Member Avatar for j0ncc

OK, I have been pulling my hair out about this for hours now and I just can’t work it out.

I run a 3 monitor setup. 3 screens running simultaneously on the same machine, I’m not sure if this has any relevance to the problem or not but I thought I better mention it just in case. Up until a few hours ago I was running some software called “ultramon. It basically allows you to use the task bar on all of the screens rather than just the main one.

While using my computer for general tasks… it froze. I restarted it thinking everything would be fine, but it wasn’t. For some reason I can’t get my main task bar to show. (the bar at the bottom of the screen with the START menu on it). When I boot up my computer I can see it for a second, but then it just disappears and for the life of me I can’t get it to display again.

I have uninstalled ultramon thinking that this could be causing it, but that didn’t help at all. I have also tried playing around with the task bar menu in the control panel, still nothing.

If I press the windows key the start menu comes up, but just without the task bar. Its only a small bug but it is VERY annoying. Especially when you are trying to multi task.

I will send $10 over via paypal to anyone who can help me fix this.

Any help is MUCH obliged.

Thanks!
Jon

  • 3 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 284 Views
  • 7 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by gemini4

Dani AI

Generated

A concise, practical checklist (ordered from easiest to most invasive) that builds on ’s pointer toward vendor support and ’s suggestion about a new account.

  1. Quick restart of Explorer (no reboot)

    • Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
    • In Processes/Details end explorer.exe.
    • File → Run new task → type explorer.exe and press Enter.
      This often restores the taskbar immediately when the shell has crashed or lost z-order.

  2. Isolate third‑party startup software (clean boot)

    • Run msconfig (or use Task Manager → Startup on newer Windows).
    • Hide Microsoft services, disable the rest, and disable nonessential startup items.
    • Reboot. If the taskbar stays, re-enable items in small groups to find the culprit (UltraMon or a helper utility are prime suspects).

  3. Test for profile corruption (follow )

    • Create a new local user account and log into it.
    • If the taskbar is fine there, the original profile’s Explorer settings are corrupted; copying personal files to a fresh profile is safer than trying to repair a damaged profile.

  4. Registry reset for taskbar layout (advanced)

    • Open Registry Editor (regedit) and go to:
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2
      (on very old systems the key may be StuckRects).
    • Export the key to a .reg file (backup), then delete the key and log off/restart Explorer so Windows recreates default taskbar settings.
    • Only do this if comfortable with the registry—back up first.

  5. If none of the above works

    • Reinstall then properly uninstall UltraMon (some shell hooks remain after a broken uninstall), or remove it in Safe Mode.
    • Run sfc /scannow and consider System Restore to a point before the freeze.
    • As a final step, repair/restore Windows.

Cautions: back up the registry and user data before making changes. The pattern you described (taskbar visible briefly at boot, then disappearing) most commonly points to Explorer being hidden by a startup utility or a corrupted per-user Explorer setting rather than a video driver.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for gemini4

Did you try creating a new user account? If ultramon corrupted your account it could make the taskbar behave strangely.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.