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I have my computer set to lock itself after a period of inactivity. When I unlock it again, the taskbar is unresponsive for well over a minute, meaning I cannot use the start menu or click on any taskbar icons.

Any ideas what could be causing this?

I'm using Vista x64 SP1.

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I don't suppose it is a laptop you are using?

I have found this increasingly common on a whole generation of Dell laptops and a few from other brands, I am guessing there was a bad video driver released as I find that updating that does the trick.

If however this doesn't work, and this problem happens every time, it may be worth taking a look at either msconfig or Microsoft/Sysinternals Autoruns, and disable your startup items one by one (do not delete, just disable) and then see what is actually causing it.

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No, it is not a laptop. This happens when I unlock the computer, not when I boot it. Surely the startup programs only apply when the PC starts? – adrianbanks Dec 3 '09 at 15:40
Yes, you are right, but - this is not usual Windows behaviour that causes the lock ups, so what I recommend is for fault finding, you stop every program from starting then lock the computer, unlock and see if it still freezes... then one by one, re enable some more and re test. Eventually, you will find what is the cause of the lock ups. If, it still freezes with standard startup programs disabled, you can then move it up a notch by disabling all non Microsoft services. – William Hilsum Dec 3 '09 at 15:46
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