slightly different missing task bar issue

I have a laptop with Vista on it. Someone walked past it and wiped their hand over the key board pressing who knows what combination of keys and now the taskbar is missing when a window is open. If the window(s) are closed or minimized the taskbar will appear and show what windows are open and minimized if any. When the window is restored, the taskbar is gone again. The taskbar is set to always be on top and not to hide. I have uncheck those settings and rechecked them and rebooted but all to no avail. What happened and how do I restore its normal function? :confused

 

Try a restore point, if available.

L8r