My Taskbar is missing and I have no Start button - what do I do?

well i have no icons no desktop background (it is blackness) and when i log in i get "my computer" come up. i also have no task bar. ive pressed f11 (failed) ive pressed ctrl + esc (failed) ive even changed my res (failed) atm im downloading an anti-virus to try that out ill update you if it dont work. as they say no news is good news. thanks for the help if it does work

My task bar/ start menu disappeared this morning magically. I've tried all of the above and nothing. I ran a full scan on my computer and nothing seems to have come up.... any other suggestions??

Also when I do "explorer.exe" from the task manager My Documents opens up?????

The first solution solved the problem immediately; thanks!!!

Didn't read through all 120+ comments, but I just had this problem and it was due to the display being setup as a dual monitor station. Went into control panel, display, settings, and then highlighted a second monitor that was listed. From there I unchecked the box that said something like "Extend desktop display to this monitor". Clicked ok and the taskbar appeared. Hope this helps someone!

For a week I had a similar problem with both my task bar and desktop icons disappearing. Everything was ok operating in Safe Mode.
Not sure if the same for others but my problem was that in display properties multiple displays was selected but make this main display not selected. It appears, I am not sure what was triggering it, that the task bar and icons were being directed to a non existent alternative display.

the comment on control panel actually worked on mine thanks! :)

i did new task then explorer and it works, thanks so much!

If you have your computer hooked up to your TV check to ensure the task bar is not being displayed on the TV. :)

Thank you! New task worked perfectly. I love your site, there's so much useful information here.