Blank Desktop

[Christine P]

When I start up my PC, the desktop appears with just the default XP
wallpaper, no icons, taskbar or start menu. I have tried rebooting several
times, and nothing so far. I also tried Safe Mode, and all I got was a black
screen. I can run the task manager, and can run programs like normal. Someone
dropped the keyboard earlier today, and thinks they may have hit something on
it that caused this problem. Can anyone help? I am really at a loss this
time! Thank you!

 

[Christine P]

I forgot one thing, sorry. I am not able to right click to choose the Arrange
Icons option, so I don't think that will work.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Christine P" <Christine (e-mail address removed)>

| When I start up my PC, the desktop appears with just the default XP
| wallpaper, no icons, taskbar or start menu. I have tried rebooting several
| times, and nothing so far. I also tried Safe Mode, and all I got was a black
| screen. I can run the task manager, and can run programs like normal. Someone
| dropped the keyboard earlier today, and thinks they may have hit something on
| it that caused this problem. Can anyone help? I am really at a loss this
| time! Thank you!

Hit; Ctrl+Alt+Del

This will load the Task Manager.

Go to; File --> New task (run)

Enter explorer.exe

Hit the "Enter" key.

Does the desktop now show ?

 

[Christine P]

That just opened up My Documents. The desktop remained blank.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Christine P" <[email protected]>

| That just opened up My Documents. The desktop remained blank.
|


It shouldn't. It should load the desktop if there are no other instances of Explorer.exe
running. Therefore, explorer.exe must be already running.

What happens if you logon via a different account ?

 

[Christine P]

There is only one account on this PC. I went back to the task manager just
now, and ended the explorer.exe that was running. I then typed it into Run
again. This time it brought up the desktop, but in its own window. The acutal
desktop is still blank, and there is no taskbar or Start menu.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Christine P" <[email protected]>

| There is only one account on this PC. I went back to the task manager just
| now, and ended the explorer.exe that was running. I then typed it into Run
| again. This time it brought up the desktop, but in its own window. The acutal
| desktop is still blank, and there is no taskbar or Start menu.


Please create a new "test" account and logon using that new account.

If you get a desktop it is indicative of a corrupted profile in your normal account.

 

[Christine P]

I created a new account, and restarted the PC. No luck. Same blank desktop. I
tried running explorer.exe, and had the same problem of it opening up in its
owne window. Thank you for your help with this, I really appreciate it!

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Christine P" <[email protected]>

| I created a new account, and restarted the PC. No luck. Same blank desktop. I
| tried running explorer.exe, and had the same problem of it opening up in its
| owne window. Thank you for your help with this, I really appreciate it!
|

Then it isn't a user profile problem.

The question then is, is USERINIT.EXE beloded properly ?

Under...

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon


The key; userinit
should be
C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\Userinit.exe,
or
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Userinit.exe,


The key; shell
should be
explorer.exe

 

[Christine P]

First, I have to admit- I am not very computer savvy (sorry). I am able to
locate the following-

C:\WINDOWS\system32\Userinit.exe,

but from there, what am I supposed to do? If I double click it, nothing
happens.

 

[rdb]

On my computer - ( three steps ) Left click desktop, Click - arrange Icons
by, Click Show Desktop Icons

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Christine P" <[email protected]>

| First, I have to admit- I am not very computer savvy (sorry). I am able to
| locate the following-
|
| C:\WINDOWS\system32\Userinit.exe,
|
| but from there, what am I supposed to do? If I double click it, nothing
| happens.


I'm sorry...

I should have been more explanatory.

When you load Task Manager (as I instructed before) this time run; REGEDIT.EXE

Traverse...
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Then look into the Right Pane.

Find the key; userinit

It should be set to...

C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\Userinit.exe,
or
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Userinit.exe,

Then Find the key; shell

It should be set to...

explorer.exe

 

[Christine P]

It doesn't give me the option Show Desktop Icons.

 

[Christine P]

Great instructions! I found it, and everything was good until I got to Shell.
It is blank.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Christine P" <[email protected]>

| Great instructions! I found it, and everything was good until I got to Shell.
| It is blank.
|

Well shell should be set to; explorer.exe

Which would explain why there is NO desktop.

 

[Christine P]

I will set it to that, and then restart. I will let you know what happens.
Thanks!

 

[Christine P]

It worked!! Thank so much! I really do appreciate your assistance with this.
I have no idea how it happened, but it is all back- the icons, the start menu
and the task bar. Again, THANK YOU!!!

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Christine P" <[email protected]>

| It worked!! Thank so much! I really do appreciate your assistance with this.
| I have no idea how it happened, but it is all back- the icons, the start menu
| and the task bar. Again, THANK YOU!!!

YW

 

[Badger]

When I start up my PC, the desktop appears with just the default XP
wallpaper, no icons, taskbar or start menu. I have tried rebooting several
times, and nothing so far. I also tried Safe Mode, and all I got was a
black
screen. I can run the task manager, and can run programs like normal.
Someone
dropped the keyboard earlier today, and thinks they may have hit something
on
it that caused this problem. Can anyone help? I am really at a loss this
time! Thank you!

As far as the icons are concerned, try right-clicking on the desktop then
select Arrange Icons By/Show Desktop Icons. This may solve the problem.
Badger

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Badger" <[email protected]>


|
| As far as the icons are concerned, try right-clicking on the desktop then
| select Arrange Icons By/Show Desktop Icons. This may solve the problem.
| Badger
|

The problem was already resolved. Explorer.exe was NOT being loaded as the default SHELL.