No Start Menu, Taskbar or Desktop Icons.

[Kelly Rand]

A few weeks ago I received a message saying error with my virtual memory.
Then, a few days later all of my desktop icons disappeared along with my
start menu and taskbar. I can't even right click on my desktop. Every time I
try to download something to fix it the download never starts. I can't open
any programs or download any new ones. I have no clue how to fix it. PLEASE
HELP ME!!

 

[Shenan Stanley]

A few weeks ago I received a message saying error with my virtual
memory. Then, a few days later all of my desktop icons disappeared
along with my start menu and taskbar. I can't even right click on
my desktop. Every time I try to download something to fix it the
download never starts. I can't open any programs or download any
new ones. I have no clue how to fix it. PLEASE HELP ME!!

You may need to use another computer and a thumb drive (USB key, etc -
whatever you want to call it) to download the applications to transfer them
to your bum computer to run, install, etc.

First - on the bum computer...

Start button --> RUN
(no "RUN"? Press the "Windows Key" + R on your keyboard)
--> type in:
winver
--> Click OK.

The picture at the top of the window that opens will give you the general
(Operating System name and flavor) while the line starting with the word
"version" will give you the rest of the story.

Post _both_ in response to this message verbatim. ;-)

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately) with the
following two applications (freeware versions are the ones to use for this):

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
if you wish.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Reboot.

Com back - let us know what you find.

 

[Kelly Rand]

The run command wno't work; however, I did figure out how to get into it. But
after I type in what to run, nothing happens. So, none of that really worked.
I don't know what else to do.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

The run command wno't work; however, I did figure out how to get
into it. But after I type in what to run, nothing happens. So, none
of that really worked. I don't know what else to do.

Boot into Safe Mode...
http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

Try some of this there.

 

[Kelly Rand]

It did not work when I ran my computer in safe mode either..

 

[Shenan Stanley]

A few weeks ago I received a message saying error with my virtual
memory. Then, a few days later all of my desktop icons disappeared
along with my start menu and taskbar. I can't even right click on
my desktop. Every time I try to download something to fix it the
download never starts. I can't open any programs or download any
new ones. I have no clue how to fix it. PLEASE HELP ME!!

First - on the bum computer...

Start button --> RUN
(no "RUN"? Press the "Windows Key" + R on your keyboard)
--> type in:
winver
--> Click OK.

The picture at the top of the window that opens will give you the
general (Operating System name and flavor) while the line starting
with the word "version" will give you the rest of the story.

Post _both_ in response to this message verbatim. ;-)

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately)
with the following two applications (freeware versions are the ones
to use for this):

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

After performing a full scan with one and then the other and
removing whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall
these products,
if you wish.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Reboot.

Come back - let us know what you find.

The run command wno't work; however, I did figure out how to get
into it. But after I type in what to run, nothing happens. So, none
of that really worked. I don't know what else to do.

Boot into Safe Mode...
http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

Try some of this there.

It did not work when I ran my computer in safe mode either..

When you get into Safe Mode - can you (instead of going on into Safe Mode)
use System Restore and go back a few days - when everything was working?

 

[Jose]

A few weeks ago I received a message saying error with my virtual memory.
Then, a few days later all of my desktop icons disappeared along with my
start menu and taskbar. I can't even right click on my desktop. Every time I
try to download something to fix it the download never starts. I can't open
any programs or download any new ones. I have no clue how to fix it. PLEASE
HELP ME!!

I would not worry about your virtual memory "errors" at the moment.
Is the word "error" in any of the messages?

Usually those messages are informational messages that mean XP is
doing it's job and are not errors. Investigate that later.

How are you trying to download things that never start if you have no
desktop icons or Taskbar?

Open Task Manger with CTRL-ALT-DEL, click File, New Task and in the
box enter:

%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe

Click OK to see if your desktop icons, etc. appear.

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/

These can be uninstalled later if desired.

Reboot and see how things are now. Repeat the Task Manager process to
get the desktop back if needed. If it is still not working quite
right, provide your system information and then continue to fix
things:

Provide your system information as follows:

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

msinfo32

Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
All, Copy and then paste
back here.

There would be some personal information (like System Name and User
Name) or whatever appears to
be only your business that you can delete from the paste.

 

[Jose]

I am in the same boat and freaking out because all of my work and pics
are on this computer. I cannot do anything.  This all started with a
virus(google redirect) and I have tried to download just about every
virus, adware, spyware remover there is, but they will not work. Now I
have lost my icons. I was able to get task manager to work to use my
internet, but i am not a computer wiz, so I do not know what else to do.
if anyone has any ideas, even a way to walk me through how to get my
stuff off the computer and then reload stuff, I will be forever in your
debt.

--
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Did you launch explorer from Task Manager and where is your system
information?

With your Internet working are you able to do this much:

Download, install, update and do a full scan with:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/

If not, how far can you get? Can you get to the WWW page? Download?
Install? Launch? That decides what to do next.

Malware will prevent you from going to sites and/or using software
that will help you find and remove it. That is what it likes to do.

It often knows about browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox), Google,
MBAM, SAS, System Restore, Safe Mode, regedit, etc. and will do things
to keep any of that from happening - like even logging in or seeing
your desktop. It thwarts common methods used to remove it.

Malware is more incovenienceware and annoyingware, so you just have to
know how to outsmart it (which is not too hard).

Folks that lose data often do so because they end up reformatting,
reinstalling, after just trying things that might work maybe,
guessing, etc.

Malware ends up winning when people can't outsmart it.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I'm having the same issues as well. My computer was running slow and
had the Windows Police Pro virus attacking it, I read online to download
the MalwareBytes software, it found 800 issues and erased them all upon
restarting the pc.

Unless the great majority of those 800 issues were just cookies, 800
is an *enormous* number. The chances of your successfully removing
that many infections is extremely slim. Any time you have a lot, you
almost certainly need to do a clean reinstallation of Windows.

 

[Elmo]

I'm having the same issues as well. My computer was running slow and
had the Windows Police Pro virus attacking it, I read online to download
the MalwareBytes software, it found 800 issues and erased them all upon
restarting the pc.

Once the pc was rebooted only the background image loaded. The icons
and taskbar are all missing.

Alt+CTRL+DEL doesn't pull anything up.
CTRL+Shift+ESC will pull up a popup that says "Task Manager has been
restricted by Admin"

The "run" command doesn't work either. Basically, everything that has
been recommended on here is not working. Anything else we can try
before doing a system restore as none of the stuff on that PC is backed
up?

You're probably still infected.

Burn BitDefender, or another program listed at the link below, to a CD
(using a working machine) and test the infected machine with it.
BitDefender also has a Rootkit checker on the Linux Desktop; run it if
you think that's the problem:

http://www.techmixer.com/free-bootable-antivirus-rescue-cds-download-list/

Download the executable rather than the .iso image, if one is
available.. it prompts you to insert a CD and burns the file, no problem.

Then run these:

Malwarebytes© Corporation
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe

SuperAntispyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
Line 51. (r-h column) Enable the Task Manager - Disable Task Manager

 

[Richard]

[Crossposted to microsoft.public.windows.vista.security]

Hi "PringleBell",

When requesting help in a newsgroup, please state your full Windows version,
edition and service pack level. You are using Vista, but replying to a
message in the Windows XP Help and Support newsgroup. You might find better
help in one of the Vista newsgroups where the Vista experts hang out.

In your newsreader:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.vista.security

news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.security.homeusers

news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.vista.general

On the web:
http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...px?dg=microsoft.public.windows.vista.security

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...t.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.security.homeusers

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...spx?dg=microsoft.public.windows.vista.general

- - -

 

[Elmo]

So I went to the site with the BitDefender Rescue, created a disc from a
working laptop, put it in the desktop and same problem. This time
however, right before it went to the empty desktop screen a black screen
pulled up saying "No drivers found."

I'm thinking we need to do a system recovery, the only concern I have
is that none of the content has been backed up on it. If we take the
hard drive and put it in an external enclosure to try and recover some
of the info before doing a recovery, can the infected data potentially
end up transferred to the other computer along with the pictures, music,
and videos? I've done a system recovery before but I had everything
backed up then so it wasn't a concern to me at the time. This is the
first time I haven't had a chance to backup any content.

Additionally, I no longer have the system recovery discs as this was a
custom build from five or six years ago that I have just been upgrading
as the years go by and four moves later, that box is long gone. I know
I won't be able to get a copy of the discs, would it be more feasible to
wait for Windows 7 and just purchase an upgraded OS to start over with?

You need to set the BIOS to boot from the CD first, then the HD. That
way, if there's a bootable CD in the machine, it'll be used.

It's also possible that pressing F12 during startup will prompt you for
what device to boot from.

 

[Elmo]

Richard - I'm posting from a Vista machine because my XP machine isn't
working. How could I ask for help on a computer that isn't working if I
can't even turn it on? It is possible that a person can have multiple
pc's with a different OS on each one.

I'll try F12 during startup and see where that gets me.

Please post the model of computer, such as Dell 2880, or HP 1932, plus
any other pertinent data, maybe the version of Windows. We can then
tell you how to get into the BIOS to set the CD as the first boot device.

 

[Jose]

It's Windows XP Pro on a custom built machine.

--
debo11
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*Sigh*

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

msinfo32

Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
All, Copy and then paste

There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
Name), and whatever appears to
be private information to you, just delete from the pasted
information.

This will minimize back and forth Q&A and eliminate guesswork and
assumptions.

 

[Roy Smith]

Sorry I'm not sure what other info I can provide. There is no Start
button. There is no taskbar, no desktop icons, the task manager has
been completely disabled by whatever is infecting the pc.

Does the Start Menu open when you press the Windows Key on your keyboard?

 

[Roy Smith]

*Sigh*

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

Are you even paying any attention to the subject line? If you did you'd
notice that it says the Start Menu and task bar are gone... So how are
they supposed to click on the Start Menu when it isn't there?

 

[Roy Smith]

It's Windows XP Pro on a custom built machine.

Ok, in that case can you tell us what the motherboard is as well as the
other components that make up your PC?

 

[Roy Smith]

Sorry I'm not sure what other info I can provide. There is no Start
button. There is no taskbar, no desktop icons, the task manager has
been completely disabled by whatever is infecting the pc.

Perhaps the best thing you can do right now is to pull the drive out of
the PC and hook it up to another PC that is working. Though I'd make
sure that the virus scanner is up to date before hooking up the drive.
Then once the drive is connected, have the virus scanner check that
drive. If you don't feel comfortable in doing this, then it's probably
time to take it to a computer shop and have them take a look at it.

 

[Jose]

Are you even paying any attention to the subject line?  If you did you'd
notice that it says the Start Menu and task bar are gone... So how are
they supposed to click on the Start Menu when it isn't there?

This thread has many posters with problems, one was able to get
explorer to run through TM, so maybe I didn't read far enough, then
the poster changed after Vista gets tossed into the mix from the fist
poster.

The symptom reports keep changing - TM won't launch (admin problem),
then it won't even turn on, then the TM doesn't work again, but that
wort of means it does turn on?

There are other ways to nail this down of course, but I'll just watch
for now.

 

[Richard]

1. Hi "debo11", [This is the 1st line of this message]
2. You replied to a message of mine which was addressed to someone else.
3. I checked the website in India where you are posting from, and it is
4. seriously messed up. The first lines of my message were not shown, and
5. most of the messages on that web page have parts of several messages all
6. mixed together. I have added line numbers to this message to see if this
7. will help display the message properly. ! This message has 40 lines. !
8. Here is how my other message began:
9. [Crossposted to microsoft.public.windows.vista.security]
10. Hi "PringleBell",
11. When requesting help in a newsgroup, please state your full Windows
12. version, edition and service pack level. You are using Vista, but
13. replying to a message in the Windows XP Help and Support newsgroup.
14. You might find better help in one of the Vista newsgroups where the
15. Vista experts hang out.
16. [snip several suggested groups]
17. Here is the link to the India site that is messed up:
18. http://forums.techarena.in/windows-xp-support/1249654.htm
19. Here is a better website to access this UseNet newsgroup:
20.
http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...g=microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support
21. Here is a quote of your reply to me:
22. "debo11" wrote:
23. Richard - I'm posting from a Vista machine because my XP machine isn't
24. working. How could I ask for help on a computer that isn't working if
25. I can't even turn it on? It is possible that a person can have
26. multiple pc's with a different OS on each one.
27. [blank line]
28. I'll try F12 during startup and see where that gets me.
29. --
30. debo11
31. [end quote]
32. Hi again, "debo11", here is the help and support website again:
33.
http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...g=microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support
34. If that gets split into two lines, combine it back and paste it into
35. your browser address bar. There are no spaces in that address.
36. A tip: It is better to start your own thread, so the helpers are only
37. posting replies with advice for your problem. In this thread, you are
38. one of 4 different people, with various problems, and even without the
39. India site mixing the messages, it is more than a little confusing.
40. I hope this helps. This is the 40th and last line. Cheers. --Richard