First off, I would like to say thanks for taking the time to read my thread...

Er then I won't have a second or any others, I will just get to my questions.

Okay, so I recently noticed that my web browser windows when I minimized them to the task bar just disappeared. They seemingly minimzed to a spot that I couldn't see to the down and right of the start button. I know how to get around this in a couple of ways if I have to... But I was just curious to see if anyone knew how to fix it a better way?

My "solutions" to fix it are:

1) If I hit ALT+TAB at the same time and there is just one window up it'll load it back up for me. If multiple windows, it'll give me an option. This works okay, but it is not really what I am going for... I would prefer a more clean interface. Oh, Itunes still minimizes to the task bar by the way.

2) I could restore the computer to factory specifications... But that would of course erase all my files. This is not a "work" computer so it wouldn't be as big as if I was a business man or something, but it would erase all my game files. Which, if I have to do this to fix it if I just can't stand it doing the ALT+TAB stuff then I will do this... I guess... Grudgingly.

3) Buy Windows XP and reinstall (haha yeah right). This is an option, but even less likely then the above. I would just deal with it I think.

Also, I have tried a "system restore" thing, however it tells me no changes have been made to my PC. WHAT?! I may try an older system restore soon, but I don't know if even that will work.

Um, if you need any other information, I may be able to provide it. Its kind of hard to explain, but I will try if more information is needed. Thanks!

Oh, also, if this is the wrong place, I appoligize and request that it is moved to the right spot. Thanks!

Tricky indeed if you could get a screenshot, hopefully that can clear up some of the issue.

I have a few ideas what it could be, but I rather not suggest attempting them without actually confirming that this could be the problem, so a screenshot would help.

If you resize the taskbar to make it larger, does that make a difference of whether it's shown or not, or moving the taskbar to a different position.

Also does this only affect Web Browser, if so, which one(s)?

Cheers,


MC

This is a similar problem for me, when I use Maxthon at work. If you have the same proble, disabling the boss key will do the trick.

Sorry, I am not very computer literate. What is a boss key?

I am working on a screen shot.

http://www.geocities.com/iceblade159753/screenie.jpg

Okay. It is a bit hard to see, but you can zoom in a little bit.

I have tried resizing the bar... Nothing...

I appreciate the help.

EDIT: Need anything else? I may get a screen shot and crop it soon so its easier to see...

This post has been edited by iceblade: Apr 30 2006, 11:33 AM

Not shure if this might help.
Right-click on the taskbar and untick the 'lock taskbar' option.
Than try fiddling around a bit with the sliders that have appeared, maybe that might make the appear.

Wow, so according to your screenshot, not only Firefox, but Netscape also does not appear in the taskbar. Does Internet Explorer have the same problem? If all 3 of these programs have the same problem, I think the problem should occur on all programs. But did you say that Itunes does appear in the taskbar?
If none of the windows appear on the taskbar, it's very likely that the tasks section of your taskbar is pulled to a bad location. Try unlocking your taskbar by right-clicking on it, as wutske has said, and pull the sections around.

Just checked internet explorer and opera both. Both disappear.

I guess I should say that its not just web browsers that disappear. Pretty much every minimizable window does.

Also, when minimzing Itunes, it goes into a thing where you can access the play controls, such as stop, fast forward, rewind, etc. which DOES land on the task bar. However, if I click the bar at the top of say a web browser from Itunes, Itunes doesn't show up on the task bar at all. I will try to get two screen shots that show that:

http://www.geocities.com/iceblade159753/screenie2.JPG - With itunes. I think. On the taskbar.
http://www.geocities.com/iceblade159753/screenie3.JPG - With itunes, not on the task bar but above the web browser bar.

Does anyone know if Steam or Counter Strike: Source or Battlefield 2 cause problems like this? Because I just recently installed these, so I wasn't sure if that might be the problem. I uninstalled Steam and Counter Strike: Source, but nothing happened.

Well, thanks for the help... We'll continue on this journey together I guess, eh?

I also tried unlocking the task bar. Nothing really worked... I just pulled it up though. I wasn't sure how to move any other sections around.

Same thing happens to me: Firefox button disappears from XP taskbar even though it\\
Web Browser And Taskbar Problems (web Browser Disappears)

Replying to iceblade...

But if I go to Alt+Tab and bring Firefox back into focus, the button reappears. This only happens with Firefox. IE works fine. I'm going to check the mozilla boards to see if anyone has reported the same thing.

In any event, I'm glad it's not only me... ;)

-reply by Andrew