Help. I can't open folders

[Guest]

I can no longer open my folders by clicking on them. This includes Control Panel, My computer, My Pictures, etc., and even Trash. One day they were working now they aren't. When you click on them everything vanishes except the background pict. and comes back a few seconds later, with nothing open. Even right click; open/explore doesn't work. I can access most things through other programs, images through paint, etc., as most programs/applications I can open. I had a download trojan virus which has been eliminated, but if it was the cause I don't know. In administrator, I have full access to folders. I also made sure my user access was set at Full Control. Any other ideas would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[roger]

Hi Mark,

I can no longer open my folders by clicking on them. This includes Control Panel, My computer, My Pictures, etc., and even Trash. One day they were working now they aren't. When you click on them everything vanishes except the background pict. and comes back a few seconds later, with nothing open. Even right click; open/explore doesn't work. I can access most things through other programs, images through paint, etc., as most programs/applications I can open. I had a download trojan virus which has been eliminated, but if it was the cause I don't know. In administrator, I have full access to folders. I also made sure my user access was set at Full Control. Any other ideas would be appreciated. Thank you.

Let's try this:

Boot in safe mode (Pressing F8 repeatedly as soon as information
appears on the monitor)
Go to Control Panel > Internet Options > Advanced tab and check
'disable third-party browser extensions.'
Boot and check if it works.

If it works, then it means you have some malware you haven't detected
yet, try with ad-aware and spybot (both free):

Download, install and update the spyware removers from the links
below. Run both of them.
Ad-aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

Spybot S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?lang=en&page=download

Good luck

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately it didn't work. Any other ideas?

 

[roger]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately it didn't work. Any other ideas?

Try doing Start > Run > cmd
and typing:
sfc /scannow (with a space between the c and the forward slash)
You will need the XP CD, and also the location of the dllcache folder,
generally in Windows, together with the folder Windows\ServicePack
Files\i386.

What this routine does is check the system files, and it will replace
those that are damaged or missing.

You might need to go to Windows Update afterwards, because the updates
might be lost when it restores the original files from the XP CD: and
you will need to be protected by a firewall when accessing the Net,
either XP's own or a third-party one, like Zone Alarm at
www.zonealarm.com

Good luck