Taskbar sometimes disappearing in XP Pro

[Frontier]

Specs:

P4 2.53GHz
VIA P4PB 400 mainboard
512 MB DDR PC-2700 RAM
GeForce4 4200
120GB Maxtor
WinXP Pro SP1

I've been running XP pro on my machine for quite some time
now. Recently a strange error began to occur.

When opening some programs, folders, or
maximizing/minimizing windows, the computer just freezes
for a second and the taskbar along with most other things
disappear from sight, leaving only the background
wallpaper to remain showing. Then after a second or two,
it all starts to come back - the taskbar shows up again,
the desktop icons reappear, and the previously running
tasks in lower right corner reload one by one as though
the computer has micro-rebooted itself or something.

About half the time i get an error message right before
this occurs (but sometimes it just happens without any
warning). The error message is as follows:

"explorer.exe has encountered a problem and needs to
close"

Details:
explorer.exe
AppVer: 6.0.2800.1106
ModVer: 5.1.2600.1217
Mod Name: ntdll.dll
Offset: 000080db

I have the latest in BIOS, drivers, windows updates,
firmware, etc. I've ran scandisk, chkdsk, defragmenter,
HD diagnostic, you name it - nothing seems to fix it.

This isn't the first time i've seen explorer.exe encounter
an error of this nature. They have happened before, but
very rarely. And even then I could pinpoint the cause as
it would occur when some application decided to do
something "illegal" or something. But right now it occurs
several times a day, with no obvious cause.

I've also noticed that the origin of this problem co-
insides with recent installation of DirectX 9.0b (before i
had 9.0a). This is really starting to bug me. And i
can't simply wish away the directx update without
formatting my HD. I also don't want to do a System
Restore unless it's absolutely the last option, since it
has been a while since i used that feature.

Can anyone please help me out? Thanks in advance.

 

[Kelly]

Hi,

Run both edits on line 157
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

And this one:

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

If that doesn't help, do some reading here: http://tinyurl.com/o3kd

Good luck!
/top10faqs.htm

 

[David]

I don't know. I've been having the same problem. But was never able to get
an error message or anything. And I have no clue how to few the logs or
anything. So I was never able to figure out what was happening.

But it's just irritating when it does that. I always have to restart my
computer cause not all the icons pop back up. But's it's still running,
just that the icon doesn't appear.

Me looking for an answer too. And for me, I disabled System Restore. So I
can't go back. I hated that feature. It never really worked all that
great. It always left problems.

 

[Kelly]

Hi David,

To view the event log: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or
Start/Run/eventvwr.

Troubleshooting the Notification Area
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_n.htm#na

 

[David]

Thanks

Hi David,

To view the event log: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or
Start/Run/eventvwr.

Troubleshooting the Notification Area
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_n.htm#na

/top10faqs.htm


So

 

[Kelly]

Most welcome, David and good luck!

/top10faqs.htm