Taskbar crashes when switching applications and time running behind when this occurs.

Question

Good morning,

A few users in my organization have reported that their taskbar crashes when they are switching applications. When the taskbar crashes, the time is running behind.

For example, an user is working in Outlook on a new mail for a while. When the users decides to which to Edge via the taskbar, the taskbar crashes and takes a few minutes return to normal. (this was the problem the first few times).

When I then asked the users to watch the time when it does this(crashing taskbar), they reported the time running behind (not fixed, randomly behind.)

Does anyone have a clue what could be wrong and potential fixes?
The network engineer reported no problems on the network side with NTP on the Firewall and Domain Controller.

The users are running Windows 10. Versions 10.0.19045.4291, .4170 & .3930. This issue occurs mostly on version .4170.

***moved from Windows / Windows 10 / Settings***

Answer 1

Anyone got an idea?

Answer 2

Hello,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community forum.

Based on the description, I understand your question is related to task bar crash.

1. Open Task Manager. Select the Processes tab. Find Windows Explorer. Right-click on it and choose Restart.
2. Open Task Manager and check the CPU and Memory usage. Look for any spikes to 100% during the taskbar crashes.

Review the Startup tab to identify any programs that automatically load during boot. Disabling unnecessary startup items might improve performance.

3. Install latest windows update by Settings/windows update/check for updates
4. Visit the manufacturer’s website for your graphics card and download the latest drivers.
5. Create a new user profile on your Windows 10 machine. Log in with the new profile and observe if the taskbar issue persists.

If the problem doesn’t occur in the new profile, it might be related to specific settings or configurations in the original profile.

Have a nice day. 

Best Regards,

Molly