It is very discomforting to see that relatively simple and ubiquitous peripherals like mice and keyboards can interfere with the OS so badly. Disabling HID devices is a poor workaround for something that MS should fix in the OS or the OEM manufacturers like RAZER should comply with MS specs. But then you have a MS intellimouse freezing the taskbar on an MS OS, it seems that MS itself has an internal interoperability problem.
Switching between user logins freezes taskbar
The case:
My wife and I share the same home PC for work, that we use independently throughout the day. We would like to be able to switch between our users without having to log out and close/reopen our respective documents and apps. Kinda like how it works on a Mac when you switch between multiple active user login sessions.
The Problem:
Whenever we try to use the "Switch User" functionality, the taskbar freezes (doesn't load) on whichever user you switch to. The only way to unfreeze the taskbar is to log out completely on one user (and subsequently close all apps/documents), and then login to the other user afterwards.
What I have tried:
- A fresh Windows install
- Add a new and fresh user (stops working after a reboot)
- Running DISM.exe /CheckHealth, /ScanHealth, /RestoreHealth
- sfc /scannow
Extra info:
Both users have Admin account type and our Windows 10 is updated to the latest version.
Windows for home | Windows 10 | Family and online safety
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106 additional answers
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Anonymous
2021-03-27T16:16:32+00:00 Good idea, I will do that.
I had Synapse uninstalled and it still happened, so leaning towards a driver issue.
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Anonymous
2021-01-25T03:34:08+00:00 Actually, same here. Randomly, and very rarely, the second profile loads without trouble. I could never figure out what, if anything, made it work. Nothing that could be reproduced, evidently.
My temporary solution (maybe this is obvious to some, but others might find it useful):
When you do not need to use the computer for a bit, sign in to account #1; then sign in to account #2. The taskbar freeze will happen, but leave it alone and the taskbar on account #2 should load eventually (possibly after 15 minutes or more).
Afterwards, do not turn off or restart the computer if you can avoid it, as that will sign you out.
I just hibernate mine and this leaves the accounts signed in. You can quickly switch between accounts even after coming back from hibernation.
UPDATE:
Alternatively, you can just login to the second account then switch back to the first one (no need to sit on it and wait for the taskbar to unfreeze). The second account will load the taskbar on its own in the background (eventually) even while you are using the first account. At least this worked for me!
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Anonymous
2021-01-19T00:50:26+00:00 I have the same issue exactly. It has been going on for weeks now.
In my case, there are rare times when the issue does not occur (i.e. switching users works as intended), but I have not been able to tell if this is random or if doing certain actions will prevent the issue.
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Anonymous
2020-12-23T18:01:07+00:00 I have some good news and some bad news...
The good news: Your solution worked initially after the install and I could switch user without the taskbar freezing.
The bad news: After I rebooted my computer it started freezing again when switching between users.