No Desktop and No Taskbar

[Karine Rivet]

I'm working on a Windows XP Home Edition PC that was infected with several instances of Spybot and Downloader and had a lot of
spyware on it. The PC has Norton AntiVirus installed on it and using the latest definitions for it along with the instructions
provided on Symantec's web site I cleared the PC of it's virus infections. Then I also installed the latest edition of Ad-Aware and
cleaned it of all of its spyware.

Despite all of that every time the PC boots up and you choose a profile to logon you get presented with a blank desktop that
includes no desktop icons and no taskbar. If I do Ctrl-Alt-Del and run explorer.exe the desktop then comes up and the PC appears to
run normally, but that's the only way to get the desktop up.

I also went through all of the Run sections of the registry with a fine tooth comb and there doesn't appear to be anything running
abnormally at this point. And, lastly, I made sure the Shell entry in the registry is correct.

Does anyone know how I can get the desktop restored to loading on its own?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Spybot is not spyware. Spybot is probably the 2nd most
important tool (some consider it the first), when it
comes to getting rid of spyware and adware.

Make sure that when you run Ad-aware you update it, and
also configure to check your entire system (check out
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/thread-4696.php).

Your problem seems weird because 99% of the time, when
your desktop and taskbar don't show it's because
explorer.exe just crashed, and it shows you an error
message. Are you sure Windows isn't giving you an error
message of any kind? Is there a program that you recently
installed that you think might be causing the problem?

Try using the System Configuration Utility (hit Start,
Run and type msconfig) to look through your services and
all of your start-up items. If you manually look at the
registry for the latter, you should check both
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersio
n\Run and that same key but under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
tree. Try disabling anything that you know don't need or
anything that might seem like a new program and keep
trying. Remember you can always use Safe Mode with
Networking if you need it by pressing F8 when your
computer boots up right before the Windows XP Home
Edition logo boot screen shows up.

Also make sure you do a full LiveUpdate for your
Norton/Symantec products and a Windows Update.

Is this happening when you load a specific profile? Try
creating a new blank profile and using that to see if it
works (in that case the culprit is most likely a specific
program that the other profiles are running).

And if it's possible, perhaps consider rolling back your
computer to a previous System Restore point (if you have
System Restore enabled, which you should - I don't cuz I
hate that but a lot of people use it).

Also, post a HiJackThis! log here and someone more
knowledgeable could tell you what's going on. You can get
that program at Download.com, it's the 3rd most used
program when looking for malware (spyware, adware, etc.).

-----Original Message-----
I'm working on a Windows XP Home Edition PC that was

infected with several instances of Spybot and Downloader
and had a lot of

spyware on it. The PC has Norton AntiVirus installed on

it and using the latest definitions for it along with the
instructions

provided on Symantec's web site I cleared the PC of it's

virus infections. Then I also installed the latest
edition of Ad-Aware and

cleaned it of all of its spyware.

Despite all of that every time the PC boots up and you

choose a profile to logon you get presented with a blank
desktop that

includes no desktop icons and no taskbar. If I do Ctrl-

Alt-Del and run explorer.exe the desktop then comes up
and the PC appears to

run normally, but that's the only way to get the desktop up.

I also went through all of the Run sections of the

registry with a fine tooth comb and there doesn't appear
to be anything running

abnormally at this point. And, lastly, I made sure the

Shell entry in the registry is correct.

 

[Patti MacLeod]

Hi Karine,

You could try d/loading and running the fix that is available from Kelly
Theriot's site:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm (scroll down to line 195,
right-hand column --> Restore Desktop Icons and Taskbar)



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

I'm working on a Windows XP Home Edition PC that was infected with several

instances of Spybot and Downloader and had a lot of

spyware on it. The PC has Norton AntiVirus installed on it and using the

latest definitions for it along with the instructions

provided on Symantec's web site I cleared the PC of it's virus infections.

Then I also installed the latest edition of Ad-Aware and

cleaned it of all of its spyware.

Despite all of that every time the PC boots up and you choose a profile to

logon you get presented with a blank desktop that

includes no desktop icons and no taskbar. If I do Ctrl-Alt-Del and run

explorer.exe the desktop then comes up and the PC appears to

run normally, but that's the only way to get the desktop up.

I also went through all of the Run sections of the registry with a fine

tooth comb and there doesn't appear to be anything running