Alan said:
My desktop icons, shortcuts and program links are not
responding anymore. I have internet access and I can see
my documents but I can not open any program. Any ideas.
Thank you!
This isn't enough information to get a specific answer. Here are general
troubleshooting steps:
1) scan with current antivirus ("current" means a version not earlier
than 2002 but using updated virus definitions); 2) remove spyware with
Spybot Search & Destroy (
www.safer-networking.org) and Ad-aware
(
www.lavasoftusa.com). These programs are free, so use them both since
they complement each other. You may also want to run CWShredder and
HijackThis from
http://aumha.org/freeware.htm. Although CWShredder is
no longer being updated, it will still clean older variants of the
CoolWebSearch malware. Always read the instructions before running a
spyware removal tool. Be sure to update these programs before running,
and it is a good idea to do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode; 3) delete
temporary and Temporary Internet Files; 4) stop unnecessary
services/programs from starting with Windows - see
www.blackviper.com
for services info and
www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm for
programs info; 5) look in Event Viewer for clues; 6) make sure you've
visited Windows Update and applied all security patches. Do not install
driver updates from Windows Update; 7) run a firewall.
If you need more help, please repost to this thread and tell us more
about your computer, what changed between the time things worked and
the time they didn't, and what you've already done to troubleshoot.
Malke
