the Documents windows that opens.


Rick Rogers submitted this idea :

Hi Jeppe,

I've seen this a few times, and it seems to be caused by an
alteration of the shell string in the registry. Click start and type
regedit, then hit <enter> and agree to the UAC prompt. Expand the
plus (+) signs to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Double click the shell string on the right, change the data value to
just explorer.exe and click ok. Close the registry editor and restart
the system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

--
Mamamegs.

I reject your reality and substitute my own.
(Adam Savage)

www.vistabits.nl

 

[Rick Rogers]

True, hadn't considered that. But often , closing the documents folder will
bring up the desktop. If it doesn't, hit ctrl+shift+escape to open task
manager, then click 'new task' on the applications tab and type regedit
there.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Mamamegs]

Hi Rick,
Does this solution only apply to this specific problem? In the dutch
NG,
someone has lost his taskbar (it's not hidden) but he doesn't mention
the Documents windows opening. MS support couldn't help and adviced him
to reinstall, which seems a bit drastic...

--
Mamamegs.

I reject your reality and substitute my own.
(Adam Savage)

www.vistabits.nl

Rick Rogers has brought this to us :

 

[John Barnes]

They should first look for a thin strip along the bottom that is the same
colour as the taskbar. If there, they should right click on it, unlock and
grab and pull it to the size they want, then relock. I have had periods
where the taskbar was reduced by 1 level each time I booted. It was a
temporary condition, but happened in both XP and Vista.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

No, but the lost taskbar in this case is more likely a problem with the
shell entry. A system that boots to the desktop normally, but without the
taskbar, may have a corrupts stuckrects entry or, as John Barnes has
indicated, a taskbar that has been shrunk.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Peter Foldes]

See if this will do trick for you to get your taskbar back

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/xp_taskbar_desktop_fixall.vbs