taskbar inactive (hourglass constant)

[lluczek]

In an effort to reduce the number of pop ups that were appearing continuously, we went into Control Panel/Startup and deleted a bunch of entries from the HKLM/Run tab and the Startup tabs. After this, the taskbar is inactive. The symptom is that when the cursor is placed on the taskbar, the hourglass appears.

I can access the file system (ie to run the XP install from the CD) but no other programs run - the hourglass is constant.

This happened a while ago, so System Restore is of no use.

I installed XP Professional (Home Edition had been installed) in an effort to remedy this, but there is no change. When I start in SAFE MODE, the Taskbar can be used. But I do not know what to DO from SAFE MODE to fix this.

Something I just learned - Jack has been using this Startup Control Panel by Mike Lin. This is how he was able to delete the registry keys. (I did not know this was non-std sw)

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Lisa