We have several XP machines at my place of business where, upon a user
logging in and the desktop loading, they simply get a blank wallpaper
and cursor and it stays like that indefinitely. The problem is
intermittent. I found that explorer isn’t running automatically when
this happens. I could simply C-A-D, get to Task Manager, start a new
task and run explorer that way, which would then bring the rest of the
desktop.

Unfortunately, this is a little too much for our end users to be able
to remember. So I whipped up a little AutoIT script to put in their
startup folder, that checks for the presence of the process
"explorer.exe" and if not present, then run it.

However, if explorer isn’t running, doesn’t that mean my script won’t
get ran either, causing a catch 22?

I had the idea of adding my script as a windows service... thinking
that even if explorer doesn’t run, services will still start normally.
But I’m having trouble creating the service. I tried the following:

sc create "Run Explorer" binPath= "C:\runexplorer.exe"

This succeeded, however I’m unable to ever start the service. When I
try:
Sc start “Run Explorer”
it always dies with: "StartService failed 1053: The service did not
respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion."

I get the same error trying to start it via services.msc. Anyone have
any ideas why? TIA

>We have several XP machines at my place of business where, upon a user
>logging in and the desktop loading, they simply get a blank wallpaper
>and cursor and it stays like that indefinitely. The problem is
>intermittent. I found that explorer isn’t running automatically when
>this happens. I could simply C-A-D, get to Task Manager, start a new
>task and run explorer that way, which would then bring the rest of the
>desktop.
>
>Unfortunately, this is a little too much for our end users to be able
>to remember. So I whipped up a little AutoIT script to put in their
>startup folder, that checks for the presence of the process
>"explorer.exe" and if not present, then run it.
>
>However, if explorer isn’t running, doesn’t that mean my script won’t
>get ran either, causing a catch 22?
>
>I had the idea of adding my script as a windows service... thinking
>that even if explorer doesn’t run, services will still start normally.
>But I’m having trouble creating the service. I tried the following:
>
>sc create "Run Explorer" binPath= "C:\runexplorer.exe"
>
>This succeeded, however I’m unable to ever start the service. When I
>try:
>Sc start “Run Explorer”
>it always dies with: "StartService failed 1053: The service did not
>respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion."
>
>I get the same error trying to start it via services.msc. Anyone have
>any ideas why? TIA

When you create a services, it often runs with SYSTEM or NT
AUTHORITY\<BuiltInAccount> privileges so that it starts up properly.
What you might need to do, if not set already, is to open
services.msc, click on the LogOn tab, click the Log on as Local System
account bullet and set the Allow Service to Interact With Desktop
check box. See if that works. Let me know how it goes.

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]

On Jan 21, 9:08*am, yerk5 <yer...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We have several XP machines at my place of business where, upon a user
> logging in and the desktop loading, they simply get a blank wallpaper
> and cursor and it stays like that indefinitely. The problem is
> intermittent. I found that explorer isn’t running automatically when
> this happens. I could simply C-A-D, get to Task Manager, start a new
> task and run explorer that way, which would then bring the rest of the
> desktop.
>
> Unfortunately, this is a little too much for our end users to be able
> to remember. So I whipped up a little AutoIT script to put in their
> startup folder, that checks for the presence of the process
> "explorer.exe" and if not present, then run it.
>
> However, if explorer isn’t running, doesn’t that mean my script won’t
> get ran either, causing a catch 22?
>
> I had the idea of adding my script as a windows service... thinking
> that even if explorer doesn’t run, services will still start normally.
> But I’m having trouble creating the service. I tried the following:
>
> sc create "Run Explorer" binPath= "C:\runexplorer.exe"
>
> This succeeded, however I’m unable to ever start the service. When I
> try:
> Sc start “Run Explorer”
> it always dies with: "StartService failed 1053: The service did not
> respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion."
>
> I get the same error trying to start it via services.msc. Anyone have
> any ideas why? TIA

Creating a Scheduled Task will not fix the problem, it may fix the
symptom of the problem.

This relatively common problem is best resolved after getting more
information and eliminating malicious software as the culprit.

This particular issue comes up quite frequently and hopefully it is
your desire to fix it, not work around it. It is usually not too
difficult to figure out and has been fixed so many times that there
are cut/paste directions to get you started:

To eliminate questions and guessing, please provide additional
information about your system.

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

msinfo32

Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
All, Copy and then paste
the information back here.

There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
Name), and whatever appears to
be private information to you, just delete it from the pasted
information.

Perform some scans for malicious software, then fix any remaining
issues:

Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

They can be uninstalled later if desired.

Learning how to create Scheduled Tasks that work is a different
subject.

Wolf, thanks. That did work like a charm.

On Jan 21, 9:47*am, "Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]" <.@.> wrote:
> >We have several XP machines at my place of business where, upon a user
> >logging in and the desktop loading, they simply get a blank wallpaper
> >and cursor and it stays like that indefinitely. The problem is
> >intermittent. I found that explorer isn’t running automatically when
> >this happens. I could simply C-A-D, get to Task Manager, start a new
> >task and run explorer that way, which would then bring the rest of the
> >desktop.
>
> >Unfortunately, this is a little too much for our end users to be able
> >to remember. So I whipped up a little AutoIT script to put in their
> >startup folder, that checks for the presence of the process
> >"explorer.exe" and if not present, then run it.
>
> >However, if explorer isn’t running, doesn’t that mean my script won’t
> >get ran either, causing a catch 22?
>
> >I had the idea of adding my script as a windows service... thinking
> >that even if explorer doesn’t run, services will still start normally.
> >But I’m having trouble creating the service. I tried the following:
>
> >sc create "Run Explorer" binPath= "C:\runexplorer.exe"
>
> >This succeeded, however I’m unable to ever start the service. When I
> >try:
> >Sc start “Run Explorer”
> >it always dies with: "StartService failed 1053: The service did not
> >respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion."
>
> >I get the same error trying to start it via services.msc. Anyone have
> >any ideas why? TIA
>
> When you create a services, it often runs with SYSTEM or NT
> AUTHORITY\<BuiltInAccount> privileges so that it starts up properly.
> What you might need to do, if not set already, is to open
> services.msc, click on the LogOn tab, click the Log on as Local System
> account bullet and set the Allow Service to Interact With Desktop
> check box. See if that works. Let me know how it goes.
>
> - Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

@Jose,

I know it sounds like I'm trying to work around an issue rather than
resolve it, and thats true in a way. But let me explain. I'm quite
sure it's not malicious software. I manage several hundred PC's at my
place of business, and this issue is happening on a subset of machines
that were given the same base image. So whatever the cause, it
probably needs to be resolved on the master image. We did accomplish
this. We rebuilt the image from scratch (the first time around, it was
just a modification of the factory-preloaded configuration). But this
issue is still alive on several machines that are out in the field
with that first version of the image. In short, it's common to those
with that image, and hence incredibly unlikely that all are infected
with malware that exhibits no symptoms other than this one common
annoying issue.

That's why I'm content to just work around the issue for the ones that
are already in the field. A quick fix would be easier than reimaging
all of those.


On Jan 21, 10:01*am, Jose <jose_e...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Jan 21, 9:08*am, yerk5 <yer...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > We have several XP machines at my place of business where, upon a user
> > logging in and the desktop loading, they simply get a blank wallpaper
> > and cursor and it stays like that indefinitely. The problem is
> > intermittent. I found that explorer isn’t running automatically when
> > this happens. I could simply C-A-D, get to Task Manager, start a new
> > task and run explorer that way, which would then bring the rest of the
> > desktop.
>
> > Unfortunately, this is a little too much for our end users to be able
> > to remember. So I whipped up a little AutoIT script to put in their
> > startup folder, that checks for the presence of the process
> > "explorer.exe" and if not present, then run it.
>
> > However, if explorer isn’t running, doesn’t that mean my script won’t
> > get ran either, causing a catch 22?
>
> > I had the idea of adding my script as a windows service... thinking
> > that even if explorer doesn’t run, services will still start normally..
> > But I’m having trouble creating the service. I tried the following:
>
> > sc create "Run Explorer" binPath= "C:\runexplorer.exe"
>
> > This succeeded, however I’m unable to ever start the service. When I
> > try:
> > Sc start “Run Explorer”
> > it always dies with: "StartService failed 1053: The service did not
> > respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion."
>
> > I get the same error trying to start it via services.msc. Anyone have
> > any ideas why? TIA
>
> Creating a Scheduled Task will not fix the problem, it may fix the
> symptom of the problem.
>
> This relatively common problem is best resolved after getting more
> information and eliminating malicious software as the culprit.
>
> This particular issue comes up quite frequently and hopefully it is
> your desire to fix it, not work around it. *It is usually not too
> difficult to figure out and has been fixed so many times that there
> are cut/paste directions to get you started:
>
> To eliminate questions and guessing, please provide additional
> information about your system.
>
> Click Start, Run and in the box enter:
>
> msinfo32
>
> Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
> All, Copy and then paste
> the information back here.
>
> There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
> Name), and whatever appears to
> be private information to you, just delete it from the pasted
> information.
>
> Perform some scans for malicious software, then fix any remaining
> issues:
>
> Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
> detection programs:
>
> Malwarebytes (MBAM): *http://malwarebytes.org/
> SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): *http://www.superantispyware.com/
>
> They can be uninstalled later if desired.
>
> Learning how to create Scheduled Tasks that work is a different
> subject.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Great!

>Wolf, thanks. That did work like a charm.
>
>On Jan 21, 9:47*am, "Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]" <.@.> wrote:
>> >We have several XP machines at my place of business where, upon a user
>> >logging in and the desktop loading, they simply get a blank wallpaper
>> >and cursor and it stays like that indefinitely. The problem is
>> >intermittent. I found that explorer isn’t running automatically when
>> >this happens. I could simply C-A-D, get to Task Manager, start a new
>> >task and run explorer that way, which would then bring the rest of the
>> >desktop.
>>
>> >Unfortunately, this is a little too much for our end users to be able
>> >to remember. So I whipped up a little AutoIT script to put in their
>> >startup folder, that checks for the presence of the process
>> >"explorer.exe" and if not present, then run it.
>>
>> >However, if explorer isn’t running, doesn’t that mean my script won’t
>> >get ran either, causing a catch 22?
>>
>> >I had the idea of adding my script as a windows service... thinking
>> >that even if explorer doesn’t run, services will still start normally.
>> >But I’m having trouble creating the service. I tried the following:
>>
>> >sc create "Run Explorer" binPath= "C:\runexplorer.exe"
>>
>> >This succeeded, however I’m unable to ever start the service. When I
>> >try:
>> >Sc start “Run Explorer”
>> >it always dies with: "StartService failed 1053: The service did not
>> >respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion."
>>
>> >I get the same error trying to start it via services.msc. Anyone have
>> >any ideas why? TIA
>>
>> When you create a services, it often runs with SYSTEM or NT
>> AUTHORITY\<BuiltInAccount> privileges so that it starts up properly.
>> What you might need to do, if not set already, is to open
>> services.msc, click on the LogOn tab, click the Log on as Local System
>> account bullet and set the Allow Service to Interact With Desktop
>> check box. See if that works. Let me know how it goes.
>>
>> - Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]