Thanks for your reply. Here are specific answers to the questions you pose:
It happens quite frequently that the task bar becomes corrupted and I have to restore it from backup or else rebuild it by hand when backup fails to fix it. I would say it happens on average a couple times a week, thought I make pretty extensive use of my laptop daily.
There is no specific time interval which I can ascertain.
I don't know of anything that's happening on my system to trigger this corruption of the task bar. I am not adding new apps to the task bar for making any other changes to it. (Except after the corruption occurs.) I've been trying to ascertain such an event as might trigger the corruption but cannot do so. I suppose I could access the Event Manager and see if there's something which relates to it, but I'm at a loss for what manner of event to look for.
Thank you for an interest in revolving this problem because it is kind of a drag having to deal with it so often. I will be glad to try anything or provide any data which you think might be useful. As a former software developer myself, I'm pretty adept at debugging system issues. I can handle a high level of technical detail from you, if that helps resolve the situation at all.