Grey taskbark

I have no idea what your problem is because it could be many things but you may have some corrupt explorer files.
Could also be malware and I would run malwarebytes just to be safe. The next thing i would do is open command prompt with administrator privileges and type sfc /scannow and let it do its thing to find any corrupt or missing files. After reboot see if anything has changed. If not then do the same thing with command prompt but this time type chkdsk C: /F /R

You should also make sure that your services are set to defaults. You can check your defaults with the list for every version of windows 7 at this link.

Try those things and let me know. Something else you can try too is to install the free trial of windowblinds and see if installing a skin will change it.

Ok update.

Scan now didnt do much
services were fine
ran chkdsk didnt fix it.

Windowblinds: I tried to use an aero theme didnt work, I used a custom theme worked like a charm. Too bad it doesnt work with ultramon

I will have to scratch my head a while longer for your problem. If you have the installation disc you could always do a repair or fresh install. I know that is a pain in the ass bust sometimes when things get buggered up that is the only way to fix it. I will still think about it though.