“There are many instances where you need to reboot your PC. It could be that you’ve installed updates, installed a new software or may be your computer just hung up. All this scenarios usually need a system restart.
Though restarting the system is the most reliable way to make changes take effect, small issues (like the mouse cursor being stuck on an icon) could be taken care of by just restarting Windows explorer (and hence refreshing the Windows shell. )
Here are three methods to do it. Check them out.”
The three methods are:
1. Restart Explorer via Windows Task Manager
2. Restart Explorer Through a Batch File
3. Add a Restart Explorer Option to the Desktop Context (Right-Click) Menu [Registry Hack]
Read the details of these methods in the article at guidingtech.com.
I have successfully used Method #1 several times when my taskbar has disappeared.