No Desktop Icon and No Start Menu

D

Douglas

I have background picture but no icons or start menu. I can only run
programs through taskman by using Ctrl + Alt = Delete then click new task.
Have tried restore, won't work. Any suggestions greatly appreciated?
 
G

Guest

Douglas,

CTRL + ALT + DEL

Start Task manager

Applications tab | New task | type explorer & press ENTER

have they now returned?

Do they disappear the next time you reboot? If so, explorer.exe is missing
from the shell string under Winlogin registry key

START | RUN | Type regedit & press ENTER

Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

in the right pane is the shell string I mentioned above. It should read like
this:

Shell REG_SZ explorer.exe

Close the registry editor
 
J

Jose

I have background picture but no icons or start menu.  I can only run
programs through taskman by using Ctrl + Alt = Delete then click new task.  
Have tried restore, won't work.   Any suggestions greatly appreciated?
Click to expand...

Sounds like a common malicious software (malware) attack.

After you run explorer.exe to get your desktop back:

Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free
malware detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

They can be uninstalled later if desired.
 
D

Douglas

SPAMCOP,

I got pop up message after type explorer then enter. The message said
"Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have
the appropriate permissions to access the item."

Douglas
 
D

Douglas

SPAMCOP,

I doubled check "Shell REG_SZ explorer.exe at registry. It is on list
at Winlogon.

Douglas
 
G

Guest

Paul,

You're not a trusted source. Anyone can write a script or get one from
Technet, change it slightly to do damage

There are many viruses... associated with VBS files & many firewalls block
them as unsafe attachments

You can actually sign scripts if you so wish but it costs money to get a
proper certificate not one you created on your local machine. See:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc302149.aspx for more info & read
the conclusion at the base of the page

I have written many programs for users of this & other newsgroups. Just
because I say they're safe it doesn't mean they are. That's the reply I
would get if posting an app. Never in a million years would I write
something to harm a user's machine. It's the same for you & anyone else
writing apps here. No-one is saying they are safe or dodgy but you have to
understand many OP's will run anything

Your Windows Messenger script:

Ypu could have either told the OP the GPO to go to or said START | RUN |
type 'regedit' (no quotes) & press ENTER. Navigate to... It's far safer than
running a script where you aren't sure what it does
 
P

PaulM

I am not a trusted source, said who??? You!!!

Like you said you would never write a script that would harm a user's
computer.

Well guess what nether would I! My site has been up over 7 years and my
scripts were downloaded many times and no one has ever had a problem with
them. They are all tested before I put them up for download.
You think it is safer to tell someone to go into the registry and edit it
without knowing what he or she are doing? You think that is safe and a
better way? I don't think so.
 
D

Douglas

Jose,

Thank you for helping. You gave everyone two websites. Those is good for
clean the anti-spyware. They removed my messed spyware. But They are not
fix the problem that I had. I reboot. Still desktop icon and start menu is
disappeared. I have to use Ctrl + Alt + Delete.

Douglas
 
J

Jose

Jose,

Thank you for helping.  You gave everyone two websites.  Those is good for
clean the anti-spyware.  They removed my messed spyware.  But They are not
fix the problem that I had.  I reboot.  Still desktop icon and start menu is
disappeared.  I have to use Ctrl + Alt + Delete.

Douglas
Click to expand...

That is a good start - we now know what it is not. You did reboot,
right? Right.

If you can reclaim your desktop by CTRL-ALT-DEL and running
explorer.exe, it is still broken somewhere (obviously), so perhaps
the script from PaulM will fix you up.
 
D

Douglas

Paul M,

I did follow the instruction on your step. After reboot. Icon and Start is
still disappeared.

Douglas
 

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