Win XP3 + IE8. IE8 suffering black menu/tool bar

I found a fix online and applied the KB fix many months ago, but after I updated the flash player on my computer, the problem came back. I can't get it fixed by rolling back with System Restore either.

The toolbar where Menu, tool, edit, etc are all present is solid black.

What do I do now?

 

The cause of this problem seems to be related to the some corruption in the XP Themes tool. The fix that has worked for many is offered HERE All thanks go to Kelly Theriot. Run that REG file by double-clicking it and allowing it to make the Registry change. The effect is instant and no reboot is required.

It worked very well for me and several others that I passed it along to.

 

I fixed it.. for me, it's going to system, then setting to "best appearance" then back to "best performance "

 

Well darn. It comes back every time the machine is rebooted

 

Did you try the fix I linked above? I had the same results as you before using it.

 

I had the same problem 2 or 3 weeks ago using IE8 on my XP SP3 computer with an ATI 1650 video card, finally uninstalled the drivers and Catalist Control System and reinstalled the latest version, fixed it immediately.

Pretty sure the version of Catalyst Control Center I removed was the same version that I reinstalled, seemed like it happened right after Microsoft Update installed some updates but don't recall what they were, but they were critical updates, not optional software updates.

 

Use any method mentioned previously to get your browser back to normal. Then go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services and stop the Themes service and then set it to manual start instead of Automatic. That puts an end to the reoccuring black tool bar.