Desktop customizations reset after docking/undocking

Greetings,

I am experiencing a relatively minor issue that has persisted for so long that it is virtually unbearable anymore. I beg your assistance before I go irreparably insane. Stated most briefly: When I undock or re-dock my laptop, various user-level Windows customizations are reset to their default values.

My computer is a Latitude D830 with a D/Port port replicator.

This problem occurs with two operating systems:Vista Ultimate (RTM and sp1), and XP Professional (sp2 and sp3). These are not dual-boot, virtual machines, etc. Each OS is a clean, stand-alone install (I started on Vista and ultimately downgraded to XP by reformatting/reinstalling).

On both OS, all properites of the Task Manager are reset whenever I dock/undock. On Vista only, my mouse speed, wallpaper, and the order of the Sidebar gadgets are reset whenever I dock/undock. For what it's worth, I also have a Latitude D800 that does not exhibit these issues on the same D/Port.

I contacted Dell support about this a few weeks ago, but the analyst with whom I spoke was unable to resolve the issue. We did try deleting the docked and undocked hardware profiles, then allowing Windows to re-create the profiles automatically after restarting the computer in each configuration, to no avail. After a fair bit of time on the phone, I gave up on the issue in order to address more pressing tasks. Since then, it's been needling me to the point where I'm willing to spend some time trying to fix it again.

Therefore, my question is: What can I do to further diagnose - and hopefully resolve - the issue of my user customizations reverting to their default values when I dock/undock my D830?

Thank you, in advance, for any advice you can offer.

-Michael