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Full Screen makes the taskbar unusable

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  • Taskbar
  • Windows XP
Last response: in Windows XP
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Anonymous
August 25, 2005 6:35:35 AM

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

Full Screen makes the taskbar unusable

My taskbar becomes unusable in a number of situations. By unusable I mean
that I can’t use it to select any open programs, open the windows start menu,
or select anything from the notification area. IN short it losses all
functionality. Programs already launched may be visible, but they can not be
selected. Occasional bits of the taskbar are missing (and I can see the
desktop background) or they are simple black.

This happens in a number of situations:
-when I use a full screen program (such as a game)
-when I change theme,
-when using fast-switching to allow someone else to use the computer, and
then re-log on

They only way I can make the taskbar useable again is to either restart or
to press ctrl + alt + delete and kill the ‘explorer.exe’ process, and then
relaunch it. This problem does not happen on any other user account in my
computer, and has been a problem for a month or two. I created a new used
account, just to test it, and I could not recreate the problem.

Recently just to test if the problem still was there, I changed my theme,
and sure enough the problem had gone away. However this time a new taskbar
button had opened in the taskbar. It’s grey, with no text, and the icon looks
is a white box, with a blue border, and what could be a red button in the top
right corner (it’s small and hard to be sure) It looks a little bit like a
window. It’s appears to be selected. I have the same problem, and can only
get control of the taskbar back by the method described above.

I’ve scanned for virus (McAfee), checked for any spyware (Spybot search and
destroy, Ad-aware, Microsoft anti-spyware), used registry mechanic and
Tune-up Utilities 2004 to check the registry, and other problems, but all of
these tools have been of no solution. I’ve also searched using Google but
have not come up with anything.

This is really frustrating me, and I hope someone has a solution. While the
solution (well, work around) may sound simple, having to do it 10-15 times a
day can be annoying, time consuming, and I would prefer if I could have a
normal functioning computer.

Please either reply here, or email at bendummett @ gmail.com

I’ve included some basic information, if you need anything else please get
in touch!

System Summary

Thank you. OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name BMAIN
System Manufacturer To Be Filled By O.E.M.
System Model To Be Filled By O.E.M.
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~3198 Mhz
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~3198 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 1002.002, 25/02/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale Australia
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180
(xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name <snip>
Time Zone AUS Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 353.81 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 2.40 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

(Out of interest I will also include this – are these conflicts bad? May
they be causing the problem? Or are they nothing?)

Hardware resources

Conflicts/Sharing

I/O Port 0x00000000-0x00000CF7 PCI bus
I/O Port 0x00000000-0x00000CF7 Direct memory access controller

IRQ 20 VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
IRQ 20 Agere Systems PCI Soft Modem

I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF Intel(R) 82865G/PE/P/GV/82848P Processor to
AGP Controller - 2571
I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF RADEON X800 Series (Omega 2.6.53)

IRQ 16 RADEON X800 Series (Omega 2.6.53)
IRQ 16 Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D2
IRQ 16 Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24DE

IRQ 18 Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D7
IRQ 18 Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers

Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF PCI bus
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF Intel(R) 82865G/PE/P/GV/82848P Processor to
AGP Controller - 2571
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF RADEON X800 Series (Omega 2.6.53)

I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB Intel(R) 82865G/PE/P/GV/82848P Processor to
AGP Controller - 2571
I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB RADEON X800 Series (Omega 2.6.53)

I/O Port 0x0000C000-0x0000CFFF Intel(R) 82865G/PE/P/GV/82848P Processor to
AGP Controller - 2571
I/O Port 0x0000C000-0x0000CFFF RADEON X800 Series (Omega 2.6.53)

More about : full screen makes taskbar unusable

Anonymous
August 26, 2005 9:59:32 AM

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

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



--
Mark L. Ferguson
FAQ for Windows Antispy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm
"BenDummett" <BenDummett@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:68AE40C9-6E5F-4120-8CA6-1A211B3D2B2B@microsoft.com...
> Full Screen makes the taskbar unusable
>
> My taskbar becomes unusable in a number of situations. By unusable I mean
> that I can't use it to select any open programs, open the windows start menu,
> or select anything from the notification area. IN short it losses all
> functionality. Programs already launched may be visible, but they can not be
> selected. Occasional bits of the taskbar are missing (and I can see the
> desktop background) or they are simple black.
!