Applications wont start

[Nick]

I am running Win XP and recently picked up a problem where some of the
applications (Firefox, IE, Winamp, Divx player etc) do not start up
although others do. The apps that do not start load up in memory and
show up in task manager but do not appear on the desktop.

The desktop itself sometimes flicks.

I am running Zonealarm and its reporting no virus/spyware present.

Has the explorer.exe (desktop) been hijacked or is there another
problem.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am running Win XP and recently picked up a problem where some of the
applications (Firefox, IE, Winamp, Divx player etc) do not start up
although others do. The apps that do not start load up in memory and
show up in task manager but do not appear on the desktop.

The desktop itself sometimes flicks.

I am running Zonealarm and its reporting no virus/spyware present.

Has the explorer.exe (desktop) been hijacked or is there another
problem.

Perhaps they did start but are very small windows in the
top left-hand corner of your screen.

 

[Nick]

No I cant see them at all. If I do Alt+Tab, there is nothing showing.
The apps only show in task manager.

 

[Plato]

I am running Win XP and recently picked up a problem where some of the
applications (Firefox, IE, Winamp, Divx player etc) do not start up
although others do. The apps that do not start load up in memory and
show up in task manager but do not appear on the desktop.

Always best to have more than one anti-virus app installed and updated,
even if you choose to run only one 24/7