Almost all icons "lost", all shortcuts invalid, unable to create new ones.

[Brian Meadows]

I found my PC with a blank screen. Checked the cables, all OK.
Neither the keyboard nor the mouse would reactivate the PC, the
three-fingered salute had no effect, leaving it for another 15
minutes and trying the above again had no effect, I was left with
no alternative but a power down.

When the PC booted again, approximately two thirds of the
shortcuts on my desktop have "lost' their icons. All of them are
invalid, i.e. nothing happens when they're double clicked, and
checking on the properties gives an empty form with a message
"This is not a valid shortcut".

Attempting to recreate one of the shortcuts appears to work OK
until the end of the process, when I get a message box titled
"Select a title for the program" containing a message "Unable to
create shortcut". When I acknowledge this (the only option) I'm
left with another invalid shortcut, and checking the .lnk file
via the command prompt reveals that it's zero length.

I can still run programs via Start | Run (otherwise I wouldn't be
posting this!), and the command prompt (via Start | Run) works
just fine.

Anybody seen this problem before and/or have any ideas for a fix?

Thanks,

Brian.

 

[Fitz]

System Restore

Fitz

 

[Brian Meadows]

System Restore

Know what the name of the program is? The shortcut to that is
knackered too.

Brian.

 

[Fitz]

This link gives instructions on starting system restore from a command
prompt:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304449

Fitz

 

[Brian Meadows]

This link gives instructions on starting system restore from a command
prompt:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304449

Fitz

Well, that idea didn't get me very far. I did a restore back to
the last restore point (start of the month, i.e. one week before
the problem occurred). Everything appeared to complete OK in the
restore process, but I'm now left with a *totally* blank desktop,
no shortcuts whatsoever. I still have the programs listed when I
go via start | all programs, but again, none of the shortcuts
will work, I can only run programs by going via start | run.

Anyone got any more ideas?


TIA,

Brian.

 

[Brian Meadows]

Well, that idea didn't get me very far. I did a restore back to
the last restore point (start of the month, i.e. one week before
the problem occurred). Everything appeared to complete OK in the
restore process, but I'm now left with a *totally* blank desktop,
no shortcuts whatsoever. I still have the programs listed when I
go via start | all programs, but again, none of the shortcuts
will work, I can only run programs by going via start | run.

Anyone got any more ideas?

Well, in the absence of any other suggestions, it was reinstall
time, operating system as well as backups, which of course fixed
the problem. <sigh>. I'd be much happier about it if I had any
idea of what caused things to go wrong in the first place.

I'm slowly getting closer to the idea of regarding my Linux-based
PC, which hasn't had a problem since the day I set it up, as my
primary PC. I just need to find equivalents/replacements for
those last few applications.

Brian.