I am running the following setup:

Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 patched with all the latest windows updates

This system is joined to a domain controller

Intel i7-3820 @ 3.6ghz

32GB memory

NVIDIA GeForce GTX770

Dual 27" AOC Monitors

All applications are installed on OCZ RevoDrive3 PCI-Express SSD(treated as SCSI).

I concurrently run Deskscapes, Fences, WindowBlinds, and Decor8 all up to date(none of these applications have given me trouble(yet))

My problem is as follows:

30-60 seconds after the Start8 service loads my taskbar icons become un-clickable(desktop icons in fences still work).

At this point I cannot right click the taskbar(right clicking on desktop works fine). 

I cannot use any of the Windows key shortcuts(Windows+R, etc).

I cannot alt+tab between open windows.

The Start8 menu does not respond.

Windows key intermittently brings up Start8 menu.

Windows 8 start screen is no longer accessible when this behavior occurs.

Intermittently the taskbar becomes usable, but once I click on an icon, the Start8 menu or right click, the taskbar hangs again for several minutes.

Stopping the Start8 service does not resolve the issue.

Rebooting does not resolve this issue.

The only fix I have found so far is to disable Start8 and prevent it from launching at startup, then reboot my PC. 

If Start8 is started manually after boot up completes the same issues occur, currently I am not using Start8 because of this issue. 

Any ideas how to prevent this behavior from occurring?

Thanks!