Taskbar missing; solution other than repair install?

[ghostrunner]

So, my problem is as this thread's title indicates. My taskbar has disappeared. It shows up in safe mode as well as in a new profile that I created. The start menu works with the use of the Windows key and with ctrl-esc, though it doesn't work if I click on the taskbar where it would normally be. In fact, all clicking in the taskbar region seems to have been disabled; right-clicking produces no menu.
I've done some searches through the threads here and have come to the conclusion that I will probably have to do a repair install of WinXP. I am generally loathe to do such as I always seem to forget to back up something important and lose it somehow. Is there any way to fix this without the repair install? Any registry junkies know how I could repair the registry manually? Am I naive for even suggesting such a solution? Why do I keep asking questions? Why does this smiley ( ) have three question marks above his head when one would suffice?

Thanks?

[sgtspector]

There are several possibilities that I can think of.
1. The task bar is too small to show up on your screen. Hold the mouse near the bottom of the screen to see if the pointer turns into two headed arrow.
2. Did you attempt to change the uxthemes.dll file in order to load unsigned themes in windows?
3. Got to the run dialog and type in "sfc /scannow" without the quotes. This will reinstall any missing or corrupted windows dll's.
4. If all else fails and u must reinstall, you dont have to lose all your info if you have a full cd version of windows as opposed to a "restore disk" that came with the computer and will return your hard drive to its original state. If you have the former you can do a repair install.
I am sure there are other posible solutions to your problem that others here can provide for you.

[glc]

Go into \documents and settings\your user name\local settings and delete desktop.ini. You will have to show hidden and system files to see it.

[ghostrunner]

Solutions 1-3 didn't work, and I couldn't find a "desktop.ini" file in the local settings folder (or anywhere on my computer, for that matter; searching failed to uncover anything).
I guess I'll just have to repair install.
Thanks everybody.

[sgtspector]

No wait. The desktop ini file has to be there. Make sure you unhide system and hidden folders and try again.

[ghostrunner]

That's what I did, and there was no desktop.ini. There is no desktop.ini in "C:\Documents and Settings\James G\Local Settings." A search of my harddrive turned up four, but I couldn't get it make any difference.

I tried the repair install, but the problem persists. I think I'm going to just do a fresh install anyway. I've been thinking that my comp has needed it for a while now, but I've been trying to put it off for a while. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and do it.

Thanks for the help, everone.