No icons on bootup

I am having a problem getting my screen icons to come up after a reboot. I
am running XP SP3 with all updates on a Dell quad core processor and 4 gb.
Everything works fine. I can run applications by going to Task manager
selecting new task and finding the program I want to run. I have tried
stopping explorer.exe and running it again but it doesn't help.

If I boot up in safe mode all the icons are there. Can someone tell me how
to fix this?

Thanks, Rick

From: "Rick Morrison"

I am having a problem getting my screen icons to come up after a reboot.
I am running XP SP3 with all updates on a Dell quad core processor and 4
gb. Everything works fine. I can run applications by going to Task
manager selecting new task and finding the program I want to run. I have
tried stopping explorer.exe and running it again but it doesn't help.

If I boot up in safe mode all the icons are there. Can someone tell me
how to fix this?

Thanks, Rick

In Normal Mode hit "Ctl+Alt+Del"

That'll bring up Task Manager.

File -- New task (Run)...

Enter; explorer.exe


Does the Desktop now appear ?

--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

No, I tried that but it didn't work

"David H. Lipman" wrote in message
...
From: "Rick Morrison"

I am having a problem getting my screen icons to come up after a reboot.
I am running XP SP3 with all updates on a Dell quad core processor and 4
gb. Everything works fine. I can run applications by going to Task
manager selecting new task and finding the program I want to run. I have
tried stopping explorer.exe and running it again but it doesn't help.

If I boot up in safe mode all the icons are there. Can someone tell me
how to fix this?

Thanks, Rick

In Normal Mode hit "Ctl+Alt+Del"

That'll bring up Task Manager.

File -- New task (Run)...

Enter; explorer.exe


Does the Desktop now appear ?

--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

From: "Radiorick"

No, I tried that but it didn't work


In Safe Mode can you create a new account go back into Normal Mode and logon
with that account ?

--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

Rick Morrison wrote:

I am having a problem getting my screen icons to come up after a reboot. I
am running XP SP3 with all updates on a Dell quad core processor and 4 gb.
Everything works fine. I can run applications by going to Task manager
selecting new task and finding the program I want to run. I have tried
stopping explorer.exe and running it again but it doesn't help.

If I boot up in safe mode all the icons are there. Can someone tell me how
to fix this?

Thanks, Rick

Safe Mode eliminates the load of many startup program. Looks like you
installed some program that causes the interference on displaying the
desktop, like some theme manager, Fences, or something that manipulates
the desktop.

Once you're at the desktop (blank or not) and whether you used Safe Mode
or normal mode with Task Manager to run programs, run msconfig.exe which
lets you disable all startup items. In its General tab, elect the
"Selective Startup" mode. Disable the "Load Startup Items" option.
That's a bit quicker than going to the Startup tab and deselecting all
those startup items. Reboot. Now see if you get your desktop with its
icons when you boot into Windows normal mode.

Rick Morrison wrote:
I am having a problem getting my screen icons to come up after a reboot. I
am running XP SP3 with all updates on a Dell quad core processor and 4 gb.
Everything works fine. I can run applications by going to Task manager
selecting new task and finding the program I want to run. I have tried
stopping explorer.exe and running it again but it doesn't help.

If I boot up in safe mode all the icons are there. Can someone tell me how
to fix this?

Thanks, Rick

Some malware does that. Have you run Malwarebytes?

Yes, I added another user account and when I log into it I get icons and a
task bar. Now what?

"David H. Lipman" wrote in message
...
From: "Radiorick"

No, I tried that but it didn't work


In Safe Mode can you create a new account go back into Normal Mode and
logon with that account ?

--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

I tried that but it still didn't work.

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Rick Morrison wrote:

I am having a problem getting my screen icons to come up after a reboot.
I
am running XP SP3 with all updates on a Dell quad core processor and 4
gb.
Everything works fine. I can run applications by going to Task manager
selecting new task and finding the program I want to run. I have tried
stopping explorer.exe and running it again but it doesn't help.

If I boot up in safe mode all the icons are there. Can someone tell me
how
to fix this?

Thanks, Rick

Safe Mode eliminates the load of many startup program. Looks like you
installed some program that causes the interference on displaying the
desktop, like some theme manager, Fences, or something that manipulates
the desktop.

Once you're at the desktop (blank or not) and whether you used Safe Mode
or normal mode with Task Manager to run programs, run msconfig.exe which
lets you disable all startup items. In its General tab, elect the
"Selective Startup" mode. Disable the "Load Startup Items" option.
That's a bit quicker than going to the Startup tab and deselecting all
those startup items. Reboot. Now see if you get your desktop with its
icons when you boot into Windows normal mode.

"Rick Morrison" wrote in message
...
I am having a problem getting my screen icons to come up after a reboot. I
am running XP SP3 with all updates on a Dell quad core processor and 4 gb.
Everything works fine. I can run applications by going to Task manager
selecting new task and finding the program I want to run. I have tried
stopping explorer.exe and running it again but it doesn't help.
If I boot up in safe mode all the icons are there. Can someone tell me
how to fix this?
Thanks, Rick

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330170

Ben

In message , Radiorick
writes:
I tried that but it still didn't work.

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...
Rick Morrison wrote:

I am having a problem getting my screen icons to come up after a reboot.
[]
Safe Mode eliminates the load of many startup program. Looks like you
installed some program that causes the interference on displaying the
desktop, like some theme manager, Fences, or something that manipulates
the desktop.

Once you're at the desktop (blank or not) and whether you used Safe Mode
[]
That was my first thought too - that you've at some time installed (or
it's a Dell utility that came with the machine) some desktop manipulator
that has, as an option, the hiding of all desktop icons, and you've
somehow turned that option on.

Are your icons - which are basically shortcuts, or should be (keeping
actual files on the desktop isn't that good an idea) - still there in
something like c:\Documents and Settings\me\Desktop?

My second thought was that you've somehow moved them off screen; I'm not
sure if that's possible, but if it is: does typing the initial letter of
one of them, then pressing enter, cause the relevant application to
open? Also, does switching to a lower resolution make them appear?

As another has suggested, Malware could be involved too.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The only difference between saints and sinners is that every saint has a past
while every sinner has a future. -Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900)

Note: Once bottom- or top-posting style has been established, keep your
replies in that order or rearrange all the quoted content to match your
choice of posting style; else, your replies end up generating jumbled
mess of top- and bottom-posted replies.

Radiorick wrote:

"VanguardLH" wrote ...

Rick Morrison wrote:

I am having a problem getting my screen icons to come up after a
reboot. I am running XP SP3 with all updates on a Dell quad core
processor and 4 gb. Everything works fine. I can run applications
by going to Task manager selecting new task and finding the program
I want to run. I have tried stopping explorer.exe and running it
again but it doesn't help.

If I boot up in safe mode all the icons are there. Can someone
tell me how to fix this?

Safe Mode eliminates the load of many startup program. Looks like you
installed some program that causes the interference on displaying the
desktop, like some theme manager, Fences, or something that manipulates
the desktop.

Once you're at the desktop (blank or not) and whether you used Safe Mode
or normal mode with Task Manager to run programs, run msconfig.exe which
lets you disable all startup items. In its General tab, elect the
"Selective Startup" mode. Disable the "Load Startup Items" option.
That's a bit quicker than going to the Startup tab and deselecting all
those startup items. Reboot. Now see if you get your desktop with its
icons when you boot into Windows normal mode.

I tried that but it still didn't work.

msconfig.exe is just the first startup manager to use. It covers only
some of the locations for startup entries. The next would be to use
SysInternals' AutoRuns which shows more startup locations. Some
programs, including malware, doesn't install into the typical startup
locations. They use the more hidden ones, like Winlogon events and
startup script for the Windows account.

When you boot into Windows safe mode and all the desktop icons are
there, what is the screen resolution? When you then boot into Windows
normal mode, are you at the same resolution?

How are you arranging icons on the desktop? Are they in a fixed
position or does Windows get to auto-arrange them? Right-click on the
desktop, "Arrange icons by" submenu, and, for now, select auto-arrange
mode so Windows will position the icons in top-down, left-to-right order
within the size of the desktop.

Just how many desktops are we talking about here? Just a few that run
down the left-side of the screen? If so, have you checked the size of
the screen using the controls on your monitor? Safe mode is probably
using a lesser screen resolution than in normal mode. That means a
different sync rate and your monitor might be correctly sizing the
screen to fit inside the monitor's display area. At the different
screen resolution in Windows normal mode, maybe the screen is larger
than the monitor's displayable area. So shrink the width and height of
the monitor's screen using the monitor's own sizing controls to see if
you can see the edges of the Windows screen. You might not see the edge
of the Windows screen if you made black its desktop background.

You never said your computer ever did work in normal mode. You just
stated the problem without mentioning history. So, did you computer
work before? If so, for how how long? If it was working before, what
did you change right before your computer stopped working? Did you
clean the registry? Did you install a new video driver? What software
did you install? Did you run a tweaker?

By the way, is Windows even configured to show the desktop icons?
Right-click on a blank area of the desktop to show its context menu.
Look under the "Arrange icons by" submenu. Is the "Show desktop icons"
selection enabled (shows a checkmark next to it)?

From: "Radiorick"

Yes, I added another user account and when I log into it I get icons and a task bar.
Now what?


Describe what you do see and what you do get when you logon to the problemsome account.

For example when I described the trick to run explorer, all you stated was "No, I tried
that but it didn't work".

That's not good enough.

When you do boot into Normal Mode what do you see ?
For expmple do you see the Task Bar and System Tray ?

In Normal Mode when you hit "Ctl+Alt+Del", did Task Manager start ?

If Task Manager did execute and you went to; File -- New task (Run)...

And entered; explorer.exe

What exactly happened ?

You have to be more explanatory in your answers as we can't see over your shoulders and
you have to give us more to go on than "no that didn't work".



--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

OK . . . when I log into the account windows boots up and I get my normal
background screen but no icons or taskbar. If I right click the mouse
nothing happens. CTRL-ALT-DELETE brings up the task manager. If I got to
my startup folder and click on the applications there all start up and run
fine - just no icons on the screen. When i tried to run explorer.exe I got
the hourglass for about two seconds but nothing else happened.

Also I should note that I'm running two monitors on this system using a
GeForce GT-610 video card.

Oddly enough, when I went to bed last night I left the system running with a
couple applications running. This morning the applications were still
running and I had all the icons on the screen. I don't think it rebooted
overnight since the applications were still running.


"David H. Lipman" wrote in message
...
From: "Radiorick"

Yes, I added another user account and when I log into it I get icons and
a task bar. Now what?


Describe what you do see and what you do get when you logon to the
problemsome account.

For example when I described the trick to run explorer, all you stated was
"No, I tried that but it didn't work".

That's not good enough.

When you do boot into Normal Mode what do you see ?
For expmple do you see the Task Bar and System Tray ?

In Normal Mode when you hit "Ctl+Alt+Del", did Task Manager start ?

If Task Manager did execute and you went to; File -- New task (Run)...

And entered; explorer.exe

What exactly happened ?

You have to be more explanatory in your answers as we can't see over your
shoulders and you have to give us more to go on than "no that didn't
work".



--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

From: "Radiorick"

OK . . . when I log into the account windows boots up and I get my normal
background screen but no icons or taskbar. If I right click the mouse
nothing happens. CTRL-ALT-DELETE brings up the task manager. If I got to
my startup folder and click on the applications there all start up and run
fine - just no icons on the screen. When i tried to run explorer.exe I
got the hourglass for about two seconds but nothing else happened.

Also I should note that I'm running two monitors on this system using a
GeForce GT-610 video card.

Oddly enough, when I went to bed last night I left the system running with
a couple applications running. This morning the applications were still
running and I had all the icons on the screen. I don't think it rebooted
overnight since the applications were still running.

Thank you.

Physically disconnect the second monitor. Reboot and logon to the account
again and describe what yolu see.



--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

Before I shut down to disconnect the 2nd monitor I closed all applications
and did a restart with both monitors still connected. When I logged into
the problem account I got the background screen with no icons but within a
few minutes all icons appeared and everything was normal. I then shut down
again and disconnected the 2nd monitor and powered up with the same result
(all icons appeared within a few minutes).

Also you asked what happened when I tried to run explorer.exe. After
running it I looked in the processes tab and found two instances of
explorer. Each time I tried again another entry showed up in the processes
tab. When everything is working explorer shows a memory usage around
168,400k When I have no icons it shows around16k. I don't know it that
means anything or not.

This problem has occurred before and then it seems to magically fix itself.
Each time I do a reboot I hold my breath while waiting to see if I'll have
icons. I've had the dual monitor setup for quite some time and it has
worked very well.




"David H. Lipman" wrote in message
...
From: "Radiorick"

OK . . . when I log into the account windows boots up and I get my normal
background screen but no icons or taskbar. If I right click the mouse
nothing happens. CTRL-ALT-DELETE brings up the task manager. If I got
to my startup folder and click on the applications there all start up and
run fine - just no icons on the screen. When i tried to run explorer.exe
I got the hourglass for about two seconds but nothing else happened.

Also I should note that I'm running two monitors on this system using a
GeForce GT-610 video card.

Oddly enough, when I went to bed last night I left the system running
with a couple applications running. This morning the applications were
still running and I had all the icons on the screen. I don't think it
rebooted overnight since the applications were still running.

Thank you.

Physically disconnect the second monitor. Reboot and logon to the account
again and describe what yolu see.



--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp