Windows XP Desktop Gone

[Marco]

I have a very strange problem that occured in the middle of
downloading a very large file. My system started behaving
very badly during the download. The first symptom was when
applications began to close by themselves. Next I lost the
taskbar and icons on the desktop. Finally the application
performing the download refused to respond. I shut down
the computer and rebooted. At first the computer responded
with a blue screen and error messages. Another reboot and
the error message was gone, but the system did not load
properly. The next reboot and I received a message about a
file setting in the registry that was going to be restored.
Another reboot and the system appears to start normally,
except that once you have logged on the desktop never
finishes loading. All I have is a blank wallpaper
background. The keyboard does not receive any response and
the only thing that can be done is to shut the computer
off. That's where I am now.

More info: This system has two HDDs. I am able to load XP
from either one. Starting XP from the alternate HDD allows
me to see the problem child. I ran a virus scan against it
without finding any problems. I performed a SCANDISK and
found no problems. Now comes a real clue: the folder that
had the download file in it cannot be opened, deleted or
moved. I cannot set or remove the read-only attribute on
it. The disk drive is 40GB of which 22GB have been used.
One other important tidbit is that Windows does not load
properly even in SAFE MODE - the same problem occurs. I
don't really want to wipe everything out and reformat the
HDD. Does anyone have any suggestions on a utility or
other technique that might help solve this for me?

Thanks one and all ...

 

[davetest]

I have a very strange problem that occured in the middle of
downloading a very large file. My system started behaving
very badly during the download. The first symptom was when
applications began to close by themselves. Next I lost the
taskbar and icons on the desktop. Finally the application
performing the download refused to respond. I shut down
the computer and rebooted. At first the computer responded
with a blue screen and error messages. Another reboot and
the error message was gone, but the system did not load
properly. The next reboot and I received a message about a
file setting in the registry that was going to be restored.
Another reboot and the system appears to start normally,
except that once you have logged on the desktop never
finishes loading. All I have is a blank wallpaper
background. The keyboard does not receive any response and
the only thing that can be done is to shut the computer
off. That's where I am now.

More info: This system has two HDDs. I am able to load XP
from either one. Starting XP from the alternate HDD allows
me to see the problem child. I ran a virus scan against it
without finding any problems. I performed a SCANDISK and
found no problems. Now comes a real clue: the folder that
had the download file in it cannot be opened, deleted or
moved. I cannot set or remove the read-only attribute on
it. The disk drive is 40GB of which 22GB have been used.
One other important tidbit is that Windows does not load
properly even in SAFE MODE - the same problem occurs. I
don't really want to wipe everything out and reformat the
HDD. Does anyone have any suggestions on a utility or
other technique that might help solve this for me?

Thanks one and all ...

Instead of safemode, use safemode command prompt.
Then invoke the system restore and restore to a time prior
to the problem occurring:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q304449

Dave