Sometimes, after a Restart, the taskbar icons are gone. Their
labels show up if I hover over where they ought to be. It's
a minor annoyance to be sure...

On 01/06/2023 16:01, jason_warren@ieee.org wrote:
> Sometimes, after a Restart, the taskbar icons are gone. Their
> labels show up if I hover over where they ought to be. It's
> a minor annoyance to be sure...

The issue you described with missing taskbar icons in Windows 11 after a
restart could be due to several reasons. Here are a few possible causes:

1. Explorer.exe not starting properly: The Windows Explorer process,
responsible for managing the desktop and taskbar, may not start
correctly during the startup process. This can result in missing taskbar
icons.

2. Delayed loading of startup programs: If you have many startup
programs or certain programs that take longer to load, it can cause a
delay in the taskbar icons appearing. During this delay, the taskbar may
appear empty or with missing icons temporarily.

3. Display driver issues: Outdated or incompatible display drivers can
sometimes cause issues with the taskbar icons not displaying properly.
Updating your graphics drivers to the latest version compatible with
Windows 11 might help resolve the problem.

4. Corrupted system files: System files required for the proper
functioning of the taskbar icons may have become corrupted. In such
cases, running the System File Checker (SFC) tool can help repair any
damaged system files.

To address this issue, you can try the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Restart your computer: Sometimes, a simple restart can resolve
temporary glitches or issues with the startup process.

2. Check for Windows updates: Make sure your Windows 11 installation is
up to date. Microsoft often releases updates that include bug fixes and
improvements. Installing the latest updates may help resolve the issue.

3. Update your display drivers: Visit the website of your graphics card
manufacturer and download the latest drivers compatible with Windows 11.
Install the updated drivers and see if it resolves the problem.

4. Run the System File Checker (SFC) tool: Open the Command Prompt as an
administrator and run the command "sfc /scannow" (without quotes). This
command will scan your system files for errors and attempt to repair
them if any issues are found.

If the issue persists after trying these steps, you may consider
reaching out to Microsoft support or the Windows community forums for
further assistance.

=

HTH
David

On 6/1/2023 11:01 AM, jason_warren@ieee.org wrote:
> Sometimes, after a Restart, the taskbar icons are gone. Their
> labels show up if I hover over where they ought to be. It's
> a minor annoyance to be sure...
>

There might have been another complaint like this, related to the
background of the icon being black (not getting masked properly).

This could be related (somehow) to an update and how the icons
are handled. It's hard to believe, that somewhere in a tiny icon
cache, there are one too many XOR operations or such. Surely an icon
is not a custom display list for the GPU and is a more simple graphical
operation.

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/rebuild-icon-cache-in-windows-11.2049/

Now, proof that the icon cache design is NOT kooky, is
the bug I've got.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/rpQc5gBZ/W11-Task-Bar-Icons.gif

I like to pin the SnippingTool to the Taskbar.

When Win11 came out, the snippingtool.exe might have been a Win32 application.
It was presumably replaced (quickly) with a Metro.app version of SnippingTool
soon after that. Well, you would expect a stale Taskbar reference
(executable for the pin has gone missing), there would be some
cleanup procedure. Yet, my gap-toothed Taskbar has been
carefully preserved ever since W11 22000.xxx was installed. The
OS is currently (winver.exe) 22621.1778 and it still looks like that.

The missing icon in my example turns white when the mouse is
over the square hole. And the icon area returns to the background
color when the mouse is not over the gap. There might still be
a mask and transparency trick, on the working icons, to get
the shape preserved properly when toggling the background. But
at least my gap-tooth area has not developed any bizarre behaviors,
so perhaps the code for the icons hasn't really changed in all
this time. Rather than attempt to fix it, I like to leave it busted,
as a "reference screen area" for behaviors. The OS can't find the
icon, and can't find the mask for transparency either.

If it was a GPU issue, you'd expect to find other brokenness besides
just the icon area.

When you have two monitors, there is some setting that changes
how the Taskbar is handled. And maybe that's why some articles
refer to the two-monitor setup as being a factor. It would normally
have not been a factor, except there's a slider somewhere that
changes how the Taskbar is treated (displayed on both monitors, or not).

Paul