desktop properties box appears at logon

[Guest]

The desktop properties box (right click an empty area on the desktop) appears
each time I reboot or whenever my system wakes from standby/hibernate. Any
suggestions on how to get it to stop? Thank you!

 

[DatabaseBen]

you think it might be a screensaver error?

 

[Guest]

The box doesn't appear after returning from any screensavers, just upon
waking from sleep/hibernate, or a fresh boot.

 

[DatabaseBen]

some windows settings are pretty tricky to solve.


if it were me, i would simply use the "repair" feature from
the windows cd and that way any system files that got
corrupted can be fixed. the repair only affects those vital
windows files and will leave all the other programs intact.

select new install from the windows cd, point the your
o.s. on the harddrive, then say yes when the cd asks
if you want it repaired...

 

[Guest]

I have an old xp pro service pack 1 disk. When I tried your solution I
received the message 'Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on
your computer is newer than the version on the CD.'

 

[DatabaseBen]

oh yeh,
what happened is that since your current o.s. is upgraded with the sp2
update,
the version on the cd is old. Unfortunately, the cd is useless "unless" you
unistall
sp2 first and revert your o.s. backwards.

Keep this in mind if your system ever crashes and you find
this problem if you try to use your cd.

As a project for you, try to stream the sp2 down to your pc
and make a cd for it. Its a worthy project and you may need
to get this prepared for an emergency in the future.

There is a way to merge the sp2 with your files on the windows
cd. But you need to find the site with the details on how
to merge and create a new cd.

In the interim, since the o.s. on your harddrive, is the only
functional copy you have now, you should create a disk image of it NOW.

That way if you need to wipe out the harddrive and install the original
windows on it with your cd, you can restore your disk images over it.

Look for Barts PE, DriveImage XML, the DriveIMage XML plugin for
barts pe. Also, you will need you original windows cd and the streamed
sp2 so that all of these can be merged onto the PE disk.

Not sure how many cd's you will need, but if you had a dvd rw,
it would only take one for the PE and setup files. The actual
disk images of your hd, should be kept on a seperate partition
on the harddrive as this will be easier to keep and reinstall if
you wipe out/format the main partition.....

 

[Guest]

I had problem with the operating system this weekend. I tried to speed up the
boot time by modifying the boot.ini. Unfortunately, I changed the boot.ini
from 2 partitions to 1. The computer wouldn't boot- missing a critical .dll.
I hadn't realized that Dell had put diagnostics on a separate partition. I
reinstalled xp on a second internal hard drive, found my way back to the
modified .ini and changed it back to 2 partitions. The system works as it
should- except for the desktop properties box. That problem has existed for
months, though.

I'd downloaded Bart's PE some time ago, but hadn't gotten around to figuring
it out.

I found a site with instructions on combining xp with sp2 and burning it to
disk:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp
Is this what you were referring to?

 

[DatabaseBen]

yeh, you got it.
Barts pe is pretty neat because it functions as a recovery console.
But if you allow it to transfer you windows setup files on to it,
the PE becomes a real handy piece of work especially during
an emergency
..
Then if you go a bit further by getting to know
the Drive Imaging XML and install its plugin
into the PE, you will be a-ok.

You can also put a copy of the registry hives onto
the pe, just incase you only need to restore the
registry via recovery console. Use ERUNT.

As mentioned earlier, the chances of loosing a partition, like your
c, is much greater than loosing a whole hd. So I would recommend
in having another partition that can hold your images and the registy
backup.
Then when you use the pe, you can control your restoriation like a pro.

Because dvd hold 4 gigabytes while cd only hold 600 megs, I suggest you
invest in a dvd rw. I used a light scriber and made a pe disk that looks
like
it came from a store....