Last night my firefox froze and computer was restarted from the tower. When i logged back in the start menu and desktop icons are no longer available. I can see them from explorer but no where else. I also am no longer able to start my Zune software, cut, paste, or drag any items. I would appreciate any help as its an emergency since i do work from home. Thank you!

Hi ChicagosOnlyPunk,

Welcome to Geeks to Go.

Right click on any area of the desktop, then in the subsequent box look for a option that says "arrange icons by" hover over it and you will get another box, look for "show desktop icons" near the bottom. make sure there is a checkmark next to that box. If not click to put a check mark.

In vista just press the window key and type "taskbar and start menu" in the search box then click on that option when it comes up. This will bring up the options for the taskbar and start menu. Look to see if the box for the autohide is checked.

In windows xp press the start button then control panel, click on classic view in the upper left, then look for the "taskbar and startmenu" icon and click on it. Again look for the autohide option. If it is checked then uncheck it.

Regatds,

I am using XP. Everything is checked correctly. It is not autohidden. Its currently gone. The desktop icons came back after a restart. I tried the Kellyfix for the star menu but still nothing.

I was able to fix it with chnging a few things in the start menu. When i minimize windows they are not going onto the taskbar, they are going behind it. Also, Zune, Limewire, and others will no longer load. When they are clicked on it shows in processes then is gone in a second. I still cannot drag, copy, or paste ANYTHING. Please assist further.

I would suggest that you press Ctrl, Alt, and Delete at the same time to open the Windows Task Manager.

From there, you should click on the File menu and then select New Task (Run...).

After that, you should type in explorer.exe and then click OK.

Regards,

All that did was bring up the my documents window. Any other suggestions?

We can try this : Go to Start >>run >>type in "sfc /scannow" and click "Enter". Keep xp CD ready.

If that doesnot work try restore. If that doesnot work repair XP.

Regards,