I have had this problem since beta. It originally occurred only on my main machine running 64bit but now it has started happening even on my older machine running 32bit. It is a difficult problem to describe so here is what happens: 1. Account logon occurs (any one of four accounts) 2. Desktop appears to be normal except the "hour glass" on the mouse seems to freeze for about 20 seconds but then goes away. 3. One opens a program. For example, Firefox. (all programs do the same thing) 4. Firefox opens but the icon on the taskbar does not fully expand. Example: http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a327/Hi_Ho/Problem.jpg 5. The clock in the taskbar does not advance past the time of logon. 6. Firefox appears to run normally except certain things don't seem quite right. Example: Cannot login to Windows Live mail (Says there's a "problem"). 7. The task manager opens but is completely empty. Nothing is in the process list, performance tab, or anywhere. 8. Logging off and logging back on immediately fixes the issue. 9. Any changes made to the user account during the problem period are lost. This includes files copied to user folders such as photos from a memory card. This problem has become more and more frequent. I see nothing unusual in the event viewer (no errors at all, just "information"). It has never happened on my laptop running 64bit. Nothing changed after a clean install of the release candidate. The first time I booted after install, two of the four user accounts exhibited the problem. I have been running Windows 7 since January and it was not until this week that I saw the problem on my older 32bit machine. I have done countless internet searches using all of the phrases I can think of to describe my problem and I have come up with nothing. I can't be the only one. If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated. I love Windows 7 but this problem has been persistent and has caused me great headache. Specs: Main machine Asus P5B Deluxe Motherboard Intel Core2 Duo E6600 CPU 4GB Corsair RAM Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB Video Card HT Omega Striker 7.1 Sound Card 2x Seagate 250GB HDD (OS and apps on dedicated partition) FSP 700W PSU Logitech MX1000 Mouse (W/Setpoint software installed) Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 (W/software installed) Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit RC1 Older system Asus A7V333 Motherboard AMD Athlon XP 1800+ CPU 1 GB RAM Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT Video Card 1x WD 250 GB HDD (OS and apps on dedicated partition) Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Music Sound Card Corsair 400W PSU Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard/Optical Mouse (No installed software) Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit RC1

I can responed to article 4. The icon does not expand becouse it is not configured to. To configure the taskbar control icon to expaned with text right clickon your start menu windows logo button. Click properties.Select the taskbar tab up top.Where it says "taskbar buttons:"clickthe dropdown menu and select "never combine".

It is configured to expand. It is set to "Combine whentaskbar is full".This is normal:http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a327/Hi_Ho/Normal.jpgNote thewhite lineto the right of the icon in the first screenshot. Even if it was not configured to expandthat line isnot normal. The problem with the icon not expanding only happens in conjunction with everything else. It seems to start expanding but then the animation chokes and it sticks like that. Those screenshots were taken a while back but after comparing them just now I can add something else to the list of noted issues. The system tray does not expand. It shows nothing.

Your right about that. I noticed somthing looking at the image upload and that is there appears to be several instances of firefox running at the same time which would cause the icon to look the way it does. There would have to be quite a few instances for it to combine into one icon as shown. Why would there be so many instances? Would logging of and back on kill all of those processes so it is expanded normally when you log back on? The fact that so many instances of firefox running at the same time may cause processes not to appear intask manager and other behavior?

It's not that either. Here is a screenshot I took of what combined icons normally look like:http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a327/Hi_Ho/Normal-1.jpgIt's not just Firefox. It's ANY open program, even Explorer. Firefox only allows a single instance anyway.

Even so, the icon is showing grouped multiple instances.Aside from this let me suggest a standard procedure to diagnose this and hope it works.You may open system configuration (msconfig.exe) as administrator, and disable all non-microsoft services. Also you may disable all startup programs. 1. In system configuration, select the "services" tab up top. Check hide all microsoft services. Select the disable all button at bottom right.2. In system configuration, select the startup tab up top. Select the disable all button at bottom right.If the startup process works as it should after this procrdure it will be process of elimination to find which service or startup program is causing the logon behavior you described.

Hi, according to the symptom you describe, the issue may be caused by corrupt user profile. Since all the four user accounts dont work properly, the issue may also be caused by corrupt hard driver, on which the user profiles store. Thus, I suggest you perform a check disk. Check Disk ========= 1. Click the Start Button, type "cmd" (without quotation marks) in the Search programs and files bar. 2. Right click on the search result listed upper and click Run as Administrator. 3. In the open command window, input the following command and press Enter Key after it. Chkdsk /f /r 4. Please type Y and press Enter. 5. Please restart the computer and let the tool check all drives on the computer. After that, try to create a new user account to check the issue. Here: How to Create, Delete and Modify User Accounts in Windows 7 Good luck. Cecilia Zhou

I am relatively certain that there are no multiple instances running. I also doubt that any 3rd party software is causing it since it happened the very first time I booted after instaling RC1. I hadn't installed anything. It happened again today. I took the opportunity to take another screenshot. I used prntscrn/Paint to do it and the mess that ensued is captured in the screenshot along with the empty task manager in the background. As you can see, menus get "stuck" and don't go away. http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a327/Hi_Ho/Untitled.jpg It does happen more frequently on certain user accounts. Corrupt user accounts makes sense but corrupt upon a fresh install? Bad hard drive sectors could be the problem but I ran checkdisk and I couldn't tell you if it found anything because when it finished it scrolled through everything before I could read it and booted Windows.

Hi, you should try to update all the hardware drivers. Here are the drivers: Asus P5B Deluxe Motherboard No idea whether the MB is compatible with 64-bit Win 7. It is better that you contact Asus to clarify it. The video driver and audio driver are both for 64-bit Win 7. Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB Video Card driver HT Omega Striker 7.1 Sound Card driver Regards. Cecilia Zhou

I have all of the latest drivers installed. I am running out of ideas. It happened again last night. It very rarely happens on my own user account. It is mostly on the other three. I actually tried, when I installed the release candidate, to delete and recreate the user account that exhibited the problem on first boot. It seemed to fix it but the next day it started happening and then it spread to other accounts. Could something on one of my other partitions be causing this? When I reinstall Windows I only wipe the C partition as all documents, photos, music, and everything else are on other partitions/drives (Games, Documents, Media).

If FF the only program malfunctionig it may be due to an addon running on the browser. Try to run Firefox with no addons and see if the problem persists.

I don't think the issue is related to the other disk partition. However, it is better that you also check the integrity of the other partition. This issue may occur if the ntuser.dat file of the other accounts is corrupt. Follow the steps below to replace the ntuser.dat file. You can refer to the steps in the link below to use Backup and Restore Center in Win 7. First Look at Windows 7's Backup and Restore CenterAfter that, please perform the following steps. Step 1: Show hidden files and folders============================1. Click the Start button, type folder options (without quotation marks) and press Enter.2. Switch to the View tab, under "Hidden files and folders", click "Show hidden files and folders".3. Clear the "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" check box and click "OK". Step 2: Replace ntuser.dat file=======================1. Please log on to the computer in Safe Mode with the default administrator account. 2. Click the Start button, type "C:\Users\Default" (without quotation marks) in the search bar and press "Enter". 3. Right click on the NTUSER.DAT file and choose Copy.4. Navigate to the C:\Users\user nameNote: The "user name" refers to the user name of your account. For example, if the user name of your account is "Bill", the folder should be C:\Users\Bill. 5. Choose Copy and Replace to replace this file. Note: Please understand that the ntuser.dat file is related to the personal settings. After replacing this file, these personal settings such as Desktop background and font size on the Desktop need to be setup again. Thank you for your understanding. Good luck.