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General discussion

Taskbar keeps locking up.

Mar 5, 2004 6:28AM PST

Strange. Suddenly when my computer boots up, it takes longer than usual and if I attempt to click on the Start icon (to selct a program) nothing happens. If I click on any of the icons on my taskbar (located on the lower section of my desktop) nothing happens. The curser shows a hourglass as if it was in the process of opening a program. Yet if I move the curser onto the destop area I can indeed open any icon that is on the desktop. But bring it back to the taskbar and the hourglass appears on my curser again. What in the world is happening and how can I fix this? I've rebooted, scrubbed my system os viruses and trojans (using Spybot) but it continues to happen. Any suggestions?

Discussion is locked

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Re:Taskbar keeps locking up.
Mar 5, 2004 1:56PM PST

I would suggest that you also need to run a virus scan. If you don't have virus software, Norton, Mcafee, etc., you can download free AVG at http://www.pcworld.com. They also have Ad-aware, which is freeware. Download and run both programs along with Spybot, to rid your machine of viruses, spyware, and adware. If the problems persists, post back with your computer specifications to the forum, telling what steps you have taken.

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Re:Taskbar keeps locking up.
Mar 7, 2004 9:44AM PST

what have you installed or uninstalled recently? if it's not a virus or spyware, it's something that isn't starting up properly and hanging Explorer.

Herb....

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Re: Taskbar keeps locking up.
Jun 16, 2004 3:55AM PDT

I am also having the same problem. I'm running XP on a dual 2.8 Gig P4. The mouse turns into an hourglass when I mouse-over the taskbar, including the start button. The taskbar doesn't seem functional b/c it doesn't display open or minimized windows. Did you ever solve the problem? If so, how? Does anyone else have any ideas? They are much appreciated.
Regards,
Ramy

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Re: Taskbar keeps locking up.
Jun 16, 2004 11:52AM PDT

this also can happen if there is a program, spyware or otherwise, that is trying to connect to the internet, but is launched as part of Windows Explorer startup. typically, this is a virus or spyware. you need to run several spyware checkers, each with their latest definition files. yet another cause is a bad Explorer addin. there isn't an easy way to figure it out unless you have a registry snapshot saved from before this problem started happening. uninstalling programs you recently installed also works.

Herb...

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Taskbar keeps locking up.
Jan 18, 2005 4:58AM PST

I've recently run into this problem (just today) on a client's computer. I have been able to determine that the trouble lies in SVCHOST.EXE in the processes list, running under under LOCAL SERVICE but have not yet been able to determine what is causing this problem. If I kill the process as soon as the computer starts, it works fine, otherwise the taskbar and all related issues are botched up. I'll be running a complete virus scan and it's already been cleaned of the minor amounts of spyware present.