Tasbar and Start Menu Problems

[Marc Moisan]

Hi,

My apologies if this has already been answered in the past or if I am in
the wrong group.

I am running XP Home Edition and recently I had to reinstall everything
because Windows became corrupted (the reason I don't really want to
reinstall everything again).

Today, upon turning on the Computer, my taskbar including the start menu
were absent/missing. Nor any shortcut can be found on the desktop. I
tried Ctrl-Esc, etc. without any results. There are three other users on
the Computer (family members) and the same problem exists regardless
which one you log into. Also I tried creating a new user, and the same
problem existed on the new user. For each user their desktop folder on
C: drive actually shows the shortcuts but they are not displayed on the
screen.

When rebooting using Safe Mode everything appears normal (for safe mode)
and both the icons and the taskbar shows up normally. I tried using the
task manager to run explorer.exe and while it never gave me any error
messages it didn't seem to do anything either.

I am at a loss to figure out what to do next, short of reinstalling
everything and I am hoping that someone can help me figure it out.

Cheers,

Marc Moisan, C.D.

 

[Michael T.]

Today, upon turning on the Computer, my taskbar including the start menu
were absent/missing. Nor any shortcut can be found on the desktop. I
tried Ctrl-Esc, etc. without any results. There are three other users on
the Computer (family members) and the same problem exists regardless
which one you log into. Also I tried creating a new user, and the same
problem existed on the new user. For each user their desktop folder on
C: drive actually shows the shortcuts but they are not displayed on the
screen.

When rebooting using Safe Mode everything appears normal (for safe mode)
and both the icons and the taskbar shows up normally. I tried using the
task manager to run explorer.exe and while it never gave me any error
messages it didn't seem to do anything either.

I am at a loss to figure out what to do next, short of reinstalling
everything and I am hoping that someone can help me figure it out.

Cheers,

Marc Moisan, C.D.

I would try System File Checker first.

1. Insert your Windows XP SP2 CD-ROM. If it auto runs and displays a Window,
then close the window.
2. Go to Start > Run and type SFC /SCANNOW in the box named "Open;", then
click OK.
3. You should see a dialog titled Windows File Protection.
4. Wait for the progress bar to move all the way to the right.
5. Remove your CD

If this didn't work, you may have to do a Windows XP Repair Installation.

Visit http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

Once you recover you will need to run Windows Update to make sure all the
latest updates are installed.

 

[Marc Moisan]

Thank you, so much...

Worked like a charm!

I tried everything and couldn't figure it out, and this fixed it.

But, what exactly was the problem anyway???

Cheers,

Marc Moisan, C.D.

 

[Michael T.]

Thank you, so much...

Worked like a charm!

I tried everything and couldn't figure it out, and this fixed it.

But, what exactly was the problem anyway???

Cheers,

Marc Moisan, C.D.

When Windows runs in Safe Mode but not in Normal mode, that is sometimes an
indication of problems with divers. In Safe Mode most drivers are not
loaded.

Perhaps there was a problem with your video driver.

Glad you fixed it.