Here's one I can't find an answer to anywhere ... when I hit control+alt+delete ONE TIME ONLY to bring up the Task Manager, it opens, but in multiple copies. In the applications window it shows a few task manager console icons (shown with a little green screen on it) but as many as 30 or 40 icons showing the process as running, and the taskbar fills with two or more rows of icons. I can close them all and just leave one running to perform whatever I opened it for and have otherwise no problems using task manager, but why does it do this? How can I make it operate normally?

I'm trying to troubleshoot other issues with my computer and find it awkward to have to solve a problem with the tool I'm using to solve the problem I initiated it for ...

Have you checked whether you have a virus?
Laverne

Yes, obsessively, with three installed programs (not all running at once, of course) and one remote scan ... no viruses, malware, highjacks or other intrusions detected.