Process smartmenu.exe has a volume bar that

Right click on the start bar and select Task Manager, once it opens click on the Applications tab, look for a program that's running here, that you are not familiar with or did not start yourself, left click it and select end task. If its not listed try the Processes tab instead and find it in there. Once it stops running go to add remove programs, find it and remove it.

The task bar is an important part of the Windows experience. Not only does it contain a variety of information including what time it is and how much battery life is left it's the way most Windows users open programs and documents. As such, the task bar disappearing is a stressful thing, but fixing this problem on your own is possible.

Auto-Hide Sometimes you may think your task bar has disappeared, but it's really just been set to "auto-hide." Move your mouse to the bottom of the screen and see if it pops up automatically. Then check all four sides of the screen. If the task bar was simply auto-hiding, disable this feature by right-clicking the task bar, clicking "Properties" and unchecking "Auto-hide the Taskbar." b> Reboot b> If your task bar disappears, and auto-hide isn't the culprit, the first thing you should do is reboot your computer this fixes the problems in most instances. Only one problem: because your task bar disappeared you can't access the "Start" menu in order to shut down the computer. Instead press "Alt," "Ctrl," and "Delete" at the same time and press "Restart" in the window that pops up after doing so. Your computer should restart, and in most cases your task bar should come back when it restarts. b> More Options b> If rebooting doesn't fix cause the task bar to reappear, your computer might have a problem starting explorer.exe, the program that displays the task bar and desktop icons in Windows. Press "Ctrl," "Shift," and "Esc" at the same time to bring up the System Manager. Then click "File," followed by "New Task (Run)" and type "explorer.exe" in the dialogue box that pops up. You now have your task bar and desktop icons back. Reboot to see if they stick around after rebooting. If not, repeat the process in the above paragraph. When you have you task bar back click "Start," then "Programs," then "Accessories," then "System Tools" and then "System Restore." Restore the computer to a time when everything was working fine by clicking that date on the calendar. Reboot to see if this fixes the problem. If none of this brought back your task bar permanently it may be time to run a repair install. Change My Task Bar b> In Windows operating systems, the taskbar shows your currently active windows and programs, shortcuts to your favorite programs, the time, your volume control, active programs and the "Start" button. You may want to change the taskbar so it has a different look or to customize it to suit your needs when using your computer. Windows XP users have fewer options than Windows Vista or Windows 7 users, but all operating system owners can make changes to the taskbar.

Right-click in your taskbar. Left-click on "Lock the taskbar" if it is currently checked. Otherwise, click back onto the taskbar. Click on any empty area of the taskbar. Drag the taskbar to the position (bottom, top, left or right side of the screen) you desire, and release it. Re the taskbar by moving your cursor to where the taskbar ends. Your cursor will change to a two-way arrow. Left-click and drag the taskbar until it reaches the you want. Move your cursor over the series of separator bumps between the Start button and the Quick Launch menu, and the Quick Launch menu and the active programs section of the taskbar, to alter the of the Quick Launch menu and the active programs area. Right-click the taskbar, and left-click on "Lock the taskbar" once you've completed the changes you wish to make. b> Change Taskbar Options b> Right-click on the taskbar, and left-click on "Properties." Modify the taskbar settings so that it appears the way you like. You can decide whether to show the Quick Launch menu (a series of icons for your most commonly used programs), to show thumbnails for your active programs in Windows 7 and Windows Vista and to group similar active programs, and to automatically hide the taskbar or to always have it on top of other windows. Click on the "Notification" tab in Windows 7 or Vista to modify the way the notification area to the far right appears. Stay on the taskbar tab in Windows XP. Hide inactive icons, and decide which information to show, including the clock or the volume, power and network icons in Windows 7 and Vista. Click on the "Customize" button to specify which programs or notifications should always show, never show or grow inactive with disuse. Click on the "Toolbars" tab in Windows 7 or Vista to specify which toolbars you wish to see in the taskbar. Your options will vary according to the programs you have installed on your computer but may include the Quick Launch, address bar and links toolbars. Click the "Apply" button, then "OK" once you have made the changes you desire. Hope this helps.

It sounds like explorer.exe is being turned off. When you log in to Safe Mode hit Ctl+Alt+Del to bring the Task Manager and see if explorer.exe is running under Processes. If not, you can go to the Applications tab in Task Manager and click the New Task button and simply type in explorer.exe.
If this does not give you your Start Menu and Task Bar then you need to take your computer back to the repair service and have them fix it properly this time. Otherwise, you'll have to reinstall the operating system.

1. Back up the Registry by creating a restore point.
2. Go to Start > Run (or Windows-key + R), type in regedit and hit OK.
3. Navigate to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cla sses\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Wi ndows\CurrentVersion \TrayNotify.
4. Delete the values IconStreams and PastIconsStream.
5. Open up the Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to the Processes tab, select explorer.exe and click End Process.
6. Open the Applications tab and click New Task at the bottom-right of the window.
7. In the message box that pops up type in explorer.exe and hit OK.
8. Explorer.exe will reload, and the missing icons should now be back in the system-tray where they belong.
9. Then if the volume bar isnt there, go to taskbar properties (where the volume was gray) and simply tick the box.

this should work, did for me!

Press ctrl+esc to see if the start menu pops up, if it does not then proceed by trying the following steps below.

Make sure explorer.exe is still running:
Press ctrl+alt+delete to get into Task Manager and do File -> New Task -> explorer.exe -> OK

Otherwise check to see if your task bar is auto hiding:
Move the cursor to all four edges of the screen in an attempt to locate the hiding task bar. If the task bar does pop up, right click on it and press properties. Proceed by unchecking Auto-hide the taskbar under the Taskbar tab and pressing Apply and OK.

If all else fails, try rebooting the PC.

This is a simple fix in windows vista or windows 7. hit the keys CTRL+ALT+DELETE simultaneously and release. The screen that comes up click on Start Task Manager.

In the task manager window click on Processes Tab. Look for explorer.exe and highlight it and click End Process. Click Yes to stop it. When it is gone from the list, click the Applications tab and click on New Task. In the run box that pops up, type in explorer.exe and click OK or hit Enter. Once your task bar and icons repair look in the system tray area by the clock and the missing icons should now be there.

Here is the exact order of steps to restore your System Tray Icons.

1. Back up the Registry by creating a restore point.
2. Go to Start > Run (or Windows-key + R), type in regedit and hit OK.
3. Navigate to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cla sses\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Wi ndows\CurrentVersion \TrayNotify.
4. Delete the values IconStreams and PastIconsStream.
5. Open up the Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to the Processes tab, select explorer.exe and click End Process.
6. Open the Applications tab and click New Task at the bottom-right of the window.
7. In the message box that pops up type in explorer.exe and hit OK.
8. Explorer.exe will reload, and the missing icons should now be back in the system-tray where they belong.
9. Then if the volume bar isnt there, go to taskbar properties (where the volume was gray) and simply tick the box.
Best Regards,

Marcus

1. Go to the start menu.
2. Type task scheduler and press enter.
3. Press continue on the UAC popup.
4. In the left pane of task scheduler, underneath Task Scheduler Local, right-click on Task Scheduler Library.
5. In the View submenu, make sure the Show Hidden Tasks option is checked.
6. Widen the Name column in the center pane. The hidden task that is likely at fault has a name that starts with User_Feed_Synchronization, followed by a dash and a bunch of digits inside a curly brace.
7. Select that task in the middle pane by clicking on its name.
8. To verify that this scheduled task is creating all those taskeng.exe processes, select the History tab in the middle pane near the middle of the screen. If you expand out the Level and Date and Time Columns, you should see a bunch of errors and date and times that are 5 minutes apart. If that's the case, then this task is the problem.
9. On the rightmost pane, select Disable.
10. There may be more than one scheduled task like this, so you'd need to disable any or all that were causing problems.



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Open Task Manager
Find "Volume Control"
End Task