I neglected to mention that Appearances is set for Windows Classic
Style.  However, I'm not using the Windows Classic Theme; what is being
used is one of several themes I've devised and named. (Most are the
same, with different dates when they were modified -- perhaps it started
off with Classic and I modified?)

For the first time I just tried Win Classic theme and see that the
taskbar is grey, not blue, but the bars at the top, active and inactive
are blue.   Interesting that a few weeks ago I observed someone else's
machine who said theirs also annoyingly sometimes opens with a blue
taskbar.  However, that was in Thailand, and I can't recall who it was
in order to gain more input.
Miles