Windows 7: windows 7 taskbar staying present on fullscreen programs and games

Please help. I have seen multiple post about taskbar problems but all seem to be directed a different way, there problem is getting autohide to work. This is not my problem. my problem is i just did a fresh instal (which i have done recently without a problem). now after finishing this last install and i set all my games programs up and everything i decide, hey time to play a game. open set game and the task bar is at the bottom of the screen when i start the game. the game is in fullscreen in all settings. tried alt tab, alt enter, f11, all have been tried, some games will act correctly so not exactly sure what the problem is, minecraft, special ops the line, any web browser, all these still do the same in fullscreen with task bar still showing. and i know for a fact directly before reinstalling (exactly the way i have multiple times before on same machine with same reinstall cd from alienware dell that came with computer) have tried all the common fixes i have seen around the internet in regards to other taskbar problems to try to straiten mine out but not fix yet. closed and reopened explorer.exe i can auto hide it fine, but even if i autohide it and the picture from the game covers the whole screen i can still see the window and minimize and close buttons on top and border. so it's still in windowed mode and not full screen.... pulling my hair out over this any help is greatly appreciated.
have correctly installed my video drivers due to multiple reinstalls have perfected the method lol.. so no problem there have 6970m stock blackcomb xt drivers with 12.6 drivers installed over it no issues and can easily switch back and forth between igp and 6970m easy and clean so don't think that's any issue. any input is greatly appreciated

Do me a favor please.
sometimes settings get changed without our help. would you right-click on the Start Orb, choose properties, taskbar tab.

Here's what I see:



If you use WIN + TAB key combo to select your game window, is the taskbar now hidden?

WIN=key with microsoft logo on top

yea grabbing a couple screen shots real quick to show ya.....

not trying to auto hide task bar... just want it to not show up on stuff i have set to run fullscreen. and its not all the time. just know it did'nt do it before with same setup. but am open to any suggestions you have and enlightenment if im just thinking wrong or mistaken. very open and appreciate all help. just to expand a little more with couple questions. if you open a web browser it should override the taskbar correct? also it should open a game set to fullscreen in fullscreen without having to hit f11 or alt enter right?? and some wont even go full screen at all f11, alt enter, winkey tab, alt tab, (thanks for the win key tab command, does a really cool effect switch between windows as opposed to the default alt tab lol) i know it will not go fullscreen on all games but just a coulple i can hit f11 or alt tab to force it fullscreen but should open like that by default because of settings. f

minecraft with autohide on fullscreen

problem not solved still have the border around the minecraft and all aplications steam origin everything, still at a loss here

What size is set in Screen Resolution > "Make text and other items larger or smaller" ?

If it's > 100%, try changing it to something smaller.

just tried that. my resolution was 1920 by 1080 changed it to 1600 by 900 and back again with no change. did the same with text size and whatnot was 100% changed it bigger then to biggest checking inbetween each setting with no change. it's like the task bar settings are set to always be on top of everything causing my games not to run full screen and making me having to try to manually force them fullscreen even if all settings are preset for fullscreen. i mean ok that can be fixed by manually forcing it with f11 or alt enter, but ssssoooooooooo anoying, but this still doesnt fix the fact that every application from any web browser to any app steam app origin, adobe photoshop, anything the taskbar stays at the bottom... don't know if that cleared anything up, but still open to any suggestion or try's or any questions to better understand my issue. many thanks in advance for an fix to this issue.

tried changing all my themes and everything back after clean install hoping it would change some setting back and solve the problem but no go

Here is a thread i found similar to your issue.
It mentions "Disable DPI Scaling" per application, check it out...

Windows 7 taskbar is visible during full screen videos