I have the latest version of Winstep Xtreme. The taskbar including the time and date goes blank all the time except for Quicklaunch icons. I have an arrow to the extreme right to collapse the entire taskbar to the left then clicking on it brings it back and which restores the running tasks and calendar. I have to do this constantly and it has been this way for at least two years.

Any ideas?

At first glance sounds like a 3rd party application interfering with Xtreme.

What other Windows customization application(s) are you running? What version of Windows? What's your GPU? Does it have the latest drivers? Does this only happen with the NextSTART taskbar? Which theme? Does changing themes make any difference?

The short answers are: Windows 11, no other 3rd party apps, latest version of everything. GPU is Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060. I'll try another theme.

Wait! Is that what you are seeing? I thought the whole taskbar went blank?

If that is what you are seeing I have no explanation for THAT (unless you changed that theme's bitmaps).

That just showed the theme I was using and what it should normally look like.

Here's what it looks like when the running tasks and calendar disappear.

Ah, I understand now.

Do you have your taskbar set to Always on top? If you click on an empty place of the taskbar when the tasklist and the clock button disappear, do they pop back up?

Yes, it shows always on top. It toggles between normal Z-Order and always on top.

I'll wait for it to happen and see if clicking around actually runs anything as if it was just invisible but there.

-Steve

I found one thing that will always do it. I have a switch to go from two monitors to the one on the right (not normally the main monitor). When I switch back it is missing taskbar stuff. When I slide the taskbar to the left with the minimize button near the clock and bring it back, it has restored. I know it happens at other times but not exactly sure when. At any rate thanks for your help. I don't think this deserves any more attention.

Thanks.....Steve

I have the same problem. I have a Windows 11 laptop connected to two monitors at work, and I can take the laptop home with me. The taskbar is docked on one of the monitors when connected to them. Disconnecting or reconnecting the monitors causes the task list on the taskbar to disappear when the taskbar relocates. There are two ways of recovering from this issue: 1) Restart NextSTART. 2) Go to Preferences->Taskbar->Taskbar Settings->Taskbar Sections, then clear the Tasklist checkbox and apply it, and then set the Tasklist checkbox and apply it.

This reply is informational only in case there are plans to do a fix. It doesn't bother me that the tasks have disappeared because I always use the Nexus to switch between tasks.

Does the tasklist return if you click the NextSTART Start button to open the main NextSTART menu?

I'm going to post this here even though the post is a bit old.

I'm having the same problem except it occurs when NextSTART starts up at Windows startup. Both the task list and tray icons are blank, and the time and date is blank as well. Only the start button and quick start icons are showing. Unlike the previous poster who has the settings icon, my tray is completely blank. The only way to recover is to restart NextSTART, and then all my tasks and tray icons will appear. Clicking the start button to open the main NextSTART menu doesn't work. I haven't tried clearing and setting the task list mentioned by the previous poster since it's quicker to exit NextSTART and click the Winstep Xtreme icon on my desktop to reload it.

This happened every time I booted Windows 10. I recently installed Windows 11 and it's still doing it every time I boot.

Version info:
nextstart.exe 24.04.0985
WorkShelf.exe 24.04.1476
WSUpdate.exe 22.05.0202
Winstep.exe 24.04.0120
WsxService.exe 23.11.0105
WsxMMTimer.dll 1.00.0008

Single monitor system (Intel NUC connected to smart TV). Screen resolution 1920x1080. NextSTART in vertical mode docked to left side of the monitor. From top to bottom: start button, quick start icons, task list, system tray, time and date.

Active items: NextSTART, Nexus. Nexus contains Start Menu, clock, recycler, Media Player, Capture Desktop, Show/Hide Desktop Modules, Restore Wallpaper, and tasks. No desktop modules are active. A workshelf has been defined to dock to the top of the screen but has been disabled.

Special apps: ExplorerPatcher to give me tray icons in Windows 11. I didn't use it in Windows 10 so I don't think this program is affecting anything.

I hope you can find the time to fix this. Back when I was using Windows 10, it wasn't a big deal since the Windows menu filled in when NextSTART went blank. But I had to install Windows 11 because Microsoft nerfed my Windows 10 video driver to make it look like my monitor was bad, and now the Windows 11 start menu is so bad, I want nothing to do with it. Thanks!

Instead of restarting NextSTART try adding a 'Desktop -> Reset Reserved Screen Space' internal command to either the NextSTART Quick Launch section in the taskbar or a dock and clicking that instead. It will force a refresh of the screen reserved areas, taskbar, etc...

Does that solve the problem?

It did! I placed the button in the quick start area of NextSTART and rebooted, and the entire taskbar displayed normally. I didn't even have to click the button (auto execute?). But it's nice to know that it's available the next time the taskbar goes on vacation. Thanks!

Nah, just plain luck.

Did some reboots and occasionally the tray disappears. Pressed the button and everything came back.