Icons and Taskbar disapearing

Hi,

Recently I found a virus or malware on my computer which kept posting a
pop-up window with an error message about a dll file not being a "valid
windows image"

Apparently I succeeded to remove the problem, because all the antivirus
scans I make do not show any problems. The error message also stopped.

However, when the computer starts I get one of the following situations :

- I can only see the wall paper
or
- The icons and taskbar appear for just a few seconds, then dissapear and
briefly reapear.
or
- the taskbar is visible, but the pointer changes to an hourglass when I
move the mose over it

I can operate the computer by by typing Ctrl-Alt-Del, and typing command
directly in the 'new task'
For example I can run windows explorer. I upgraded to ie7, I installed sp3,
and loaded all the security upgrades.
BUt still, I cannot work normally with my taskbar and desktop icons

Does anywane have an idea how to solve this problem ?

Thank In advance
Dan

Sounds similar to this, see if anything here helps:

DESKTOP ICONS AND THE TASKBAR FAIL TO LOAD AT STARTUP

This problem may be fixed by using one of these 4 repairs:


(1) RESTORE A MISSING "USERINIT" REGISTRY VALUE

1. Copy below between the lines:

----------copy inside only----------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"Userinit"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\userinit.ex e,"
----------copy inside only----------

2. Paste into Notepad, if your Windows is not on drive C:
replace C: with your Windows drive letter and Save-As
Userinit.reg (or any name + .reg).

3. Double-click or right-click and merge into the registry.

4. Restart.


(2) DELETE AN INCORRECT "EXPLORER.EXE" ENTRY IN THE REGISTRY

1. Open the Run box and enter: regedit

2. Go to this key:
[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options]

3. If you see "explorer.exe" as a subkey below, delete it.

4. Restart.


(3) RESTORE A MISSING "EXPLORER.EXE" ENTRY IN THE REGISTRY

1. Copy below between the lines:

----------copy inside only----------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

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

2. Paste into Notepad and Save-As WinLogon.reg
(or any name + .reg).

3. Double-click or right-click and merge into the registry.

4. Restart.


(4) EXLORER.EXE IS MISSING

If explorer.exe is not in C:\WINDOWS\ then insert
your Windows CD and, using the 'Task Manager', run
the 'System File Checker' utility with this command:
sfc /scannow

If the 'System File Checker' didn't replace it, boot
to the Recovery Console with the Windows CD and copy
explorer.exe manually:

1. Insert the Windows CD and restart.

2. When setup begins, choose the "Repair or Recover"
option by pressing "R".

3. Once at the command prompt, enter:
copy D:\I386\EXPLORER.EX_ C:\WINDOWS\
(Change drive letters accordingly)

4. The file, "EXPLORER.EX_" is compressed and should be
automatically expanded on copy. If it doesn't just enter
this command: expand C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EX_ C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe

5. To exit the Recovery Console, type: exit.

If the desktop still does not load then, from within the
Task Manager, run a new task to open the Registry Editor:
regedit.exe
and manually enter the registry data from above, if it is
missing or incorrect.


ju.c


"Danib" <Danib@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:533D110B-F030-4900-B8ED-426E9B459C19@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> Recently I found a virus or malware on my computer which kept posting a
> pop-up window with an error message about a dll file not being a "valid
> windows image"
>
> Apparently I succeeded to remove the problem, because all the antivirus
> scans I make do not show any problems. The error message also stopped.
>
> However, when the computer starts I get one of the following situations :
>
> - I can only see the wall paper
> or
> - The icons and taskbar appear for just a few seconds, then dissapear and
> briefly reapear.
> or
> - the taskbar is visible, but the pointer changes to an hourglass when I
> move the mose over it
>
> I can operate the computer by by typing Ctrl-Alt-Del, and typing command
> directly in the 'new task'
> For example I can run windows explorer. I upgraded to ie7, I installed sp3,
> and loaded all the security upgrades.
> BUt still, I cannot work normally with my taskbar and desktop icons
>
> Does anywane have an idea how to solve this problem ?
>
> Thank In advance
> Dan

Thank you for your reply. I was suspecting that the problem is related to
explorer.exe

However, it seems that after almost a whole week of struggles, my problem
was solved in the following way :

I received a pop-up window from "Windows Defender" ( which I installed
yesterday ) informing me that a Trojan was found. I followed the
recommenadation to erase the files, and restart. After this restart, the
computer is working perfectly.

Dan

"ju.c" wrote:

> Sounds similar to this, see if anything here helps:
>
> DESKTOP ICONS AND THE TASKBAR FAIL TO LOAD AT STARTUP
>
> This problem may be fixed by using one of these 4 repairs:
>
>
> (1) RESTORE A MISSING "USERINIT" REGISTRY VALUE
>
> 1. Copy below between the lines:
>
> ----------copy inside only----------
> Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
>
> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
> "Userinit"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\userinit.ex e,"
> ----------copy inside only----------
>
> 2. Paste into Notepad, if your Windows is not on drive C:
> replace C: with your Windows drive letter and Save-As
> Userinit.reg (or any name + .reg).
>
> 3. Double-click or right-click and merge into the registry.
>
> 4. Restart.
>
>
> (2) DELETE AN INCORRECT "EXPLORER.EXE" ENTRY IN THE REGISTRY
>
> 1. Open the Run box and enter: regedit
>
> 2. Go to this key:
> [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options]
>
> 3. If you see "explorer.exe" as a subkey below, delete it.
>
> 4. Restart.
>
>
> (3) RESTORE A MISSING "EXPLORER.EXE" ENTRY IN THE REGISTRY
>
> 1. Copy below between the lines:
>
> ----------copy inside only----------
> Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
>
> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
> "Shell"="explorer.exe"
> ----------copy inside only----------
>
> 2. Paste into Notepad and Save-As WinLogon.reg
> (or any name + .reg).
>
> 3. Double-click or right-click and merge into the registry.
>
> 4. Restart.
>
>
> (4) EXLORER.EXE IS MISSING
>
> If explorer.exe is not in C:\WINDOWS\ then insert
> your Windows CD and, using the 'Task Manager', run
> the 'System File Checker' utility with this command:
> sfc /scannow
>
> If the 'System File Checker' didn't replace it, boot
> to the Recovery Console with the Windows CD and copy
> explorer.exe manually:
>
> 1. Insert the Windows CD and restart.
>
> 2. When setup begins, choose the "Repair or Recover"
> option by pressing "R".
>
> 3. Once at the command prompt, enter:
> copy D:\I386\EXPLORER.EX_ C:\WINDOWS\
> (Change drive letters accordingly)
>
> 4. The file, "EXPLORER.EX_" is compressed and should be
> automatically expanded on copy. If it doesn't just enter
> this command: expand C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EX_ C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe
>
> 5. To exit the Recovery Console, type: exit.
>
> If the desktop still does not load then, from within the
> Task Manager, run a new task to open the Registry Editor:
> regedit.exe
> and manually enter the registry data from above, if it is
> missing or incorrect.
>
>
> ju.c
>
>
> "Danib" <Danib@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:533D110B-F030-4900-B8ED-426E9B459C19@microsoft.com...
> > Hi,
> >
> > Recently I found a virus or malware on my computer which kept posting a
> > pop-up window with an error message about a dll file not being a "valid
> > windows image"
> >
> > Apparently I succeeded to remove the problem, because all the antivirus
> > scans I make do not show any problems. The error message also stopped.
> >
> > However, when the computer starts I get one of the following situations :
> >
> > - I can only see the wall paper
> > or
> > - The icons and taskbar appear for just a few seconds, then dissapear and
> > briefly reapear.
> > or
> > - the taskbar is visible, but the pointer changes to an hourglass when I
> > move the mose over it
> >
> > I can operate the computer by by typing Ctrl-Alt-Del, and typing command
> > directly in the 'new task'
> > For example I can run windows explorer. I upgraded to ie7, I installed sp3,
> > and loaded all the security upgrades.
> > BUt still, I cannot work normally with my taskbar and desktop icons
> >
> > Does anywane have an idea how to solve this problem ?
> >
> > Thank In advance
> > Dan
>