I finally solved the problem by running the following vbs script. It does some modifications to the windows registry. Although it's originally designed for Windows XP, fortunately it also works in Windows 7, at least in my case. My task bar has now come back but I still have no idea what actually causes such problem.
'xp_taskbar_desktop_fixall.vbs - Repairs the Taskbar when minimized programs don't show.
'?Kelly Theriot and Doug Knox - 8/22/2003
Set WSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Message = "To work correctly, the script will close" & vbCR
Message = Message & "and restart the Windows Explorer shell." & vbCR
Message = Message & "This will not harm your system." & vbCR & vbCR
Message = Message & "Continue?"
X = MsgBox(Message, vbYesNo, "Notice")
If X = 6 Then
On Error Resume Next
WshShell.RegDelete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2\"
WshShell.RegDelete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StreamMRU\"
WshShell.RegDelete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop\"
WshShell.RegDelete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Explorer Bars\{32683183-48a0-441b-a342-7c2a440a9478}\BarSize"
P1 = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoBandCustomize", 0, "REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoMovingBands", 0, "REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoCloseDragDropBands", 0, "REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoSetTaskbar", 0, "REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoToolbarsOnTaskbar", 0, "REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoSaveSettings",0,"REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoToolbarsOnTaskbar", 0, "REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoSetTaskbar",0,"REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoActiveDesktop",0,"REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "ClassicShell",0,"REG_DWORD"
p1 = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects\LocalUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\"
WshShell.RegWrite p1 & "NoCloseDragDropBands", 0, "REG_DWORD"
WshShell.RegDelete p1 & "NoMovingBands"
p1 = "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell"
WshShell.RegWrite p1, "explorer.exe", "REG_SZ"
p1 = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Explorer Bars\{32683183-48a0-441b-a342-7c2a440a9478}\"
WshShell.RegDelete p1 & "BarSize"
WshShell.RegWrite p1, "Media Band", "REG_SZ"
On Error Goto 0
For Each Process in GetObject("winmgmts:"). _
ExecQuery ("select * from Win32_Process where name='explorer.exe'")
Process.terminate(0)
Next
MsgBox "Finished." & vbcr & vbcr & "?Kelly Theriot and Doug Knox", 4096, "Done"
Else
MsgBox "No changes were made to your system." & vbcr & vbcr & "?Kelly Theriot and Doug Knox", 4096, "User Cancelled"
End If
The script can also be downloaded in this page:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm
Just click on "Taskbar is Missing".
Good luck.
From this article: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/04/29/windows-10-taskbar-not-hiding-here-is-the-fix/
The idea is to discover the underlying app that wants attention. Some apps or background apps do not have an icon displayed, therefore no indication is visible.
Solution: Enable all icons for a short time to see the icon that is wanting attention.
Quote:
Start by opening the Taskbar preferences again. This is done with the keyboard shortcut Windows-I, and navigating to Personalization > Taskbar in the Settings application.
Locate and click on "select which icons appear on the taskbar" under notification area.
Select-icons-taskbar
I recommend that you check the "always show all icons in the notification area". The reason for that is that you get a good overview of all icons, and can identify the culprit easily this way.
Best Answer
This is a well-known problem that has hit many people in all versions of Windows. Some workarounds that worked for some people are listed below:
For Windows Home, the above can be done using regedit to navigate to the key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
and create a DWORD entry namedTaskbarLockAll
with the value of1
.