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Windows 10 Taskbar Keeps Crashing/Restarting

This is a significant problem mainly because it happens every minute or two and because every time it happens, Windows Explorer closes and I have to re-navigate to my desired file folder again.

So, here's what happens:

  • Every 2 minutes or so, the taskbar goes all black - there are no icons there any more
  • If I'm in the middle of an action (like entering a formula or using a menu in Excel) that program will hang or freeze momentarily. If typing a formula in Excel, I will need to re-enter it.
  • The taskbar flickers once and then the icons reappear. It's as if the taskbar is constantly rebooting
  • The above issues are annoying, but at least the programs I am using (Excel, etc) remain open.
  • The biggest problem is that Windows File Explorer appears to restart every time the taskbar does. As stated above, this means I have to navigate to find whatever files I need to use all over again.

It's totally ridiculous. It's a serious bug that is hampering my ability to do work on this computer. As of now, I completely regret upgrading from Windows 7. How long does a roll-back take?

There are other posts regarding this, but none of the answers are satisfactory.

So I am asking again.

P.S. I already opened a command prompt as an administrator and did a system scan (sfc / scan now, I think). It came back clean.

I also uninstalled my IDT sound drivers and rebooted.

Assistance is much appreciated.

Hi Mike,

I appreciate you for trying some steps in order to get the issue fixed.

I would suggest you to use DISM command and then check if taskbar crashes.

a: Press Windows key + X.

b: Then click Command prompt(Admin)

c: Now type the following command and hit enter

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth  

Important: When you run this command, DISM uses Windows Update to provide the files that are required to fix corruptions. However, if your Windows Update client is already broken, use a running Windows installation as the repair source, or use a Windows side-by-side folder from a network share or from a removable media, such as the Windows DVD, as the source of the files.

Please revert if you face any issues with Taskbar crashing.

Thank you.

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Also, can you do the following:

Windows Key + S > type view all problem reports then click on "View all problem reports Control panel"

Can you right-click on a few of the "Windows Explorer" "Stopped working" errors > View technical details

What are the details of the errors?

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Unfortunately, nothing really happens when I run the program.

This is what I see:

UPDATE: It's now starting, to run, 20 minutes after I started it. It's at 20% now.

UPDATE 2: It's 100% completed. All I see is "The restore operation completed successfully" and below it "The operation completed successfully". That's it. Do I reboot?

Interestingly, I used the Windows Snipping tool to capture this. When I used the "Save As" option to save my file so that I could upload it here, there was a lot of "Not Responding". I also created a "New Folder" folder within my Pictures folder to store future images for this thread, but it never showed up. I had to "Save As" again from the Snipping Tool to see the folder.

Also, please monitor my responses to other suggestions in this thread. For example, another person on here suggested that I go to the Control Panel. This is another issue that happens: accessing the Control Panel causes it to freeze, hang and crash much like Windows File Explorer or the taskbar. When I need to access something in the Control Panel, I have to search for the sub-item in the task bar (eg. search for "Systems and Maintenance") and go directly to it. It will not work when going through the Control Panel.

Oh, and finally, I tried to reply to this thread while in Chrome, but when I pressed the "Submit" button, nothing happened. So I had to copy over everything to Edge and try to post. This also happened when registering here. It didn't work in Chrome. This is immensely frustrating.

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Here are all my problem reports. I thought I uninstalled the IDT driver. Maybe I have to do that again

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And here are the details of the most recently reported File Explorer problem report

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Other issues:

  1. I get an "Unhandled Exception Error" every time I boot up. It's related to a Realtek Trulink Wireless USB Manager software that came with my computer. I don't think I actually use it, and a web search finds nothing about it. Also, I don't see it listed in the Remove Programs list in the Control Panel sub-menu. I'd like to get rid of it but I can't.

And here are the details of that report:

Exception:
Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
Exception Source:
mscorlib
Target Site:
System.Object _InvokeMethodFast(System.Object, System.Object[], System.SignatureStruct ByRef, System.Reflection.MethodAttributes, System.RuntimeTypeHandle)
Inner Exception:
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at WUSBManagerApplication.Form1.WiCenterAPI_ApplicationUnregisteredEvent(Object sender, EventArgs e)
Stack Trace:
   at System.RuntimeMethodHandle._InvokeMethodFast(Object target, Object[] arguments, SignatureStruct& sig, MethodAttributes methodAttributes, RuntimeTypeHandle typeOwner)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture, Boolean skipVisibilityChecks)
   at System.Delegate.DynamicInvokeImpl(Object[] args)
   at StonestreetOne.WiCenterAPI.WiCenterAPI.SendEvent(Delegate del, Object[] args)
Version Information:

2.  Every time I boot up I get a Windows Defender notice that it isn't running. When I close it and try to access Windows Defender by selecting the app from the search bar, I get the error box again. When I select the Windows Defender Settings option in the search bar, it takes me to the settings and they are all "ON".

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For that crash what I would is to reinstall the IDT audio driver and then go to the following folder:

C:\Windows\System32

In that folder right-click the IDTNC64.cpl and rename the IDTNC64.cpl to IDTNC64.old

Log out and log back in again.

That way you should have a working IDT audio driver without the crash.

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This appears to have worked, but a couple of notes:

  • I had already removed the IDT drivers, so I removed the remaining Audio Drivers.
  • I didn't rename the file in Windows/System32 because it wasn't even there!
  • I tried to install the HD audio driver from the HP site (I have an HP laptop) and it aborted, saying that is was not compatible or something.
  • Either way, I logged out and logged back in and no taskbar problems yet..

Anyway, 2 more things to do:

  • Fix the Windows Defender error message
  • Try to remove the Wireless USB Manager that I keep getting error reports for

On a side note - when I type responses on this site I get a huge lag when using backspace (if I make a typo). Typing forward is fine though. Anyone else experience this?

Thanks for your help!

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You're welcome for the help.

For the other two things can you try a "clean boot" and see if it makes a difference:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135

Reset the computer to start normally after using the clean boot .

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Question Info

Last updated May 15, 2024 Views 48,444 Applies to: