Whenever I press CTRL-ALT-DEL on my laptop that I purchased several months ago, about 30 of the Windows Task Manager boxes appear! I am pressing the combo in order to end various programs... and I've never seen this happen on another computer before. I have to manually go through all 30 or so boxes and close them and it's driving me crazy! Does anyone know what is causing this and how to fix it? Thanks!

The first question is how long are you holding the keys? You only need hold them for a second (or less). In my experience, the only time that I have seen multiple windows open is when the keys are held too long. This is called the "repeat value".

You can adjust this value in the Control Panel/Keyboard applet.

Hope this helps!

Dwight

Thanks Dwight! I think that was part or all of the problem but I have another question. On my desktop the Windows Task Manager box has menus at the top (File, Options, etc.) but on my laptop all of that is gone. It doesn't even say Windows Task Manager at the top or anything, and I can't close the box... I have to drag it to the very bottom of the screen to get it out of my way. Do you know how I can get the menus and heading back? Thanks!

Try right-clicking on the "titlebar" of the Task Manager widow to see what optons are available. Perhaps you will see some kind of "view" options that will allow normal menu items to be displayed. See this picture.

Also, some utility programs like Norton's Systemworks hide some default windows options in order to prevent the system from user damage. I would need to know what kinds of "third-party" software that you're running (if any) to determine if that is the case here.

One way for you to determine if there is any "third-party" utility programs running is to:
Click Start
Click Run
Type in: msconfig
Click OK

Click the "Services" tab and then click the "Hide Microsoft services" option. What is left is all the third-party services that are set to run automatically on your system. Is there any program like "SystemWorks" running?

See this picture.

If neither of these suggestions help, please provide some information about the laptop; make/model Operating System, etc.

Dwight

Right clicking doesn't do anything.

I did as you said and under the Services tab and there is no "SystemWorks" file, but these things are running:

- AdminWorksAgent
- Symantec Event Manager
- Symantec Settings Manager
- Cisco Systems VPN
- Norton AntiVirus Auto-Pr...
- Norton AntiVirus Firewall
- Cyberlink RichVideo
- ScriptBlocking Service
- Symantec Network Drive
- Symantec SPBBCSvc

There are several other things with "Stopped" status. My laptop is an Acer Aspire 3620 and I'm using Windows XP.

Does this help any?

quote:

Right clicking doesn't do anything.

Nothing at all? Are you sure that you're right-clicking on the titlebar?


Dwight

There is no title bar in the first place. The only thing at the top is a gray strip (like the toolbar, but without any buttons.) I tried right clicking that and all over the window, but everytime I clicked the little "What's this?" caption just appeared.

This procedure should fix the problem. If not, please post again.

That fixed it. Thanks SOOOOO much!