re: Here's a new symptom...
Hmmm...just found out the "no toolbar" symptom is contagious. Using Backrex Expert Backup to transfer my Internet Explorer and Outlook Express files to my laptop also transmits the problem. I can restore the toolbars by creating a new profile, but that's a pain. I've narrowed the problem to some settings that come across with Internet Explorer backups, which is weird, since the toolbars inside Internet Explorer are just fine.