G
Guest
HELP!!
I'm really stumped on this problem!! I've posted on this forum earlier
at
http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/aspx/n...eral&mid=ca1f7e1c-93be-4e13-b537-df27c659e2e3
Please forgive me but i figured the old post was getting pretty
confused, and I am not getting any new ideas, so I cleaned up my post and
summerized the problem and things tried with a new post.
* Here is the quick & dirty of what is happening & what I tried . . .
* - The System -
* Running XP SR2 HOME with current updates to the best of my knowledge.
I might be missing a few because I think AUTO Update was turned off . . . I
think so anyway.
* NVIDIA N3 MB with multiple drives and a NVIDIA graphics card -
* THE PROBLEM . . .
* - EXPLORER.EXE does not start when I log on . . . I get a blank
Desktop & no taskbar or start menu.
* - It happens the same in safe mode, VGA mode, logging on with any
account and as the admin.
* - Using Sysinternals Process Explorer in place of Task Manager, it
will flash the taskbar and stop again. It flashes for just a sec. or so.
* - I get no errors in the log even when I try to start it with the
Process Explorer. I can find no other strange errors.
* - It was working, I logged off, and when I logged back on . . . no
desktop, taskbar or start menu. I'm unaware of any changes I made before
logging off that could corrupt it.
* - No matter how I try to start EXPLORER, I get the same results . . .
a flash or nothing.
* Using Process Explorer I can run any program that doesn't need EXPLORER.
* When I try to start the Control Panel, etc . . . Same problem, nothing
or a flash.
* I run AVG anti Virus daily
* I have KERIO Personal Firewall installed at all times
* WHAT I HAVE TRIED . . . .
* Starting in all the diagnostic modes such as SAFE.
* Using ERDNT, (That I have set-up to do a complete BU of my registry
daily), I tried rolling my registry back a day, week, and months. Normally
this will solve most problems unrelated to corrupt files, but I still get no
EXPLORER with the BU registry files.
* I used MSConfig, and then Sysinternals AUTORUNS to disable anything
not needed to boot the system in as basic a mode as I know how to do. I
didn't find any spyware or other programs that I recognized as unusual or new.
* I've run several spyware detection programs to see if i was infected
with anything and only found a couple old cookies frokm ad sites that had
been there awhile. I deleted them.
* I tried turning off my firewall and antivirus programs . . . with no
change
* I unplugged all my USB devices
* I did a total removal of my video driver . . . (NVIDIA Forceware) . .
.. . re-booted, and installed the latest version. (Thanks Kelly, it seemed
like the best idea at the time to me also)
* I checked my registry to make sure i have EXPLORER.EXE listed as my
shell. Here are the 2 keys listed in AUTORUNS with EXPLORER.EXE checked. Am I
missing anything here?
* HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell
- explorer.exe checked
* HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell
- explorer.exe checked
Doing a search with Google and reading everything i could find related
to this type of problem, these are the two keys that often get screwed up.
Are there any others that should be showing up with AUTORUNS that I'm not
seeing?
* My understanding of AUTORUNS is it shows the programs in the order
they are loading, correct? Between restoring older versions of my registry,
and looking for missing keys with AUTORUNS, can I assume my registry is not
the problem?
* I tried to do a SETUP-REPAIR and got a BSOD with no specific file or
driver listed as being a problem. That happened twice without being able to
run the repair setup.
* I tried to use the SFC.EXE program to check my files for corruption.
Even with the install CD in the drive, I kept getting a message to put the CD
in. I copied the I386 folder from my CD to my C:\ root. I added the folder to
this key in my registry . . .
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup
* SFC.EXE should find it there, correct? Why am I getting the same
message that it can't find the files to copy? I used a SR2 installation CD as
the source since I have SR2 installed.
* SFC.EXE Should tell me if I have any corrupt system files and replace
them, correct?
* There are no problems in Device Manager with anything
So, why will SFC.EXE not run, and if it DOES run, will it replace any
corrupt system files that might be causing this problem? What am I missing?
I'm not getting errors in the log when I run programs from PROCESS EXPLORER.
I'm not sure what to make of that. I'm getting to the point where I need to
re-check my work since I have tried so many ways of solving this and possibly
have made a mistake . . . BUT, I figure I might have complicated something,
but I never did any damage or seem to have found a possible issue needing
corrected.
I hope someone with more experiance and insight then I have, can see a
problem I'm missing from the above details. Searching Google, I found several
others with the same problem, but either their problem was solved with
something I've tried, or in several cases, there never seemed to be a
solution found . . . (or at least posted!) I would like to find the problem
and post the solution for others to follow. I hope my detailed steps might
help others . . . and lead to my solution!
I really am THANKFUL to those who have offered me ideas so far . . .
and I HOPE to someone taking the time to think this with me and help me solve
this now!!
THANKS to Kelly and db ·´¯`·.¸. , .
(I see I'm posted as thining instead of THINKING, but I'll deal with that
when I solve the problem)
I really hope somebody out there with more knowledge then I have will be
able to figure this out . . .
THANK YOU!!!!
I'm really stumped on this problem!! I've posted on this forum earlier
at
http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/aspx/n...eral&mid=ca1f7e1c-93be-4e13-b537-df27c659e2e3
Please forgive me but i figured the old post was getting pretty
confused, and I am not getting any new ideas, so I cleaned up my post and
summerized the problem and things tried with a new post.
* Here is the quick & dirty of what is happening & what I tried . . .
* - The System -
* Running XP SR2 HOME with current updates to the best of my knowledge.
I might be missing a few because I think AUTO Update was turned off . . . I
think so anyway.
* NVIDIA N3 MB with multiple drives and a NVIDIA graphics card -
* THE PROBLEM . . .
* - EXPLORER.EXE does not start when I log on . . . I get a blank
Desktop & no taskbar or start menu.
* - It happens the same in safe mode, VGA mode, logging on with any
account and as the admin.
* - Using Sysinternals Process Explorer in place of Task Manager, it
will flash the taskbar and stop again. It flashes for just a sec. or so.
* - I get no errors in the log even when I try to start it with the
Process Explorer. I can find no other strange errors.
* - It was working, I logged off, and when I logged back on . . . no
desktop, taskbar or start menu. I'm unaware of any changes I made before
logging off that could corrupt it.
* - No matter how I try to start EXPLORER, I get the same results . . .
a flash or nothing.
* Using Process Explorer I can run any program that doesn't need EXPLORER.
* When I try to start the Control Panel, etc . . . Same problem, nothing
or a flash.
* I run AVG anti Virus daily
* I have KERIO Personal Firewall installed at all times
* WHAT I HAVE TRIED . . . .
* Starting in all the diagnostic modes such as SAFE.
* Using ERDNT, (That I have set-up to do a complete BU of my registry
daily), I tried rolling my registry back a day, week, and months. Normally
this will solve most problems unrelated to corrupt files, but I still get no
EXPLORER with the BU registry files.
* I used MSConfig, and then Sysinternals AUTORUNS to disable anything
not needed to boot the system in as basic a mode as I know how to do. I
didn't find any spyware or other programs that I recognized as unusual or new.
* I've run several spyware detection programs to see if i was infected
with anything and only found a couple old cookies frokm ad sites that had
been there awhile. I deleted them.
* I tried turning off my firewall and antivirus programs . . . with no
change
* I unplugged all my USB devices
* I did a total removal of my video driver . . . (NVIDIA Forceware) . .
.. . re-booted, and installed the latest version. (Thanks Kelly, it seemed
like the best idea at the time to me also)
* I checked my registry to make sure i have EXPLORER.EXE listed as my
shell. Here are the 2 keys listed in AUTORUNS with EXPLORER.EXE checked. Am I
missing anything here?
* HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell
- explorer.exe checked
* HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell
- explorer.exe checked
Doing a search with Google and reading everything i could find related
to this type of problem, these are the two keys that often get screwed up.
Are there any others that should be showing up with AUTORUNS that I'm not
seeing?
* My understanding of AUTORUNS is it shows the programs in the order
they are loading, correct? Between restoring older versions of my registry,
and looking for missing keys with AUTORUNS, can I assume my registry is not
the problem?
* I tried to do a SETUP-REPAIR and got a BSOD with no specific file or
driver listed as being a problem. That happened twice without being able to
run the repair setup.
* I tried to use the SFC.EXE program to check my files for corruption.
Even with the install CD in the drive, I kept getting a message to put the CD
in. I copied the I386 folder from my CD to my C:\ root. I added the folder to
this key in my registry . . .
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup
* SFC.EXE should find it there, correct? Why am I getting the same
message that it can't find the files to copy? I used a SR2 installation CD as
the source since I have SR2 installed.
* SFC.EXE Should tell me if I have any corrupt system files and replace
them, correct?
* There are no problems in Device Manager with anything
So, why will SFC.EXE not run, and if it DOES run, will it replace any
corrupt system files that might be causing this problem? What am I missing?
I'm not getting errors in the log when I run programs from PROCESS EXPLORER.
I'm not sure what to make of that. I'm getting to the point where I need to
re-check my work since I have tried so many ways of solving this and possibly
have made a mistake . . . BUT, I figure I might have complicated something,
but I never did any damage or seem to have found a possible issue needing
corrected.
I hope someone with more experiance and insight then I have, can see a
problem I'm missing from the above details. Searching Google, I found several
others with the same problem, but either their problem was solved with
something I've tried, or in several cases, there never seemed to be a
solution found . . . (or at least posted!) I would like to find the problem
and post the solution for others to follow. I hope my detailed steps might
help others . . . and lead to my solution!
I really am THANKFUL to those who have offered me ideas so far . . .
and I HOPE to someone taking the time to think this with me and help me solve
this now!!
THANKS to Kelly and db ·´¯`·.¸. , .
..·´¯`·..> said:
(I see I'm posted as thining instead of THINKING, but I'll deal with that
when I solve the problem)
I really hope somebody out there with more knowledge then I have will be
able to figure this out . . .
THANK YOU!!!!