I was troubleshooting a Windows XP computer that had been brought in to my friends computer shop this afternoon and noticed something odd going on with the Windows Task Manager. The computer had multiple issues including various viruses, Norton Internet Security installed, hadn’t been upgraded or patched for over a year, and numerous other items going wrong. I will say that Norton Internet Security is probably the worst antivirus software I have ever come across because not only does it take over every aspect of your computer but on top of that it doesn’t even save your computer from getting infected by viruses. After getting the computer in working shape by removing Norton Internet Security and beginning the installation of Windows XP patches I launched Windows Task Manager to view something and when I did the list of running applications displayed but I could not click other tabs that normally appear at the top of the Task Manager. Below I display an image of what the Windows Task Manager looked like and how I easily resolved the issue.
Windows Task Manager Not Displaying Tabs Or Navigation Bar:
I personally hadn’t ever seen the Task Manager look like this so initially I assumed there was a virus or spyware still running that I had missed when I cleaned up the Windows XP computer earlier. Eventually when troubleshooting the Windows Task Manager I realized the resolution to the issue was easier than I could have imagined and that Task Manager must have been in some mini-view or something. If you have a Windows Task Manager that looks similar to the above image simply double click the background of the application and it will display normally again. After double clicking the Windows Task Manager border to the left of the End Task button the navigation menu and tabs displayed properly as shown below.
Windows Task Manager In Normal View:
In the Windows Task Manager normal view you should be able to see the Applications, Processes, Performance, Networking, and Users tabs along with the top navigation menu which includes the File, Options, View, Windows, Shutdown, and Help menus. It is nice when double clicking resolves the issue!
Windows XP For Dummies (Paperback)
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Microsoft® Windows® XP Inside Out, Second Edition (Paperback)
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Thank you so much for your tip!
Hello Marco,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
Thanks for posting this. For the past few weeks I had to resort to using Alt-F4 to close the task manager. If only I had tried double-clicking (sigh!). Finally got tired of it tonight and googled the problem. Your post came up first. :)
Hello Jez,
No problem. Glad to hear our article helped out. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
Sah weeeeet! Thanks!
Hello Colleen,
No problem. Thanks for posting feedback.
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alex
Thanks! So simple and elegant, it worked. I also thought it was viral.
Hello Arthur,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
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alex
How viral does the fault look!
Thanks for the fix, I’ve been leaning to a re-install of Win 7 and wondering which day on the weekend I would have to kill.
Hello David,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time post feedback.Yeah it was really a great idea for a virus… unfortunately they should be using their minds on something more productive. :)
Thanks.
alex
Really helpfull…Thank you so much !!
Hello Diana,
Great to hear. Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks.
alex
Very helpful.. thanks !!
Hello Akane,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
Wow, thanks for the post. I have been working with the “minimized” version of Task Manager for a few weeks. What an easy path to resolution. Thanks for the post!
-=Steve-o=-
Hello Stephanorf,
No problem. Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks!
alex