Very small strange item on XP Desktop too!

[Guest]

The post by Tim A. seems to be the nearest to my XP problem. I have what
seems to look like, a part of a vertical left corner, of a regular "Windows
XP looking" window on my desktop. I have run my virus and spyware programs
many times and I don't pick up a thing. I can't get rid of it. It's very
small, maybe 1/2 in. x 1 in. and I cannot right click or throw it in the
trash. I can click on it and move it around the desktop though. What is this
little thing and how do I get rid of it? I'm not sure if I should follow the
answers for Tim A.'s question b/c it doesn't seem exactly the same. Any
suggestions? Please help!

 

[Roberto]

The post by Tim A. seems to be the nearest to my XP problem. I have what
seems to look like, a part of a vertical left corner, of a regular
"Windows
XP looking" window on my desktop. I have run my virus and spyware programs
many times and I don't pick up a thing. I can't get rid of it. It's very
small, maybe 1/2 in. x 1 in. and I cannot right click or throw it in the
trash. I can click on it and move it around the desktop though. What is
this
little thing and how do I get rid of it? I'm not sure if I should follow
the
answers for Tim A.'s question b/c it doesn't seem exactly the same. Any
suggestions? Please help!

Try booting to Safe Mode and see if you can delete it

rgds
Roberto

 

[Malke]

The post by Tim A. seems to be the nearest to my XP problem. I have what
seems to look like, a part of a vertical left corner, of a regular
"Windows XP looking" window on my desktop. I have run my virus and spyware
programs many times and I don't pick up a thing. I can't get rid of it.
It's very small, maybe 1/2 in. x 1 in. and I cannot right click or throw
it in the trash. I can click on it and move it around the desktop though.
What is this little thing and how do I get rid of it? I'm not sure if I
should follow the answers for Tim A.'s question b/c it doesn't seem
exactly the same. Any suggestions? Please help!

Because most of us use a real newsreader to access these groups instead of
the awful web interface (and I'll give you information about that at the
end of this post), we don't know who "Tim A" is and what his problem was.

Go to the Display applet in Control Panel and look on the Desktop tab. Click
on Customize Desktop, and then click on the Web tab. You will see that
there are checkmarks next to "My Current Home Page" and probably "Lock
Desktop Items". Uncheck these, Apply/OK out and see if the item disappears.
If it doesn't, please post back with the results.

Here is the information about how to best use these groups (and it is very
easy to set up a newsreader):

Since you are using the web interface, you may not realize that this is
really a newsgroup. You will get far more out of this resource if you learn
to use a newsreader. There are many good newsreaders for Windows, but you
can use Outlook Express since you already have it. Here are some links to
information about newsgroups:

About Usenet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
http://groups.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=basics.html - Basics of
Usenet
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Usenet - a brief explanation
of newsgroups

Using Outlook Express as Newsreader:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm
http://rickrogers.org/setupoe.htm

Accessing the MS newsgroups in Outlook Express Newsreader
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroupsetup.mspx

How to Post:
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

http://aumha.org/nntp.htm - list of MS newsgroups
microsoft.public.test.here - MS group to test if your newsreader is working
properly
http://www.mailmsg.com/SPAM_munging.htm - how to munge email address
http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm - multiposting vs. crossposting

Malke

 

[Guest]

I booted up in safe mode and unfortunately the little tab is not visible, so
wasn't able to try tossing it. But thanks for the suggestion. I have noticed
that when I first start up my system, it takes a few seconds for something to
load up and bring the tab up. Before shutting down, if I had moved the tab to
the center of the desktop screen, it moves right back to the top left corner
of my desktop after startup. Very odd...

 

[Guest]

Hi Malke, I tried following suggestions for the display options but when I
went into customize desktop, then web, I didn't see any checkmarks...by
default. Both My Current Home Page nor Lock desktop items had checks next to
them. Please advise. Oh, also I did add this group to my subscribed
newsgroups thru Outlook but the max amount I could D/L was 1000 and that
doesn't seem to be enough b/c I can't see my own post or many others. Doesn't
seem to make sense to use Outlook for these postings if I can't see my own
postings as well. But thank u!

 

[Malke]

Hi Malke, I tried following suggestions for the display options but when I
went into customize desktop, then web, I didn't see any checkmarks...by
default. Both My Current Home Page nor Lock desktop items had checks next
to them. Please advise. Oh, also I did add this group to my subscribed
newsgroups thru Outlook but the max amount I could D/L was 1000 and that
doesn't seem to be enough b/c I can't see my own post or many others.
Doesn't seem to make sense to use Outlook for these postings if I can't
see my own postings as well. But thank u!

"Both My Current Home Page nor Lock desktop items had checks next
to them." - Did you mean to say "did not have checks next to them"? Because
you want to *uncheck* those boxes. If the boxes do in fact have checks in
them, uncheck them and Apply/OK out.

Otherwise, check for malware. I know you said you ran your antivirus and
antispyware programs, but I don't know what you used or your methods.
Please refer to these general removal steps:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

If you didn't follow the suggested procedures or use any of the tools
recommended, please do so. This, of course, assumes that your Current Home
Page and Lock Desktop are unchecked and you still have the image on the
Desktop.

Malke

 

[Rock]

Hi Malke, I tried following suggestions for the display options but when I
went into customize desktop, then web, I didn't see any checkmarks...by
default. Both My Current Home Page nor Lock desktop items had checks next
to
them. Please advise. Oh, also I did add this group to my subscribed
newsgroups thru Outlook but the max amount I could D/L was 1000 and that
doesn't seem to be enough b/c I can't see my own post or many others.
Doesn't
seem to make sense to use Outlook for these postings if I can't see my own
postings as well. But thank u!

Just download more headers. Go back to Tools.