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My previous post seems to have been moved or deleted. I'm very sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place, but it's also frustrating to be unceremoniously dumped. I'll try again and appreciate any corrections or advice if I'm out of line or something. I really do think this is a trojan or other troublemaker, and not an XP goof.
Upon startup, there has been (for a few days) a vertical line just to the right of the "Start" button on my taskbar. (NOTE: It's NOT the quick-launch toolbar, I've checked). It is like the edge of a toolbar, only this toolbar (if that's what it is) will not let me resize it or view its contents. I have NO toolbars selected when I right-click the taskbar.
I'm completely consumed and obsessed with this, because I'm convinced it's some keystroke-logging hijacker evil demon! I have slower performance; apps take a bit longer to launch, and I swear I see little flashes of windows opening and closing (maybe it's the paranoia.) Also, I have that little delay when I type words in a searchbar or something, where the letters typed are displayed after just a little lag.
I've tried McAfee virusScan, Spybot S&D, AdAware, Process Explorer, Windows Defender, Ewido, Enabler, Trojan Hunter, and SpySweeper (told ya, I'm totally freaked out by this!). None have detected anything as far as I can tell. I'm running out of ideas, and ready to check into the loony bin.I use Mozilla browser, not IE.
Regards,
Monica
If you boot to safe mode is it still there?
If it isn't, run msconfig and disable everything in the startup. Reboot again, do not go back to normal boot when it asks you and see if it's there or not.
If it's not, try to find out what was in the startup that caused it.
If it is still there, run regedit and go to:
HKLM
Software
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
Run
Look for anything strange and the same thing in HKCU.
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The little b--tard is there in safe mode, both before and after diabling every startup item in msconfig. I mouse to it, and I get the bidirectional arrows, but they don't actually allow me to stretch the thing.
Regedit shows nothing at all weird in either HKLM or HKCU.
Quite a head scratcher. Thank you for your comments.
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Why don't you post a screen shot so we can see exactly what it is you're talking about?
Life is more painless for those who are brainless.
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I just noticed that I have the same thing on 2 windows boxes. I get the arrows too. It's between the start button and the icons.
Here's the kicker. Go to the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties and you'll see the little bar there. Right click on it and left clik on what's this. It will tell you all about it.
HA HA
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I guess you're saying HA HA because there is no helpful information about this bar? HA HA indeed! But I'm POSITIVE it wasn't there before 2 weeks ago or so. It looks exactly like a toolbar with nothing (visible) in it. I also figure if it is benign, there would be a way to resize, remove or "deselect" it. None of my protective programs seem to care about it, and I'm not suffering in any meaningful way (except for the all-consuming paranoia), but I'd really really like to know what this is and how to get rid of it.
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Did you understand what I was saying? I'm trying to tell you that it belongs there. It's part of the system.
Do what I said in the last paragraph of my last post. That explains it.I'll tell you again, Right click on the task bar, left click on properties, right click on what you call the hidden tool bar, then left click on what's this.
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Yes, I did understand what you were saying, and I did exactly as you suggested. When I click on "What's This" of the taskbar-properties-taskbar graphic, I get the explanation "shows how the options on this tab affect how windows displays the taskbar. This image changes as you click different options."
In other words, the "what's this" boilerplate information just explains what the entire graphic will preview for you when you click on the taskbar options. I find this unhelpful, as it applies to the whole taskbar graphic in this properties window. It says nothing whatsoever about the specific toolbar I wish to know more about.
You say it's on two of your windows boxes. Does that mean it is not on other windows boxes you might have?
If you, say, select the "Quick Launch" toolbar to appear on your taskbar, and then you remove all the shortcuts that are on the Quick Launch toolbar, you'll have exactly what I'm seeing. However, you'll be able to "stretch" it, drag shortcuts to it,and so forth.
This is why I am still suspicious that it is a toolbar of some kind. Sorry if I seem stupid.
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I just looked at the third w2k box and they all do what you say. You can stretch it to show more or less of the quick launch or the running processes. If you strecth it away from the start button, it shows more of the running processes.
I really don't think there is a problem at all.
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Indeed, you (and I) can do all those things to a toolbar such as the Quick Launch toolbar. But I'm talking about something that is not the Quick Launch toolbar. I was just using my example to illustrate what I'm seeing. I have ensured that there are no available toolbars selected to appear on my taskbar, including the Quick launch. I'm left with the one vertical bar that I cannot stretch (although there are bidirectional arrows when I mouse over it), and I cannot find info on.
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Everything you say is correct. The vertical bar is still there and cannot be moved <-> that way if none of the tool bars are activated. Actually, there are 2 vertical bars even though it appears to be one. They cannot be separated by the bidirectional arrows if there are no toolbars activated. If you activate a toolbar, you'll see a vertical bar at each end of the toolbar.
You may think that the bidirectional arrows shouldn't appear if they can't be used at that point but that's the way the code was written. Microsoft is known for worse code than that according to some.
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