Start Menu Crash / goes Black

I'm having a problem that I've seen a few posts about on the 'net, but no solution.

 

Read the first post from the following link, as it describes the problem perfectly (I'm gooberlx in that thread).

http://www.pcbanter.net/showthread.php?postid=1712426#poststop

 

Basically, some "trigger" causes the start menu to...crash, for lack of a better word. The left side goes black and the right side icons fail to work, and menus fail to expand. Any custom menus on the taskbar will also fail to expand. The only way to fix it is to log off or reboot where, upon re-logging in, any items that used to be in the taskbar (quicklaunch icons, etc...) will be gone and have to be manually put back (right-click-->toolbars, and all that jazz).

 

I've tried all kinds of video drivers (as it seems to happen more often after exiting from a game....but not always), I've tried disabling all XP eye candy and using the classic GUI, etc...nothing seems to work. And this, even after a fresh OS install.

 

Does anyone have any ideas?