Recently, my computer stopped allowing the drop-down retrieval of windows I wanted to set aside and come back to. Now when I click on the minimize icon at the top, the window disappears. I am puzzled as to why the system has stopped dropping it to the taskbar on the bottom. How can I correct this?

Something probably went wrong with your taskbar settings, which can be most disconcerting when one suddenly loses the ability to run multiple programs and quickly switch between them by clicking the appropriate icon on the taskbar.

There are two settings that can make the taskbar disappear. To find them, right-click on Start and pick Properties in Windows XP.

In Windows ME/98/95, click on Start and look for the Settings command in the pop-up display.

One setting that will cause your problem is when the command to keep the taskbar on top of whatever is displayed has been disabled.

If there is no check in front of that option, each program will take the whole screen, thus obliterating the taskbar view.

The other setting hides the taskbar.

When it is checked the taskbar disappears and only will reappear when you move the mouse cursor to the extreme bottom of the screen.

James Coates is a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing newspaper. He can be reached via e-mail at jcoates@tribune.com.