Task Manager not showing applications

[mochasoft]

I have a Lenovo ThinkCentre running Window 7 Professional. If I bring up the Task Manager, no applications show in the window, no matter how many I have open. Processes, Services, etc. all look fine, just no apps. Of course this makes it impossible to kill a 'not responding' app.

This is not an issue where the menu doesn't show. Everything looks normal except no apps are listed.

Anyone see this before?

 

[Rhammstein]

Strange, never seen this. Are these common apps, that are installed correctly and have the proper associations in the registry?

 

[severedsolo]

odd... has this been going on from day 1? if so id say its a corrupted install, a Repair Install should fix that

 

[zzz2496]

Can you post a screenshot?

zzz2496

 

[mochasoft]

IBM Lotus Notes client, Windows Live, iSeries Access, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Word, Excel...just your average applications.

The machine came with Windows XP pre-loaded but I installed Windows 7 using the Lenovo recovery CD's that came with the machine. Been running since January but I don't know if the problem existed from the beginning. Since it is a manufacturer's license, Microsoft support won't touch the issue unless I pay. Lenovo did some looking online but then threw up their hands as well.

I've attached a .png with the screen.

I'll save some files off of the machine (just in case) and see if I can do a repair from the recovery CD's.

Thanks.

 

[robmulally]

I agree with severedsolo, if its happening from the first day then perhaps re-install.

It might be worth while creating a new user (an administrator) and logging in just to tripple check its not a profile level corruption (its something easy to check).

The only other thing that springs to mind is to check your event log for errors and services that are not running.

These are only suggestions to attempt before a re-install.

Cheers
Rob

 

[mochasoft]

I logged on with two other different accounts, one local and one from my network, and applications show on both. Looks like it's my profile. I'll delete and recreate when time permits.

Thanks for the tip, Rob!

 

[motc7]

I logged on with two other different accounts, one local and one from my network, and applications show on both. Looks like it's my profile. I'll delete and recreate when time permits.

Thanks for the tip, Rob!

See, you just troubleshot your own issue! Good work!

 

[mochasoft]

Problem solved.

Just a follow-up. I did recreate my profile and the apps now show up in the task manager.

 

[CarlTR6]

Glad to hear you are good to go. Thanks for reporting.

 

[mochasoft]

Here's an odd update. The machine has been working fine for months but then the issue just re-occured. I do a CTL-ALT-DLT and no apps show. If I right-click on the task bar and select Start Task Manager, the apps show. I would have assumed they would be calling the same process.

I'm not going to spend any time trying to figure out why but I thought I would share that observation as a work-around in case anyone else runs into this issue.

 

[ashek1520]

Hi, following the initial query. I have window 7 and my window (i2, dual core, 64 bit) suddenly started to use lots of RAM. without any application it using 2.2 GB RAM with cpu uses almost 50%. The problem is that the task manager is not showing any such operation with such a high use of memory.
I tried
1. restarting my machine
2. cleaning registry by ccleaner
3. closing all application that started during startup.
None of these has helped yet. My questions are:
1. Is there any way to look at complete distribution of RAM uses, I meant if my laptop is using 2 GB ram, then there should be a way to see the split of ram uses across different applications.
Other than that, What do you think can be the problem and fix of this problem?

 

[ikiedoodle]

Apps don't show in task manager

Bring up task mgr (alt clt del) then while holding down the shift/ctl key, click on "start task manager" with your mouse,, should restore your apps

sometimes I amaze myself

 

[DanAVL]

Wow, the hold Shift-Ctrl then Task Manager works for me!! but not all of the time. What in the world could be causing this? And it's across all profiles on two computer in a domain environment. Both Win 7 pro x64 fully updated.