Task bar "ghost boxes"

[Chazwurth]

Not sure what is going on, maybe someone can help. On the bottom of the screen in the task bar while cruisin' the net I ussually see a "bar" with the particular web page or site that I am in. Well recently "ghost boxes or bars" start showing up randomly in the task bar. They look just like the other box but there is no description in it. I can click on it, but the box just disappears. Weird. Is this some kind of virus? Any clues would be of interest.

[Redo40]

This should explain it, tho I must admit I'm not sure on how to fix it.

[GaryRouth]

Do you use a "pop-up killer" to stop the pop-up ads from webpages? It sounds like it could be something like an ad starting to load . . .

. . .though I'd also check for virus, spyware, or trojan behavior, too. http://www.spywareinfo.com has a nice amount of information and downloadable tools to try.

& at the bottom of that article that Roger posted the link for is a setting you can try a fix for . . .

I haven't seen this type of ghost before - just my own face in the morning is scary enough
. . . Gary

[p.s. ...how bout that, Dan - it's a nanosecond photofinish]

[Dan]

while redo's link explains why applications sometimes leave these blank bars behind, I'm not sure it's the same with "browser bars".
I run into them frequently while surfing, have found them to be remnants of popups that disappear after leaving a cookie, or maybe pinging back your email address as valid. Like redo says, I don't think there's a way to prevent them...just right click and choose close to get rid of 'em....
...and Gary, my moment with the mirror in the morning is more effective than coffee or those paddles they use in the ER....