Apps don't launch from Task Bar. Desktop/Programs list work fine.

[Fardringle]

This is an odd situation that I haven't been able to find a fix for.

The user has a Windows XP Professional SP3 computer that has started exhibiting a very strange behavior. Anything launched from the Windows Taskbar (i.e. any shortcuts in the Quick Launch taskbar, or right-clicking to open anything in the System Tray) either takes several minutes to open the program, or - more often - doesn't do anything at all. It doesn't matter which programs the shortcuts point to, and newly added shortcuts do the same thing.

Double-clicking shortcuts on the Desktop or in the Start>Programs list open the programs immediately as they should. The Start button itself also responds immediately.

There isn't anything running on the computer using significant system resources, there isn't any malware, and a system restore from a point before the time the user said it started hasn't made any difference.

It seems as if the part of the system that monitors/manages the Taskbar isn't functioning properly but I'm not sure how to repair it or if it is even possible to do so.

Any ideas?

 

[daveybrat]

Here's the best place to find practically any fixes for Windows XP all in one place:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Scroll down to # 164 and run that fix.

I've used it many times on XP systems where the taskbar just stopped working or having issues.

 

[Fardringle]

Thank you for the suggestion, but unfortunately that didn't have any effect.

 

[Bubbaleone]

If that .vbs script didn't fix it, you can avoid spending hours trying to isolate what system files and associations are broken if you have access to a SP3 installation disk and product key. If that's an option simply perform a repair installation, and problem solved.

 

[Fardringle]

I'll probably end up redoing Windows, but odd issues like this annoy me so I like to try to figure out the cause.