Windows disappear from taskbar?

Question

I have an odd problem in Windows XP. Occasionally windows will disappear from my taskbar (NOT referring to icons in system tray on the right side). I have to use Alt-Tab to get them back. They are not minimized. When I find them with Alt-Tab, they reappear at the end of the taskbar. It seems to happen when I have a lot of windows but the taskbar doesn't have to full for this to happen. I sent this in to PC Magazine's Neil Rubenking but he could not solve it. I am a very computer-savvy person so it's unlikely to be something obvious.

Thank you, Jungle Resource, for completely not answering my question.

Unfortunately the patch did not work.

Answer 1

you could have a glitch in the registry that refers to how the task buttons are handled. also do you have it set to group similiar taskbar buttons? a few year back a saw a similiair issue that there was a hot fix to. it had something to do with when you locked the taskbar the open window buttons would dissapear. maybe that patch would help. try this link http://www.windows-questions.org/ftopic45619.html

Answer 2

It’s incredible the number of cats, children and well meaning adults that have done something to the Windows Taskbar to make it unavailable. The Taskbar is that special space, usually at the bottom of the screen, that lets you click on “Start” and move between other open applications. You have probably already noticed that the Taskbar has buttons that correspond to any programs you have open. Clicking on those buttons lets you easily switch from one task to another.

But what do you do when it ends up at the top or to the right or left? Or worse yet, disappears completely?

If it’s completely gone, you can touch Crtl-Esc and bring it back. To get it back more-or-less permanently, move your mouse to the bottom of the screen. It will turn into a two-headed arrow. Click and drag upwards and your Taskbar will reappear. If the mouse cursor doesn’t turn into a two-headed arrow, try the sides of the screen or the top.

Most people keep the Taskbar at the bottom, but that doesn’t work for everyone. The entire Taskbar can be moved from the bottom to the top or sides by clicking and dragging on a blank portion of the Taskbar. If your Taskbar is full, try closing some of your applications until you have a blank area on the Taskbar.

The size of the Taskbar can be increased or decreased. Move your mouse to the top border of the Taskbar (assuming it’s at the bottom). It will turn into the two-headed arrow again. Click and drag it up or down. You can make your Taskbar two or three or more levels high. This is useful when you have a lot of applications open and want to see them all. You can also shrink it down to nothing and frustrate others who use the machine. Hopefully they’ve read this article and can get it back.

If you’re unable to move or grow your Taskbar, chances are it’s locked. Right click on a blank portion of the Taskbar. There is a line that says Lock the Taskbar. If it has a check beside it, the Taskbar is locked. Click on Lock the Taskbar to remove the check. Click again and the check reappears. If you don’t want cats, children or other adults to mess with your Taskbar, you might want to lock it as it makes it just a little harder manipulate.

You can also right click on a blank portion of the Taskbar and then click on Properties. This gives you a check box to lock the Taskbar. There’s also a box for Auto Hide Taskbar. This feature makes the Taskbar disappear until you move your mouse to the edge of the screen where the Taskbar is located. You can uncheck this box to make the Taskbar always visible.

Answer 3

As you say that you observed this when many windows are open. How about checking your RAM usage.

Please check the RAM usage and also there could be a chance that some software could have cranked up and utilizing alot of CPU time. You can check the Windows Task Manager for the same.


All the Best!


Cheers,
Manish