no desktop icons on boot-up

i'm a complete novice at IT so please bear with me........
i went to start my pc, only to find it taking longer than usual to boot up.
when it finally booted up, i had no desktop icons ( just the wallpaper) and no task bar. this cause a proplem as i could not access or run any programs.
the only thing that i could get to work was the task manager......
on checking this i could see that the explorer.exe process was running at 99, and is using 100% cpu power.
i'm stuck, as i can,t seem to run anything or do any checking.
system
xp home
p4 - 1.3
norton 2002


please help

Andy

[Alexander Turcic]

When you start the task manager, can you kill the explorer.exe task, and then restart it (menu File-> New Task)?

Originally Posted by Alexander

When you start the task manager, can you kill the explorer.exe task, and then restart it (menu File-> New Task)?

no, it tells me that it's not responding...........i tried to run norton last night, by going through task manager, but it got 300 files in before slowing down about 1 file a minute, and at that rate i'll still be there at xmas.

[Alexander Turcic]

Ok, when you boot your computer, did you also try to hold the F8 key on startup, and then selecting 'last known good configuration'?

Another "last-resort" option you have is to to a "Repair Install" from the Windows XP boot cd. But I honestly think you're going to wind up doing a clean install after you could recover your sensitive data.

Btw, I've never been a fan of any Norton Tools... they would add too many services, drivers and other crap to my system which I don't really want to see.

Originally Posted by Alexander

Ok, when you boot your computer, did you also try to hold the F8 key on startup, and then selecting 'last known good configuration'?

Another "last-resort" option you have is to to a "Repair Install" from the Windows XP boot cd. But I honestly think you're going to wind up doing a clean install after you could recover your sensitive data.

Btw, I've never been a fan of any Norton Tools... they would add too many services, drivers and other crap to my system which I don't really want to see.

i've tried F8 to start in safe mode but only get black screen with safe mode in the 4 corners, and still can't do anything, other than task manager. i'll try the 'last known good configuration' option, later then.
can you recommend a good alterative to norton?

[Alexander Turcic]

What are you looking for? Are you using the complete set of Norton utilities, or just a particular application such as Norton Anti-Virus?

Originally Posted by Alexander

What are you looking for? Are you using the complete set of Norton utilities, or just a particular application such as Norton Anti-Virus?

Just Norton Anti-Virus at the moment 2002 version, but need to get a firewall of some sort, but i'm lost when it comes to these sort of things.

My friend had the same problem --no desktop, no icons when windows boots. However, his OS is Windows 2000 Pro, and that laptop autologons everytime it boots.

I helped him to fix it (problem solved):

-hit Ctrl+Shift+ESC to get to Task Manager, hit Processes tab, click explerer.exe and click End Task. Click File menu->New Task (run): type explorer, hit Enter key. Desktop/icons/start menu appear.
-Remove all unnecessary software run at startup via registry (just a caution - in case software loads at boot causes that issues).
-Install and Run Adaware 6, CWShredder, Spybot Search & Destroy. Download the virus MyDoom Removal tools..(But when I reboot the PC, problem persists --still no icons/start menu/desktop..The next step is critical).
-Create another acount with Administrator rights.
-Copy all data (My documents, desktop, favorites, application data..) from the current user to the new user I've created..
-Modify the Autologon to point to the new user I've created.
-Logoff, then logon with new user (so that last username is the new user I've created. Otherwise, autologon may not run well).
-Restart the PC.

Hope it helps,

Time4Sec

you could also do a system restore

Had the same problem with a Toshiba Laptop which turn out to be the mydooom virus. Downloaded the free tool from syamntec web site and followed instruction precisely as you have to remove the virus twice once in normal and then in safe mode. it's quite a nasty criter. I hope this helps.
The person that got this had
no firewall software loaded zonealarm free
out of date virus guard updated free
no spyware sofware load spybot free but contribute to up keep
windows 2000 sp1 no hot fixes ????? windows update free
They thought they were safe on a pstn connection hmm
Totally avoidable its like driving your car without a seatbelt on.

[Zire]

Why don't all of you guests register and join our community? It's a great site...and takes no time to register.

I fixed the no desktop/startmenu load up problem.

This is how it goes, it seems to be a DLL change wich causes your computer to read wrong iformation causing the load up to stop since it keeps on reading wrong data. It's very easy to fix pay attention! If you can get to another pc, find a program called "registry fix" via limewire etc. Burn the program on a cd and boot it on your messed up computer. Then press CTL+ALT+DEL to open the task manager. From there go to My Computer and go to the CD drive. Execute the program you burned and install it. After that run the DLL scanner and it will find the invalid DLL and fix it. After it's done restart and I assure you your pc will work and run smoother.

Registry fix is a good program because you can back up your registry in case your computer fails.