8.1 windows taskbar takes 10+ seconds to open program

This is the weirdest thing i've ever encountered in windows.

brand new computer, i installed my normal program (office 2013, vs.net 2013, sql developer 2014, stardock start 8 and some other basic stuff etc)

i have this computer and google chrome pinned to the task bar.

if i left click either of them, they take 10+ seconds to open. I can run either from a short cut on the desktop or anywhere else and they both open instantly.

i can fix this behavior by right clicking the task bar and clicking lock the task bar. now both chrome and this computer open instantly for about 1 min. eventually they both go back to 10 seconds.
i can then right click and do unlock the task bar and it fixes it for a min etc.

i think it might have something to do with office. i'm going to try to uninstall that and reinstall and see if it helps.
the little pop up messages in the upper right corner for "you have an email" are also very slow when i click on it to open the email in outlook.

i'd appreciate any ideas as i'm stumped.

Thanks!

uninstalling office didn't help, nor did reinstalling it

Do you have more than one hard drive? I've seen similar problems with Toolbars on the Taskbar when the target of the link is on a drive that has powered down, which is how I have my Power Profile set.

Though This COmputer should not be affected that way.

thanks for the reply, i do have 2 drives. it affects programs to though like chrome or anything else pinned to the task bar no matter which drive they're installed on.

Good to hear. Thanks for letting us know.