Strange taskbar behavior

Pre: Using Win XP Pro on a dual display system with a classic visual style.

Problem:
After each reboot, the Quick Launch toolbar stretches to an abnormal size (see before and after screenshots) and the Desktop toolbar disappears. I have to change the settings each time Windows starts and it's immensely annoying.
I tried registry repair tools, rebuilding the Quick Launch folder, but nothing worked.

Possible cause:
This behavior started after I accidentally tried to paste a shortcut onto itself in the Quick Launch toolbar. I'm thinking it could be related to that.

ANY thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

Did you try to disable all toolbars, reboot the machine, re-establish the toolbars you want...almost like resetting them and try to reboot again?

See if this may work to see if the settings stick

 

When you set the QL bar the way you like it, do you right click and tick "lock the taskbar "?

Johanna

 

@dbmaster: sorry, that did absolutely nothing
The strangest part is that, allthough I disabled both QL and Desktop toolbars, the taskbar appeared just the same (with overly large QL and no Desktop)after reboot.
@Johanna: yes.

Oh, and I noticed that the problem doesn't appear when logging on and off or after resuming from hibernation.

 

Try the Taskbar Repair Tool Plus!. No guarantees it can fix the problem but it's worth a shot.