Found a bug Microsoft hasn't fixed since Windows XP

Dark Rider

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Just thought this was interesting.

Since XP sometimes the taskbar would get stuck open and not auto hide. The reason for this is the system is trying to display a notification window about something but it's not being displayed where it's visible. The solution is to go into task manager and close all instances of Windows Explorer ( not Internet Explorer) and then from the task manager, re-run Explorer.exe. The task bar will auto hide normally now.
I came across this researching the problem because I had t in Windows 8. I have found instances of this same problem and the same fix from Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and now Windows 8.

You would have thought Microsoft would have learned by now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64 bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion G7-2251dx
    CPU
    AMD A-8 4500M
    Memory
    8 Gigabytes DDR3 sdram
    Graphics Card(s)
    Discrete ATI Radeon HD 7640G with 2 Gigs
    Sound Card
    IDT Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    500 gig
    Internet Speed
    3.5 mb/sec
I see a Mod edited this as soon as I posted it adding the "Windows Explorer - Restart explorer.exe in Windows 8" link. Apparently problems like the one I mentioned above are so common place, Microsoft had to add a quick restart feature for Windows Explorer instead of properly fixing the problem.

I find that even more interesting than my above post.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64 bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion G7-2251dx
    CPU
    AMD A-8 4500M
    Memory
    8 Gigabytes DDR3 sdram
    Graphics Card(s)
    Discrete ATI Radeon HD 7640G with 2 Gigs
    Sound Card
    IDT Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    500 gig
    Internet Speed
    3.5 mb/sec
I marked it unsolved because a few minutes later.. same problem came back, so it's not as good a fix as people said it was after all. I did not open any other windows and if there is any phantom notification window poping up, i have no way to know that.. so I am starting to suspect that's really not the problem. I did notice that the taskbar will go back to auto hiding if you only have one open application sitting in your task bar - without having to close and restart explorer.exe.

Ya know how annoying it is trying to watch a full screen Youtube video and the task bar wont auto hide?

Is there a better fix for this problem?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64 bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion G7-2251dx
    CPU
    AMD A-8 4500M
    Memory
    8 Gigabytes DDR3 sdram
    Graphics Card(s)
    Discrete ATI Radeon HD 7640G with 2 Gigs
    Sound Card
    IDT Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    500 gig
    Internet Speed
    3.5 mb/sec
I marked it unsolved because a few minutes later.. same problem came back, so it's not as good a fix as people said it was after all. I did not open any other windows and if there is any phantom notification window poping up, i have no way to know that.. so I am starting to suspect that's really not the problem. I did notice that the taskbar will go back to auto hiding if you only have one open application sitting in your task bar - without having to close and restart explorer.exe.

Ya know how annoying it is trying to watch a full screen Youtube video and the task bar wont auto hide?

Is there a better fix for this problem?


I just press F-11 & get full screen every time. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Ya know how annoying it is trying to watch a full screen Youtube video and the task bar wont auto hide?

Is there a better fix for this problem?

You could try NOT having the taskbar auto-hide.

When the taskbar is marked as auto-hide it displays as topmost, which will be above the full screen app. I mean, if it's that annoying, then one can live with the taskbar not hiding, right?

As for the bug, it's really hard to say whether the bug you have found is the same as the bug previously reported. It might be similar, or it might just be something totally different that just looks like the old bug.

In any event, I've never seen this problem.. ever. That tells me it's not that common, and is probably related to something specific about your configuration or drivers.

As for the "Restart" feature, it's not added because of this issue. There are a lot of reasons people want to restart explorer. For instance, when installing new software that installs context menus, or removing said software. Also, debugging purposes when writing said shell extensions. It's not an exaggeration to say that people doing shell extension work sometimes restart explorer thousands of times.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
I've seen this issue on a few occasions over the years and I assume the reason that Microsoft has not addressed it is that it is more than likely caused by some 3rd party application, incorrectly calling the display routine without cause ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro x64 x2 Windows 10 Enterprise x64, Ubuntu
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Real World Computing
    CPU
    AMD FX8350 8 Core @4GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A78L-M USB3
    Memory
    32GB [4x8GB] DDR3 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus nVidia GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 (2GB DDR5)
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xoner DG + SPDIF to 5.1 System + HDMI
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer G276HL 27", (DVi) + Samsung 39" HDTV (HDMI)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 @60Hz + 1920 x 1080 @60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Internal
    Crucial 256GB SSD,
    WDC WD30EZRX-00D8PB0 3TB,
    Toshiba HDWD130 3TB
    Seagate ST2000DM001-1CH1 2TB,

    External (USB3)
    Seagate Backup+ Hub BK SCSI Disk 8TB
    2.5/3.5 Hot Swap Cradle, USB3 + eSata (client HDDs)

    NAS
    Seagate ST4000DM000
    PSU
    Aerocool Templarius Imperator 750W 80+ Silver
    Case
    AeroCool X-Warrior Devil Red Tower
    Cooling
    Stock CPU, Rear 120mm, Front 2x120mm, Side 2x120mm
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K710 & K270
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless M710 M185 & M570 Trackball
    Internet Speed
    37Mb/s Down - 9.5Mb/s Up
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    BitDefender Total Security 2017
    Other Info
    Also run...

    Desktop - 6Core 8GB - Windows 10 Enterprise x64,
    Laptop - Quad 8GB - Windows 10 Pro x64
    Netbook - Ubuntu
    2 x Nexus 7 Android tablets
    Samsung 10.2" tablet
    Sony Z3 Android Smartphone
    HTC One Android Smartphone
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