[bjack2345]

I was on the net downloading something I probably shouldn't have obviously or I would not be in this situation. I had a pop-up on my task bar saying I had a virus and needed to download and scan. I did not click on it in case it was more problems. My internet would not close and my computer was totally frozen. So I had to hold the power button and do a hard shut down. When I restarted my computer it went through the normal sequence of events that it would normally. I came to the log in screen and entered my password and my computer continued to do it's thing. My desktop picture appeared as it always does but that is where everything gets strange. My task bar does not appear nor does any of my icons. All that is showing is my desktop picture. I tried all buttons and mouse clicks to no avail, nothing is happening. I tried alt, ctrl, delete hoping to view my task manager and it doesn't work and gives me a message about my admin disabled the task manager. So I did a hard shut down again and tried booting in safe mode. It did boot in safe mode but still the same results. A black screen with no task bar or icons with safe mode in each corner. So that is where I am at and I need some help from all of you that are much more knowledgeable than me about this and I thank you in advance for any and all suggestions that might come my way as I need to get up and running so I can continue to have a job.

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Hi bjack2345 and welcome to Geeks to Go. I'm Dave and I'll be helping you out.

The symptoms you describe sounds like your explorer.exe file got corrupted. This file is responsible for displaying most of the graphics on your desktop, including the ones that you say have disappeared for you. The first thing we can try (and believe me the list is long) is running system file checker from the recovery console. The recovery console is a special windows mode that allows you to repair problems with your Windows installation if you can't boot normally. You'll need your Windows XP CD for this next part:

• Insert your Windows XP CD into the CD drive, and then boot up normally.
• As your computer boots up, watch carefully for a message that says "Press any key to boot from CD" or something similar.
• When that message appears press any key. It may take a couple tries for you to find the message and hit a key at the right time, that's fine.
• Once you manage to boot from the CD, Windows will take a while to proceed. Be patient .
• A blue screen titled "Windows XP Professional Setup" will eventually appear. Press "R" to enter the Recovery Console.
• You will be asked which Windows XP installation you'd like to repair. Most users only have one so this is a simple choice .
• Choose the XP installation you wish to repair, unless you have more than one just press "1" and hit enter.
• You will now be prompted to enter the administrator password, type it carefully then hit enter.
• You should see a prompt that reads "C:\WINDOWS>" now, like a normal command prompt.
• Type the commands below carefully, one at a time, pressing enter after each:
  
  

  sfc /scannow

  (One space between sfc and /scannow)
  
• The system file checker will run for a while, follow any prompts it gives you carefully and allow it to complete uninterrupted.
• Once it has completed, you can either enter the command exit to restart or just shut down and restart.

Once you've finished with all that, try booting up now and see if your icons and such are back.

Cheers,
Dave

[Transience]

Hi bjack2345 and welcome to Geeks to Go. I'm Dave and I'll be helping you out.

The symptoms you describe sounds like your explorer.exe file got corrupted. This file is responsible for displaying most of the graphics on your desktop, including the ones that you say have disappeared for you. The first thing we can try (and believe me the list is long) is running system file checker from the recovery console. The recovery console is a special windows mode that allows you to repair problems with your Windows installation if you can't boot normally. You'll need your Windows XP CD for this next part:

• Insert your Windows XP CD into the CD drive, and then boot up normally.
• As your computer boots up, watch carefully for a message that says "Press any key to boot from CD" or something similar.
• When that message appears press any key. It may take a couple tries for you to find the message and hit a key at the right time, that's fine.
• Once you manage to boot from the CD, Windows will take a while to proceed. Be patient .
• A blue screen titled "Windows XP Professional Setup" will eventually appear. Press "R" to enter the Recovery Console.
• You will be asked which Windows XP installation you'd like to repair. Most users only have one so this is a simple choice .
• Choose the XP installation you wish to repair, unless you have more than one just press "1" and hit enter.
• You will now be prompted to enter the administrator password, type it carefully then hit enter.
• You should see a prompt that reads "C:\WINDOWS>" now, like a normal command prompt.
• Type the commands below carefully, one at a time, pressing enter after each:
  
  

  sfc /scannow

  (One space between sfc and /scannow)
  
• The system file checker will run for a while, follow any prompts it gives you carefully and allow it to complete uninterrupted.
• Once it has completed, you can either enter the command exit to restart or just shut down and restart.

Once you've finished with all that, try booting up now and see if your icons and such are back.

Cheers,
Dave

[Transience]

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