Desktop missing?

Long story short, my computer locked up when I was installing Norton internet
security 2007, so I did a hard reboot (pressed the power button). when my
computer came back on there was nothing, except my Documents folder. No start
menu, no task bar, no desktop, no icons, nothing... I can't even right click
in the space where the desktop should be... it does this every time I reset
the computer... I tried doing a reinstall, but it didn't do anything.

I would like to avoid a complete reformat if at all possible.

also, Im only using vista home basic, so its not like its anything terribly
demanding on my pc.

if anyone can give me any ideas, that would be great, because im stumped.
I've never had this happen on a pc before.

Vista + Norton not necessary the best setup, if you read thru these
discussion groups Norton seems to create problems. Suggest use "Avast", AVG,
or some other AV

Unless you can start up in "Safe Mode" and go back to a "restore point"
prior to installing Norton, unfortunate ly reformat maybe only choice -others
posts may come up with other options.

GoodLuck
--
Regards
Bob J


"Aztroth" wrote:

> Long story short, my computer locked up when I was installing Norton internet
> security 2007, so I did a hard reboot (pressed the power button). when my
> computer came back on there was nothing, except my Documents folder. No start
> menu, no task bar, no desktop, no icons, nothing... I can't even right click
> in the space where the desktop should be... it does this every time I reset
> the computer... I tried doing a reinstall, but it didn't do anything.
>
> I would like to avoid a complete reformat if at all possible.
>
> also, Im only using vista home basic, so its not like its anything terribly
> demanding on my pc.
>
> if anyone can give me any ideas, that would be great, because im stumped.
> I've never had this happen on a pc before.

sadly, enough, it does the same thing in safe mode... I can run all of my
programs, fine, because luckily enough I DO have the documents window show
up, but it's a rather big nuisance. that and Im not sure where everything is
in vista just yet.

if I need to reformat, then I need to reformat, but Im gonna wait and see
what anyone else has to say on the matter.

"Bob J" wrote:

> Vista + Norton not necessary the best setup, if you read thru these
> discussion groups Norton seems to create problems. Suggest use "Avast", AVG,
> or some other AV
>
> Unless you can start up in "Safe Mode" and go back to a "restore point"
> prior to installing Norton, unfortunate ly reformat maybe only choice -others
> posts may come up with other options.
>
> GoodLuck
> --
> Regards
> Bob J

Aztroth

Start the computer and when you get to the blank desktop, press
CTRL+ALT+DEL. In the resulting window, select the Task Manager.

In the Task Manager, go to File / New Task (Run...) and type Explorer.exe
and press OK.

Does this make the normal Desktop and Taskbar appear?

Let me know.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"Aztroth" <Aztroth@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1D1E6BD0-1677-42A8-8A19-97BB97CD998C@microsoft.com...
> sadly, enough, it does the same thing in safe mode... I can run all of my
> programs, fine, because luckily enough I DO have the documents window show
> up, but it's a rather big nuisance. that and Im not sure where everything
> is
> in vista just yet.
>
> if I need to reformat, then I need to reformat, but Im gonna wait and see
> what anyone else has to say on the matter.
>
> "Bob J" wrote:
>
>> Vista + Norton not necessary the best setup, if you read thru these
>> discussion groups Norton seems to create problems. Suggest use "Avast",
>> AVG,
>> or some other AV
>>
>> Unless you can start up in "Safe Mode" and go back to a "restore point"
>> prior to installing Norton, unfortunate ly reformat maybe only
>> choice -others
>> posts may come up with other options.
>>
>> GoodLuck
>> --
>> Regards
>> Bob J

Ronnie,

This helped me out tremendously. However, am I going to have to do this
evertime I restart my computer? I just tried to restart twice to see what
would happen and both times I had to type the explorer.exe command. Any more
insight would be greatly appreciated.

"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:

> Aztroth
>
> Start the computer and when you get to the blank desktop, press
> CTRL+ALT+DEL. In the resulting window, select the Task Manager.
>
> In the Task Manager, go to File / New Task (Run...) and type Explorer.exe
> and press OK.
>
> Does this make the normal Desktop and Taskbar appear?
>
> Let me know.
>
> --
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Aztroth" <Aztroth@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1D1E6BD0-1677-42A8-8A19-97BB97CD998C@microsoft.com...
> > sadly, enough, it does the same thing in safe mode... I can run all of my
> > programs, fine, because luckily enough I DO have the documents window show
> > up, but it's a rather big nuisance. that and Im not sure where everything
> > is
> > in vista just yet.
> >
> > if I need to reformat, then I need to reformat, but Im gonna wait and see
> > what anyone else has to say on the matter.
> >
> > "Bob J" wrote:
> >
> >> Vista + Norton not necessary the best setup, if you read thru these
> >> discussion groups Norton seems to create problems. Suggest use "Avast",
> >> AVG,
> >> or some other AV
> >>
> >> Unless you can start up in "Safe Mode" and go back to a "restore point"
> >> prior to installing Norton, unfortunate ly reformat maybe only
> >> choice -others
> >> posts may come up with other options.
> >>
> >> GoodLuck
> >> --
> >> Regards
> >> Bob J
>

If the Vista is a OEM version, did you create "recovery discs" if so try
using them.
If Vista was a upgrade retail version disk, insert Vista Disk and select
"Repair Installation"
If you can save as much of the settings & data as possible
Again they may work or not
--
Regards
Bob J


"Aztroth" wrote:

> Long story short, my computer locked up when I was installing Norton internet
> security 2007, so I did a hard reboot (pressed the power button). when my
> computer came back on there was nothing, except my Documents folder. No start
> menu, no task bar, no desktop, no icons, nothing... I can't even right click
> in the space where the desktop should be... it does this every time I reset
> the computer... I tried doing a reinstall, but it didn't do anything.
>
> I would like to avoid a complete reformat if at all possible.
>
> also, Im only using vista home basic, so its not like its anything terribly
> demanding on my pc.
>
> if anyone can give me any ideas, that would be great, because im stumped.
> I've never had this happen on a pc before.

thank you... I honestly didn't even realize that vista was still running on
explorer.exe... thought they would have changed that...

this is the retail upgrade version, but there is no 'Repair Instalation'
option available on my dvd... I re-ran the upgrade instalation already, and
that didn't fix it.

now, I can answer bobj's question :P (maybe) I believe (if its anything like
xp) that you just go into the administrative tools under control panel, and
just turn it on for auto start, or what ever they call it now.

but I could be wrong...

"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:

> Aztroth
>
> Start the computer and when you get to the blank desktop, press
> CTRL+ALT+DEL. In the resulting window, select the Task Manager.
>
> In the Task Manager, go to File / New Task (Run...) and type Explorer.exe
> and press OK.
>
> Does this make the normal Desktop and Taskbar appear?
>
> Let me know.
>
> --
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
>

Beans

The problem is that you are missing a critical registry entry. Perform the
following.

Open Notepad and copy / paste the 3 lines of text between the 2 dashed
lines. (Don't copy the dashed lines and make sure it is copied exactly as
shown, 2 lines with no line wrap)

Select File / Save and save the file to the Desktop. Name the file
Shell.reg

Close Notepad, go to the Desktop and double click the file. OK all of the
prompts to merge the file into the registry. Reboot the computer.

Let us know the results.

---------------------------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"Shell"="explorer.exe"

---------------------------------
--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"Beans" <Beans@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4290869B-ECC2-4057-97BE-29900B6D857B@microsoft.com...
> Ronnie,
>
> This helped me out tremendously. However, am I going to have to do this
> evertime I restart my computer? I just tried to restart twice to see what
> would happen and both times I had to type the explorer.exe command. Any
> more
> insight would be greatly appreciated.
>
> "Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:
>
>> Aztroth
>>
>> Start the computer and when you get to the blank desktop, press
>> CTRL+ALT+DEL. In the resulting window, select the Task Manager.
>>
>> In the Task Manager, go to File / New Task (Run...) and type
>> Explorer.exe
>> and press OK.
>>
>> Does this make the normal Desktop and Taskbar appear?
>>
>> Let me know.
>>
>> --
>>
>> Ronnie Vernon
>> Microsoft MVP
>> Windows Shell/User
>>
>>
>> "Aztroth" <Aztroth@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:1D1E6BD0-1677-42A8-8A19-97BB97CD998C@microsoft.com...
>> > sadly, enough, it does the same thing in safe mode... I can run all of
>> > my
>> > programs, fine, because luckily enough I DO have the documents window
>> > show
>> > up, but it's a rather big nuisance. that and Im not sure where
>> > everything
>> > is
>> > in vista just yet.
>> >
>> > if I need to reformat, then I need to reformat, but Im gonna wait and
>> > see
>> > what anyone else has to say on the matter.
>> >
>> > "Bob J" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Vista + Norton not necessary the best setup, if you read thru these
>> >> discussion groups Norton seems to create problems. Suggest use
>> >> "Avast",
>> >> AVG,
>> >> or some other AV
>> >>
>> >> Unless you can start up in "Safe Mode" and go back to a "restore
>> >> point"
>> >> prior to installing Norton, unfortunate ly reformat maybe only
>> >> choice -others
>> >> posts may come up with other options.
>> >>
>> >> GoodLuck
>> >> --
>> >> Regards
>> >> Bob J
>>

Ronnie,

This did not work. I followed instructions and it took. However, upon
restart same story, blank with just the mouse cursor. Any other ideas?

Thanks,

"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:

> Beans
>
> The problem is that you are missing a critical registry entry. Perform the
> following.
>
> Open Notepad and copy / paste the 3 lines of text between the 2 dashed
> lines. (Don't copy the dashed lines and make sure it is copied exactly as
> shown, 2 lines with no line wrap)
>
> Select File / Save and save the file to the Desktop. Name the file
> Shell.reg
>
> Close Notepad, go to the Desktop and double click the file. OK all of the
> prompts to merge the file into the registry. Reboot the computer.
>
> Let us know the results.
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
>
> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
> "Shell"="explorer.exe"
>
> ---------------------------------
> --
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Beans" <Beans@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:4290869B-ECC2-4057-97BE-29900B6D857B@microsoft.com...
> > Ronnie,
> >
> > This helped me out tremendously. However, am I going to have to do this
> > evertime I restart my computer? I just tried to restart twice to see what
> > would happen and both times I had to type the explorer.exe command. Any
> > more
> > insight would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > "Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:
> >
> >> Aztroth
> >>
> >> Start the computer and when you get to the blank desktop, press
> >> CTRL+ALT+DEL. In the resulting window, select the Task Manager.
> >>
> >> In the Task Manager, go to File / New Task (Run...) and type
> >> Explorer.exe
> >> and press OK.
> >>
> >> Does this make the normal Desktop and Taskbar appear?
> >>
> >> Let me know.
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> Ronnie Vernon
> >> Microsoft MVP
> >> Windows Shell/User
> >>
> >>
> >> "Aztroth" <Aztroth@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:1D1E6BD0-1677-42A8-8A19-97BB97CD998C@microsoft.com...
> >> > sadly, enough, it does the same thing in safe mode... I can run all of
> >> > my
> >> > programs, fine, because luckily enough I DO have the documents window
> >> > show
> >> > up, but it's a rather big nuisance. that and Im not sure where
> >> > everything
> >> > is
> >> > in vista just yet.
> >> >
> >> > if I need to reformat, then I need to reformat, but Im gonna wait and
> >> > see
> >> > what anyone else has to say on the matter.
> >> >
> >> > "Bob J" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Vista + Norton not necessary the best setup, if you read thru these
> >> >> discussion groups Norton seems to create problems. Suggest use
> >> >> "Avast",
> >> >> AVG,
> >> >> or some other AV
> >> >>
> >> >> Unless you can start up in "Safe Mode" and go back to a "restore
> >> >> point"
> >> >> prior to installing Norton, unfortunate ly reformat maybe only
> >> >> choice -others
> >> >> posts may come up with other options.
> >> >>
> >> >> GoodLuck
> >> >> --
> >> >> Regards
> >> >> Bob J
> >>
>

i tried running explorer.exe through task manager but the taskbar just
appeared like it blinked.and when i run that Shell.reg,there is a warning
that says,"adding information can unintentionally change or delete values and
cause components to stop working correctly.if you dont trust the source of
this info. do not add it to the registry.are you sure you want to continue?",
--
ichi29


"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:

> Beans
>
> The problem is that you are missing a critical registry entry. Perform the
> following.
>
> Open Notepad and copy / paste the 3 lines of text between the 2 dashed
> lines. (Don't copy the dashed lines and make sure it is copied exactly as
> shown, 2 lines with no line wrap)
>
> Select File / Save and save the file to the Desktop. Name the file
> Shell.reg
>
> Close Notepad, go to the Desktop and double click the file. OK all of the
> prompts to merge the file into the registry. Reboot the computer.
>
> Let us know the results.
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
>
> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
> "Shell"="explorer.exe"
>
> ---------------------------------
> --
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Beans" <Beans@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:4290869B-ECC2-4057-97BE-29900B6D857B@microsoft.com...
> > Ronnie,
> >
> > This helped me out tremendously. However, am I going to have to do this
> > evertime I restart my computer? I just tried to restart twice to see what
> > would happen and both times I had to type the explorer.exe command. Any
> > more
> > insight would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > "Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:
> >
> >> Aztroth
> >>
> >> Start the computer and when you get to the blank desktop, press
> >> CTRL+ALT+DEL. In the resulting window, select the Task Manager.
> >>
> >> In the Task Manager, go to File / New Task (Run...) and type
> >> Explorer.exe
> >> and press OK.
> >>
> >> Does this make the normal Desktop and Taskbar appear?
> >>
> >> Let me know.
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> Ronnie Vernon
> >> Microsoft MVP
> >> Windows Shell/User
> >>
> >>
> >> "Aztroth" <Aztroth@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:1D1E6BD0-1677-42A8-8A19-97BB97CD998C@microsoft.com...
> >> > sadly, enough, it does the same thing in safe mode... I can run all of
> >> > my
> >> > programs, fine, because luckily enough I DO have the documents window
> >> > show
> >> > up, but it's a rather big nuisance. that and Im not sure where
> >> > everything
> >> > is
> >> > in vista just yet.
> >> >
> >> > if I need to reformat, then I need to reformat, but Im gonna wait and
> >> > see
> >> > what anyone else has to say on the matter.
> >> >
> >> > "Bob J" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Vista + Norton not necessary the best setup, if you read thru these
> >> >> discussion groups Norton seems to create problems. Suggest use
> >> >> "Avast",
> >> >> AVG,
> >> >> or some other AV
> >> >>
> >> >> Unless you can start up in "Safe Mode" and go back to a "restore
> >> >> point"
> >> >> prior to installing Norton, unfortunate ly reformat maybe only
> >> >> choice -others
> >> >> posts may come up with other options.
> >> >>
> >> >> GoodLuck
> >> >> --
> >> >> Regards
> >> >> Bob J
> >>
>