Blank Desktop and explorer.exe problem

[Guest]

OS: Windows XP Pro SP2

PROBLEM: explorer.exe won't start after login. There is no error message to
indicate what the problem is. Attempts to manually start explorer.exe
through the Task Manager result in the taskbar and the start menu appearing
briefly for a fraction of a second before going away. There is only a blank
desktop with the cursor. There is no taskbar, start menu, and desktop icons.
Programs are accessible through the Task Manager, and they seem to work fine
except Windows Explorer.

PRIOR EVENTS: Norton Antivirus Corporate Client Edition 7.5 definition
update and Visual Studio 2005 crash (while editing in the Forms Editor).
Other than those, there was nothing in particular. There was no new software
installation or removal. The system still functions properly after those
events until it was shutdown and restarted the next day.

STEPS TAKEN SO FAR:
1. Antivirus and Windows Defender full scan, which find nothing.
2. Norton Antivirus uninstallation and reinstallation.
3. System Restore
4. System File Checker (sfc /scannow)

I try to avoid OS reinstallation or repair install if possible. Any
ideas/solution?

Thanks.

 

[Pennywise]

OS: Windows XP Pro SP2

PROBLEM: explorer.exe won't start after login. There is no error message to
indicate what the problem is. Attempts to manually start explorer.exe
through the Task Manager result in the taskbar and the start menu appearing
briefly for a fraction of a second before going away. There is only a blank
desktop with the cursor. There is no taskbar, start menu, and desktop icons.
Programs are accessible through the Task Manager, and they seem to work fine
except Windows Explorer.

It's possible you have a corrupt profile, if nothing else works, you
might create a new one.

How to copy data from a corrupted user profile to a new profile
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151

 

[Ayush]

Replied to [Henry]'s message :
-----------------------------------------------------------

PROBLEM: explorer.exe won't start after login. There is no error
message to indicate what the problem is. Attempts to manually start
explorer.exe through the Task Manager result in the taskbar and the
start menu appearing briefly for a fraction of a second before going
away.

Open Task Manager
Try to Start explorer
Type eventvwr
Click OK
See the errors

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply.

At the moment, I don't have the Start Menu on my desktop. Any idea how to
create a new user and transfer existing user profile from the Task Manager
->File->Run..?

In addition, I have tried booting into Safe mode and the problem still
persists.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply. I did that and it does not show any error.

This is what I did:

1. Opened up the event viewer
2. Tried to run explorer.exe
3. Checked for any error log (I checked everything under System,
Application, Security), and there is no error logged.

Replied to [Henry]'s message :
-----------------------------------------------------------

PROBLEM: explorer.exe won't start after login. There is no error
message to indicate what the problem is. Attempts to manually start
explorer.exe through the Task Manager result in the taskbar and the
start menu appearing briefly for a fraction of a second before going
away.

Open Task Manager
Try to Start explorer
Type eventvwr
Click OK
See the errors



--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]

Search - www.Google.com | Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org
Snip your long urls - http://snipurl.com/

 

[Guest]

I am having the same problem! It occured after downloading a newer version
of Norton. The computer boots up fine but when the desktop appears there are
no icons and no taskbar. I cannot right-click on the desktop. I have to use
the Task Manager to open programs. Internet Explorer will not open.

Please help.

 

[Guest]

Just to update the situation ...

I created a new user through the "net user" command line and then logged
into that new account (to see whether it's the user profile that is corrupt).
The result is still the same. Blank desktop with no icons and taskbar for
that new account.

Any more idea?

 

[John John]

Try reinstalling Internet Explorer. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318378

I know that your problem is with Explorer.exe but the two programs are
hopelessly intertwined, like the Gordian knot. Corrupt or mismatched IE
files often cause the type of problems that you are experiencing.

Also, there is a similar issue affecting Windows 2000 when Internet
Relay Chat (mIRC) program is installed. I don't know if the same issue
affects Windows XP but it might be something to look into if you use
these types of programs. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/836417

John

 

[Guest]

Same problem here. Last thing that happened was that my Dell Latitude D620
ran out of power while working on it. Did not seem to perform a safe shutdown.

Have anyone tried reinstalling internet explorer?

Was wondering if the system restore thing would be worth a try, how can I
access it now that I only have Task Manager?

Also, is there anyway to access the control panel from task manager?

Bjorn

 

[Guest]

I currently use Xplorer2 to access the control panel. I tried System
Restore but it didn't work for me. To access System Restore from the Task
Manager, go to C:\\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Programs\Accessories\System Tools\ System Restore.lnk or
C:\\WINDOWS\system32\Restore\rstrui.exe

I haven't tried reinstalling IE yet. I have been a bit busy lately.
Another problem is that I am using IE7. So I may need to rollback to IE6 and
then reinstall the whole thing all over again ... sigh.

Let me know if anyone knows the solution to this problem.

Thanks.