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#1
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had
gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Jim Hawkins |
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#2
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
"Jim Hawkins" wrote in message
... When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Omitted here a 1. your AV and malware practice. (This effect may be malware.) 2. whether you have System Restore configured. This allows us to reboot with the registry (hive) known good on a prior date. This is often the fastest way to recover from an unwanted surprise. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
#3
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
"Jim Hawkins" wrote in message ... When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Omitted here a 1. your AV and malware practice. (This effect may be malware.) 2. whether you have System Restore configured. This allows us to reboot with the registry (hive) known good on a prior date. This is often the fastest way to recover from an unwanted surprise. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
#4
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
Thanks Don,
AV is Norton 360. Scan shows nothing nasty. Browser is IE6. I don't know anything about System Restore. Jim Hawkins "Don Phillipson" wrote in message ... "Jim Hawkins" wrote in message ... When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Omitted here a 1. your AV and malware practice. (This effect may be malware.) 2. whether you have System Restore configured. This allows us to reboot with the registry (hive) known good on a prior date. This is often the fastest way to recover from an unwanted surprise. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
#5
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
Thanks Don,
AV is Norton 360. Scan shows nothing nasty. Browser is IE6. I don't know anything about System Restore. Jim Hawkins "Don Phillipson" wrote in message ... "Jim Hawkins" wrote in message ... When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Omitted here a 1. your AV and malware practice. (This effect may be malware.) 2. whether you have System Restore configured. This allows us to reboot with the registry (hive) known good on a prior date. This is often the fastest way to recover from an unwanted surprise. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
#6
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
Jim Hawkins wrote:
When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Right-click on the desktop. Under Arrange, check if Show Desktop Icons is enabled or not. As to what caused them to disappear, that could be malware, security software, tweaking programs, or the user (especially if the computer is not physically secured and/or you aren't the only one allowed on the computer). |
#7
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
Jim Hawkins wrote:
When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Right-click on the desktop. Under Arrange, check if Show Desktop Icons is enabled or not. As to what caused them to disappear, that could be malware, security software, tweaking programs, or the user (especially if the computer is not physically secured and/or you aren't the only one allowed on the computer). |
#8
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
On Mar 3, 11:03*am, "Jim Hawkins" wrote:
When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? *What caused them to disappear ? Jim Hawkins Right click an open area of your Desktop, Arrange Icons By... Show Desktop Icons needs to be checked. If you did not change it on purpose or by accident, perhaps something changed it to annoy you. Perform some scans for malicious software, then fix any remaining issues: Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware detection programs: Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/ SUPERAntiSpywa (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/ They can be uninstalled later if desired. |
#9
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
On Mar 3, 11:03*am, "Jim Hawkins" wrote:
When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? *What caused them to disappear ? Jim Hawkins Right click an open area of your Desktop, Arrange Icons By... Show Desktop Icons needs to be checked. If you did not change it on purpose or by accident, perhaps something changed it to annoy you. Perform some scans for malicious software, then fix any remaining issues: Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware detection programs: Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/ SUPERAntiSpywa (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/ They can be uninstalled later if desired. |
#10
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
In ,
Jim Hawkins typed: When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Jim Hawkins I assume you did do a Restart, right? And the problem persisted? Anything else I can think of has already been covered. After the REstart I'd look at whether the desktop icons are set to be shown, and then move on to malware. The only thing I can think of not covered so far is to rebuild the icon cache, which I can't recall how to do; perhaps someone might be able to give the details? HTH, Twayne` -- Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue. |
#11
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
In ,
Jim Hawkins typed: When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Jim Hawkins I assume you did do a Restart, right? And the problem persisted? Anything else I can think of has already been covered. After the REstart I'd look at whether the desktop icons are set to be shown, and then move on to malware. The only thing I can think of not covered so far is to rebuild the icon cache, which I can't recall how to do; perhaps someone might be able to give the details? HTH, Twayne` -- Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue. |
#12
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
On Mar 3, 8:51*pm, "Twayne" wrote:
, Jim Hawkins typed: When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? *What caused them to disappear ? Jim Hawkins I assume you did do a Restart, right? And the problem persisted? Anything else I can think of has already been covered. After the REstart I'd look at whether the desktop icons are set to be shown, and then move on to malware. * *The only thing I can think of not covered so far is to rebuild the icon cache, which I can't recall how to do; perhaps someone might be able to give the details? HTH, Twayne` -- Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue. If you are talking about the iconcache.db file, you can read about ways to rebuild it, refresh it, repair it, etc. but I am of the thinking that if you think in any way this is your problem, make a new one with 100% certainty and remove any question about it. Locate the one for your user, or locate the all with Windows search. Mine is he C:\Documents and Settings\Jose\Local Settings\Application Data Delete the iconcache.db file, reboot and log back in (or login automatically) and a new iconcache.db file will be created. Delete them for all users - delete every one you find if you feel like it and there will be no questions. This method removes any doubt that it was recreated, there are no questions about did the rebuild work, do I need to reboot, etc. Just do it all and there will be zero questions about it. |
#13
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
On Mar 3, 8:51*pm, "Twayne" wrote:
, Jim Hawkins typed: When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? *What caused them to disappear ? Jim Hawkins I assume you did do a Restart, right? And the problem persisted? Anything else I can think of has already been covered. After the REstart I'd look at whether the desktop icons are set to be shown, and then move on to malware. * *The only thing I can think of not covered so far is to rebuild the icon cache, which I can't recall how to do; perhaps someone might be able to give the details? HTH, Twayne` -- Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue. If you are talking about the iconcache.db file, you can read about ways to rebuild it, refresh it, repair it, etc. but I am of the thinking that if you think in any way this is your problem, make a new one with 100% certainty and remove any question about it. Locate the one for your user, or locate the all with Windows search. Mine is he C:\Documents and Settings\Jose\Local Settings\Application Data Delete the iconcache.db file, reboot and log back in (or login automatically) and a new iconcache.db file will be created. Delete them for all users - delete every one you find if you feel like it and there will be no questions. This method removes any doubt that it was recreated, there are no questions about did the rebuild work, do I need to reboot, etc. Just do it all and there will be zero questions about it. |
#14
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
Jim Hawkins wrote:
When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Jim Hawkins My sincere thanks to Don, Twayne and Jose ! It was simply that 'Show desktop icons' flag that had somehow got turned off. Jim Hawkins |
#15
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Disappearance of all desktop icons
Jim Hawkins wrote:
When I turned on my PC (Win XP SP3) this morning all my desktop icons had gone. I can start programs by going to Start/All programs/.. finding the one I want and clicking on it, but that's a pain. How do I get the icons back ? What caused them to disappear ? Jim Hawkins My sincere thanks to Don, Twayne and Jose ! It was simply that 'Show desktop icons' flag that had somehow got turned off. Jim Hawkins |
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