DeskTop, taskbar and explorer.exe missing

Hi all I have looked at every thread that contains similar issues as mine but they are not quite the same. what happened is on my neices computer which is windows xp she has lost all of her destop icons and the taskbar now what is so crazy is that when she went to pull up task manager it had been disabled on her screen so I logged into mine and was able to pull it up I did new task and was able to get online that way but now I cannot get on line any more and when I tried to run spybot search & destroy when it was scanning it all of a sudden disadppeared I cannot run Avast I have downloaded SuperantiSpyware to disk and will try that today I was directed to this websitsite by geekstogo forum http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm and I found some downloads but since i have never used this page before I wanted to know if anyone is familiar with it the downloads I found and put on disc were # 195-"restore desktop Icons and task bar" I went into regedit and went to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe

except at the end of my line there is no explorer.exe I have tried to get it running in task manager by typing it into new task(run) but I get an error saying someto the fack that windows does not reconize that I know that not exactly what is says but I think thats what it means, so can anyone help me I will be away from the computer until later this evening calif. time oh yeah she is online through my wireless router since she lives right above me. I will be taking my laptop with me to her house just in case I still can't get online with her pc

:confused
Thanks ahead of time

 

Kelly is an expert on XP and her solutions are safe to use. The file you downloaded probably ends in .reg; all you need to do is click on it and it will fix the registry. You don't need to go in and edit it yourself.

 

I did try to use the software but it did not work and then I tried to load superantispyware and I got a pop up saying that i did not have admin permission to load it I am supposed to be an administrator and I cannot get to any thing because I am being blocked by whatever this is even in safe mode, i was going to try a password ressetter that i found here and see if I could remove all passwords and possibly get control back of the computer or is there something else I can do i cannot get into control panel either.

 

I found out that at the time the desktop and taskbar disappeared my nine month old great nephew was banging on the key board, is it possible that maybe in doing this he deleted explorer?

 

Hey there dont think it would be that easy but nothing is sacred with kids and P.C's.

Check to see if your system is a name brand if its a last resort, there are several that have a hidden partition on the drive so say you've got a 40gb drive and drive C: is only 34.5GB for eg... then theres a good chance there is one...unless the drive hasnt been formatted correctly or there were bad sectors etc...

If you can get into the add remove progs, see if there were any corrupt updates...

We had one here the microsoft malicious software removal tool, about a year back...and it <edited> the network so bad we now disable autoupdates it was the worst virus ever...and it was an offical update and not a virus...

This update (which updated at night like a sneak attack) let the user log in with the normal user name psw...but there was nothing... a vanilla fresh install type screen no apps no nothing... the normal profile was still there it just got renamed and hidden...Gosh to be ever so polite.... panic stations!!...thanks microsoft... the crazy thing is, if you goto the updqates site and select that you do not want to be reminided of this update..<edited> came back... goodness above..even.

While researching this it was discovered that you had to do a reg hack if i recall to stop it appearing as an autoupdate.. Too the microsoft "web trawlers" microsoft if someone says they dont want an update, they dont want to update, dont throw it down the throat especially when they specifically select the - do not remind me of this update again... this is what the show me updates i havent installed type area is for isnt it!. .. anyways enough of my waffle.. oh yeah could try a bootable cd disk or a virtual o/s that runs from cd that'l get you to all sort of places... heh.

This issue sounds intriguing in a kind of, i am glad its not me fashion..
Bootable Cds with o/s's are great for this sort of issue..Before i found out about these and restores, I wouldve just thought (edited) too late now... start again.:wave

 

I have a dell and I found the operating system disc to my brother's dell can I use that since it is the same pc manufactuer? this is what I don't like about these systems that come with the windows already loaded you have to find that companies os disc I gues so I am going to try it, if all else fails I do have xp pro disc but I want to try this one first I'll let you know what happens.

 

if you have access to an xp cd, follow step 2 here:
booting the xp cd to get to recovery console
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058
once at the prompt, type the command chkdsk /p

 

I ran chkdsk /p and it came back with chkdsk found one or more errors on the volume. What do I do next to repair the erors?

 

see if it's working now. when it says that, the errors should have been fixed. using that same method, you can type the command scandisk and it will scan for physical errors, but you should be ok now, unless theres physical problems.

 

No it's still not working I did discover through task manager that the windows is xp pro does it matter that I am us a dell os disc that is windows xp home? I do have an pro disc should I use it instead of the home version.?:-o

 

Hi,
about a week ago a friend's computer started acting in a manner similar to your niece's. He lost access to his mail, was denied access to his spyware and antivirus programs and generally was in a pickle. I rang a friend of mine who lives in another state and he said it was a virus which attacks thru antivirus programmes. In the end I took it to a local shop and they did a full reformat which fixed the problem. they found a virus in one of the folders. I hope this is not your problem but if it is apparently this bug is a beast and a full reformat is the surest way to fix it.

 

I thought of that but neither of us have the funds to take it to a shop and the copy of xp pro that I have was given to me, it has the key written on it but can I use if my friend has put it on her pc already or do I need another license for it. I guess what I am saying is how many pc's can you put a copy of xp on with the same license number?

 

depends on the license for that copy, some are unlimited, some are for 1 computer.

 

The copy I have has several license on it and they are not all used. so here is what I was going to try to do and that is reinstall windows from the disc but noo Dell does not let you use any other discs except there OS disc at least this is what I am reading I'm not sure how to back up the drivers so that I can completely wipe the drive and this being an optiplex 160L it does not have the PC restore option like the deminsion all I did was hit a few keys on the dimension and put it back to the factory settings noo this one has to give headaches :cry I am going to see if maybe I can access msconfig and see if maybe explorer go unchecked but if anyone can help me on this please give me a holler, thanks in advance

topkat690

 

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If the Windows disk is valid, and has available licenses, it will certainly let you format the drive and reinstall Windows if you boot to the disk...doesn't solve your driver-backup problem, but Windows cares not if it's a Dell, HP, etc...

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It won't boot from the disc it tells me to press F1 to continue or F2 to go into setup I am going to see if the drive is seeing it since I can get into some programs from task manager.

 

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If you can get into BIOS (setup), find the boot order menu and change it to boot first from CD...

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Oh sorry should have mentioned that I had done that and that's where I get the error I just looked at the disk through task manager and I think it is older than my pc it has internet explorer 5 on it and this computer was purchased in 2006 so would that make the disc not work?

 

I just want to say thanks to everyone that gave me their help I got in touch with dell and after going a round with one of the techs as to who now owned the pc they are sending me a os disc for this system I guess I finally gave them the right information as to who gave me the pc. thanks all I don't know how to back up drivers but if this is the original dic the only problem I should have is that if the drivers are'nt on the disc.

 

Thanks to all who helped me out with this problem I wound up contacting Dell and getting the original OS disc that came with the system and wiped the hard drive and started out with a fresh install.:-D