Windows 7: taskbar going black in applications (live mail, firefox)

Windows Live Mail and Firefox frequently loose the main upper/command bar by going black (Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit, all service packs and updates installed). The issue seems to be known for windows live mail. Some old posts suggested reinstallation of windows live essentials, or killing particular processes using the task manager after shutting down the program. However, problem always comes back at some point and also affects mozilla firefox with exact same symptoms as windows live mail.
Any help much appreciated! Thanks.

Welcome to Seven Forums c3s. Can you posibly post some screen shots so we can be certain of the exact problem?

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Have you been able to pinpoint something specific that triggers this, or does it appear to be completely random? Does restarting the application fix the issue?

A Guy

Many Thanks Guy,

Attached a screenshot with firefox on top totally blackening out the task/upper bar, not reacting e.g. to where the minimize or close windows buttons would be, and internet explorer underneath, partly blackening out but still having clickable items in the upper bar. If windows live mail blackens out (currently it's working) then the complete ribbon disappears that would contain the reply, send, delete, move,... buttons. Sometimes also the left bar with the folders or the contact bar would go black.

I could not see any regularity in the appearance of the problem. So yes, to me it appears completely random. Not many other programs running in the background. Probably windows live mail, acrobat reader, sticky notes, and onenotes are the programs that have always been running on my machine and, thus, when these problems appear. It's a Dell XT3.

Many thanks for your help!

That's very odd. I would suggest running the System Files Checker 1st. Since it is common to several different applications, it would seem to be common to windows. If no errors found, or no help, then I would try a clean start to see if an application is causing this behavior.

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup

A Guy