How to Fix a Disappearing "Start" Menu, "Start" Button and Task Bar

Windows Desktop with no Start menu, Start button or System tray.

Many computer users have experienced their "Start" menu and task bar disappearing. This disappearing act could happen in the middle of a session for no explainable reason. Most of the time it's not due to a virus, but because you accidentally pushed the "F11" key, configured the task bar to Auto Hide or Windows Explorer crashed.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Patience
• Troubleshooting skills
• A Little computer bravery :-)

1. If the Auto-hide feature is enabled, your task bar will disappear unless you move the mouse to the bottom edge of the screen. On rare occasions, people who have knowingly configured their task bar this way will accidentally move it to the right, left or top of the screen. In this case, moving down to the bottom of the screen won't work. Instead, navigate to the right left or top edges of your screen. If you find the task bar there, drag the task bar back to the bottom. Alternatively, disable the Auto Hide feature. To do so, right-click on the desktop and select "Personalize" from the pop-up menu. Then click the "Taskbar and Start Menu" link from the left pane. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog appears. Uncheck the box next to "Auto-hide the taskbar" and select "Apply" and "OK."

2. Accidentally pressing the "F11" key can cause a hair raising experience, especially if you're surfing the Internet. In such a case, your Internet Window seems to have taken up the whole screen, and you have no idea how to restore your task bar, "Start" button or browser menus. To resolve this problem, just press the "F11" key again.

3. Sometimes your problem is caused by a crash of Windows Explorer. The application isn't just the program that lets you view your files in trees and folders and browse through them; it also manages the "Start" button, task bar and the system tray. Windows Explorer can crash for numerous reasons, including a computer virus or Windows becoming unstable and corrupted due to an overloading of resources. To resolve the issue,right-click the task bar and select "Start Task Manager" from the pop-up menu. Windows Task Manager appears. From the "File" menu, select "New Task (Run)." In the Create New Task dialog, type "Explorer.exe" (without quotes). Press "OK." Windows Explorer restarts and re-initializes the "Start" menu, "Start" button and task bar. Alternatively, restart your computer to restore Window Explorer.

4. If your "Start" menu is chronically crashing and disappearing, your Windows installation may be corrupt. Before you give up and do a "Repair" or "In Place" install, scan important files of Windows with the Windows System Files Integrity Scanner. To do so, log in to an Administrator account and navigate to the "Start" menu and select "Run." In the Run dialog, type "sfc /scannow" (without quotes) and click "OK." This process can sometimes take up to 30 minutes and Windows will probably find files it wants to replace. You may need to insert the original Windows operating system disc. If it isn't available, you may be able to use a valid backup copy already stored on your computer. To find a backup copy, press the "Windows" and "E" keys simultaneously to open Windows Explorer. Then click the "Organize" button from the left pane and select "Folder and search options" from the drop-down menu. The Folder Options dialog appears. Select the "View" tab. Under Advanced Settings, select the "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" radio button. Uncheck "Hide extensions for known files types." Then uncheck "Hide protected operating system files." In Windows Explorer, navigate to the files in any of these folders: "C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\," "C:\Windows\system32\dllcache\" or "C:\Windows\system32\DRVSTORE\." Just change where Windows is looking from you CD/DVD player to these folders or subfolders to locate the desired file. If this doesn't work, you can do a Windows repair install which replaces your Windows files but (hopefully) leaves your documents intact. However, you'll have to reinstall your software.

5. Update your anti-virus definitions and scan your computer for possible viruses that are corrupting your computer.

6. Before giving up, use a freeware tool to restore your task bar and "Start" menu, such as the Taskbar Repair Tool Plus (kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm).

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure to backup important documents before making a Windows operating system repair.

References

• Ask Leo!; My Taskbar Is Missing and I Have No Start Button - What Do I Do?; Leo Notenboom

Resources

• Microsoft Support: Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker (Sfc.exe)
• UpdateXP.com: Scannow SFC
• Microsoft Support: Support for Windows XP Technical Problems and Troubleshooting
• How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install; Michael Stevens
• Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!
• Kelly's Quick VBS Tool