Missing Icons

[Fynger 841]

Ok folks....heres one for you.....ANY IDEAS would be great.....for the last 2 days ive had NO icons on my desktop and also NO task bar down the bottom of the screen..therefore NO start button.....i can get into the computer using Ctrl+Alt+Delete and go in through the task manager.....ive tried alsorts....cant do an update off the WinXP disk as it says something is not finnished installing so i have to wait for that to complete ( there is nothing tho ).....I know it has something to do with the file "explorer.exe".....many ideas have been found on the net...non work.......Ive cleaned the computer of all viruses and maleware etc....ive tried all the restore points i have....and im still at the same situation as i started.....i cant right click on the desktop either....seems the desktop is not finnishing loading but im bu**ered if i can sort it out....im trying everything i can find or think of.

errrrrr...anyone ???

[zab 47]

Something has got screwed up.

Try this for starters, if you can get into Windows - open Windows Explorer and navigate to c:\windows\prefetch. Delete the contents of the prefetch folder but leave the folder. Do a re-start and see if that has had any impact.

You could also download a program called CCleaner - http://www.ccleaner.com/

It's free and I highly recommend it - run both the the Cleaner and Registery functions on it - hopefully it will clear whatever is causing the bottleneck.

[Fynger 841]

Cheers.....Ill go try that....back soon

[Fynger 841]

Nope.....Nuffin....tried it...and Ccleaner....still the same

[BAZZER 10]

it's not one that i've come across before,,,,

,,,,sounds like you may have picked something up,,,, (even if you can't find it). I assume you are aware of the I.E problems & concomitant M.S patch ?

I'm not saying that your problem is that,,,, but thought i'd mention it. Can you do a restore any way ?

Why do you assume it has something to do with Explorer ?

Can you start in Safe Mode & work from there ?

Good Luck

[zab 47]

It's an odd one but it does sound like a bit of spyware, one solution I've seen suggests running this program -

http://www.superantispyware.com/

Having just scanned a few pages via Google, this one looked quite helpful and offered a number of suggestions,

http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/forum...-after-log.html

[Fynger 841]

Cheers guys....yep tried all them ideas too.....cant go into safe mode ( or the bios ) as the keyboard doesnt kick in till way into the boot....

Yep i am suspicious of the 'new' ie patch as it seems to have kicked in from about that time ??

If you go into task manager ( Ctrl+Alt+Delete ) and go to processes and end " explorer" you see a warning sign but if you click ok, your icons and taskbar will vanish...but then run new task and run 'explorer ' they will all come back...that is why i suspect explorer..some how its not totally kicking in

....Its an odd one but reading the net seems a bit more common than i thought........not too many 'working' answers tho.

[zab 47]

If it was caused by the last IE update being corrupted, you can download the file from here and perhaps run it again,

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/...n/ms08-078.mspx

Choose the version you need and it will open the relevant page - there's a download button top right. Not sure if it will work but it's worth a try.

[Fynger 841]

Tried that too....damn frustrating.......just tried overwriting the explorer file but when you re-boot it re-alters it back.......so i would just like to take this opportunity to say.....AAAAAAARGH !!!!!!

[zab 47]

Have you tried doing an XP repair from the CD?

[Fynger 841]

Love to.....but when the cd starts up it says it cant continue as some software has not finnished installing so it has to terminate untill the software is complete.....but the software wont complete as i believe it is 'explorer' that needs to complete.....but of course it wont.....so it's looking like a total format and re-start but thats such a long process putting everything back to the stage im at now.....so while i can still use the computer im very loath to do that.

[zab 47]

I'll see what else I can find, I'm out of ideas at the moment.

[Frank 13]

Cheers guys....yep tried all them ideas too.....cant go into safe mode ( or the bios ) as the keyboard doesnt kick in till way into the boot....

When you start your computer from cold press and hold F8 till the 'Load Options' screen comes up - then select Safe mode

When in safe mode, go into Programmes, Accessories, Restore Point. Select a previous point and then re-boot.

My PC at work had exactly this problem on Friday afternoon - damn frustrating. I restarted 5 times but always the same. So, at 6 pm I just switched the screen off, left it and went to the pub with Mrs Frank. When I went in yesterday morning it was all up and running OK. Couldn't believe it.

I used 'Cleanup' and it removed 1.2Gb of old internet files

[Fynger 841]

Cant do the f8 thing as my keyboard doesnt become active till the 'welcome screen' comes up...its a usb wireless keyboard.....i did try putting another keyboard on but it just ignored it,,,,,Hope mine clears up the same way........seems ( reading on the net ) that this fault has been quite popular recently.

[zab 47]

Might be worth leaving it on for an hour or two and see if it kicks in.

[Fynger 841]

My computer is NEVER switched off.......I have tried switching off....that dint help either......but d/loading movies etc....it never gets switched off

[zab 47]

You've probably tried this - right-click the desktop, choose Arrange Icons By and select Show Desktop Icons.

[Fynger 841]

One of the actions that has dissapeared is 'Right Click and Left Click' on the Desktop......also in Control panel it wont let me open the icon called 'taskbar'......also if i select my 'sound' in control panel and check the box...show speaker on taskbar....it wont stay checked ( as ive no taskbar )

[littlebro 234]

Hi Fynger,

My IT techy suggests:

Go to Windows update, review update history. See if you have downloaded an update for a programme you do not have.

Apparently, Windows Installer may be trying to update a file that does not exist and whilst doing so it will stall and prevent you from other installing/updating as installer only allows one session at a time.

If you have downloaded something you do not need, stop the installer and delete the update using add/remove programme.

If this does not work, go down the pub!

Happy Christmas

[Fynger 841]

Both good suggestions ta....will let you know.

[Fynger 841]

Hey !!!!!.....Santas bought me some ICONS and a TASKBAR......dont ask me how.....i was shutting down some of the processes runing and the screen went flash . ( cant remember tho which was the last i stopped ) .....now the desktop is all back as it was except now theres alsorts of shortcuts to all the scanners and virus killers ive been trying.....all my settings are all the wrong size and layout and theres have a ton of new things down by the clock..( yep have a clock now )......so with a bit of juggling and sorting out ....TA DAAAAA......( lets hope it all stays )....Thanks to everyone who tried to help....all ideas were tried and will be used again if needed.

[zab 47]

Glad you got that one sorted! I think I'd create some restore points or backups just in case.

[Fynger 841]

Gone thru some re-boots and all looks fine still......Had a program on it called 'windows search' that seemed to be new...got rid of that...and everythings running as it was originally.