Sometimes on a computer running Windows, an application will crash or an unstable process will lock up the system, and out of nowhere the taskbar that runs across the bottom of the screen will disappear. The rest of the desktop and all of your icons will probably still be visible -- it's only the taskbar that is gone. Without the taskbar, you can't access the Start menu or view the open programs in your system notification tray.
To get your taskbar and Start menu back without shutting down your computer, hit <CTRL><ALT><Delete> and then (depending on the version of Windows that you are running) choose the appropriate option to open the Task Manager. (In Windows XP Professional, for example, there is a button labeled "Task Manager".) When the Task Manager window appears, select File from the menu bar and then from the drop down menu click on "New Task (Run)". Type "explorer.exe" into the text bar and hit <Enter>. Windows will sort of "reset" itself, and the taskbar and Start button will reappear. (This may take a minute.)
Whatever caused the system to become unstable in the first place could easily happen again, so at this point it's a good idea to save any unsaved data, close all open applications, and then shut down and reboot your computer. If the same problem happens again, make a note of which programs you were running when it occurred, as it may be a resource conflict or compatibility issue that's causing the problem.
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