I am helping a friend try to get his Compaq Presario 5900T running Windows 98SE in a better operating condition. I have been able to solve several problems, but one that persists is with the taskbar. After installing all of the available Windows Updates recently, several blank rectangles appeared on the taskbar. They appeared "raised" initially but became "recessed" if they were clicked on. I understand that this situation is caused by one or more of the Windows Updates but I have no idea which ones or how to find and remove them.
Also, every time a program or file is opened a rectangle with it's name appears on the taskbar. They never overwrite themselves or go away--just accumulate on the taskbar and get smaller and smaller as the number increases. In my Windows XP, after 5 in the same or similiar program or file, they go to one box with a number beside the name which increases if more or opened and decreases if one or more are closed. When it's time to shut down, this box can be right clicked and then "Close Group" left clicked and they all close. My friend is under the impression (and so am I) that there is a way to close all of these at one time with his Windows 98SE operating system.
I'm sure someone out there has seen both these problems and has the answer for correcting them. It would certainly be appreciated.
Thank you,
Flyered
Full Version: Windows 98se Taskbar
QUOTE
Also, every time a program or file is opened a rectangle with it's name appears on the taskbar
are you having a bit of fun with sorting the machine as sounds like it
mine do too with my programs ; which programs have you noticed doing this ?
I am goona ask; what antivirus program is on this machine and what other protection?
when did it last have the scan disc run on it or the disc defragmenter?
QUOTE
In my Windows XP, after 5 in the same or similiar program or file, they go to one box with a number beside the name which increases if more or opened and decreases if one or more are closed.
Windows XP has "taskbar grouping" which is a new feature in XP and above. I don't think anything lower than XP has it (2000 might, not sure)
To close all open application in one click in Windows 98 hold down the Ctrl key and individually click each of the open programs on the task bar. Once all buttons are selected click on one of the selected buttons with the right mouse button and click close.
Cool huh?
Cool huh?
it would really help to know which if any antivirus protection is installed on the Win 98se computer and what other protection programs are on it?
also how it connects to the internet?
and; it concerns ME that , as Windows updates for 98se stopped in July 2006; one might wonder what care and attention has been happeing on the machine sicne then?
I am suspecting it may have gotten infected, or some how corrupted, but by what needs to be determined
also how it connects to the internet?
and; it concerns ME that , as Windows updates for 98se stopped in July 2006; one might wonder what care and attention has been happeing on the machine sicne then?
I am suspecting it may have gotten infected, or some how corrupted, but by what needs to be determined
QUOTE(FlyerEd @ Feb 24 2008, 03:33 PM) 
I am helping a friend try to get his Compaq Presario 5900T running Windows 98SE in a better operating condition. I have been able to solve several problems, but one that persists is with the taskbar. After installing all of the available Windows Updates recently, several blank rectangles appeared on the taskbar. They appeared "raised" initially but became "recessed" if they were clicked on. I understand that this situation is caused by one or more of the Windows Updates but I have no idea which ones or how to find and remove them.
Also, every time a program or file is opened a rectangle with it's name appears on the taskbar. They never overwrite themselves or go away--just accumulate on the taskbar and get smaller and smaller as the number increases. In my Windows XP, after 5 in the same or similiar program or file, they go to one box with a number beside the name which increases if more or opened and decreases if one or more are closed. When it's time to shut down, this box can be right clicked and then "Close Group" left clicked and they all close. My friend is under the impression (and so am I) that there is a way to close all of these at one time with his Windows 98SE operating system.
I'm sure someone out there has seen both these problems and has the answer for correcting them. It would certainly be appreciated.
Thank you,
Flyered
Also, every time a program or file is opened a rectangle with it's name appears on the taskbar. They never overwrite themselves or go away--just accumulate on the taskbar and get smaller and smaller as the number increases. In my Windows XP, after 5 in the same or similiar program or file, they go to one box with a number beside the name which increases if more or opened and decreases if one or more are closed. When it's time to shut down, this box can be right clicked and then "Close Group" left clicked and they all close. My friend is under the impression (and so am I) that there is a way to close all of these at one time with his Windows 98SE operating system.
I'm sure someone out there has seen both these problems and has the answer for correcting them. It would certainly be appreciated.
Thank you,
Flyered
Hello FlyerEd,
This may help you...
click Start button / Run...
type msconfig
This will open the System Configuration Utility
click on the Startup tab
uncheck whichever program(s) you do not want to run when Windows starts
This may help you to permanently prevent these mystery rectangles from appearing, as there will most likely be a long list of programs that you can easily uncheck so that they will not open again, once you reboot. Hope this helps you and your friend.
Answers To Replies Regarding Windows 98se Taskbar:
1. Holding down the Control key while clicking on each and then right clicking one and selecting "Close Group" seems to work fine and may be the simplest (if not only) solution with Win 98se.
2. I will try msconfig and see if unchecking startup items does away with raised/recessed rectangles. I have visited this part of msconfig many times, but am never sure just what is safe to uncheck. I assume the process is reversible if something doesn't work properly.
3. This computer had ca AntiVirus software on it when I first started troubleshooting. This antivirus software has a terrible reputation. At the time, it had not updated itself in 83 days (auto update selected) and had not run in approximate 40 days.
It was purchased from OfficeMax and installed by one of their employees. It could not be made to update or run and could not be uninstalled by Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs. ca emailed me the manual uninstall instructions (through RegEdit) but it would not work. I had a similiar problem on my computer a year or so ago with another item of software.
I kept trying to reinstall the ca AntiVirus from the CD (as I did with the one I had), but it would not reinstall. Over a several week period and after approx. the 6th attempt, the software did finally reinstall from the cd (back to an earlier version).
When it did, I was able to easily remove it with the Uninstall feature of CCleaner. After this, I installed several versions of antivirus software (free ones but good) and ran each of them. There was not a single infection on the system (surprised me!). I left AVG (http://free.grisoft.com) as the regular antivirus because it now scans and updates itself automatically.
I also did Spam/SpyWare scans with several programs and found approx. 26 items, but nothing that looked too threatning.
I left SpyBot Search & Destroy as the resident program. As far as Windows updates, automatic notification and installation
had not been selected. I did a Microsoft Updates search and there were approx. 33 updates available. I installed them all.
It was after this that the taskbar started showing the raised/recessed rectangles. I did find out through another site that this was caused by 2 of these updates. I'm going to try and find this again and remove those two. If I can't, I don't think it's really a problem--just looks different than before. The connection to the internet is at&t/BellSouth DSL. Even though the computer has a fairly slow processor, this "base" DSL connection performs very well.
I hope this answers all the questions posed about this issue. I would have replied sooner but my system has gotten in such bad shape that I can hardly get on the web and stay there. I have switched back and forth between IE6 and IE7 but both continually advise that "they have encountered a problem and need to close." I am working on this problem but haven't solved it yet. I do appreciate all the help and suggestions regarding this taskbar problem.
FlyerEd
1. Holding down the Control key while clicking on each and then right clicking one and selecting "Close Group" seems to work fine and may be the simplest (if not only) solution with Win 98se.
2. I will try msconfig and see if unchecking startup items does away with raised/recessed rectangles. I have visited this part of msconfig many times, but am never sure just what is safe to uncheck. I assume the process is reversible if something doesn't work properly.
3. This computer had ca AntiVirus software on it when I first started troubleshooting. This antivirus software has a terrible reputation. At the time, it had not updated itself in 83 days (auto update selected) and had not run in approximate 40 days.
It was purchased from OfficeMax and installed by one of their employees. It could not be made to update or run and could not be uninstalled by Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs. ca emailed me the manual uninstall instructions (through RegEdit) but it would not work. I had a similiar problem on my computer a year or so ago with another item of software.
I kept trying to reinstall the ca AntiVirus from the CD (as I did with the one I had), but it would not reinstall. Over a several week period and after approx. the 6th attempt, the software did finally reinstall from the cd (back to an earlier version).
When it did, I was able to easily remove it with the Uninstall feature of CCleaner. After this, I installed several versions of antivirus software (free ones but good) and ran each of them. There was not a single infection on the system (surprised me!). I left AVG (http://free.grisoft.com) as the regular antivirus because it now scans and updates itself automatically.
I also did Spam/SpyWare scans with several programs and found approx. 26 items, but nothing that looked too threatning.
I left SpyBot Search & Destroy as the resident program. As far as Windows updates, automatic notification and installation
had not been selected. I did a Microsoft Updates search and there were approx. 33 updates available. I installed them all.
It was after this that the taskbar started showing the raised/recessed rectangles. I did find out through another site that this was caused by 2 of these updates. I'm going to try and find this again and remove those two. If I can't, I don't think it's really a problem--just looks different than before. The connection to the internet is at&t/BellSouth DSL. Even though the computer has a fairly slow processor, this "base" DSL connection performs very well.
I hope this answers all the questions posed about this issue. I would have replied sooner but my system has gotten in such bad shape that I can hardly get on the web and stay there. I have switched back and forth between IE6 and IE7 but both continually advise that "they have encountered a problem and need to close." I am working on this problem but haven't solved it yet. I do appreciate all the help and suggestions regarding this taskbar problem.
FlyerEd
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