XP Icons disappear every 3 seconds can't access programs

Dell Dimension 2400

For the past week or so I was getting an Explorer error ervery few seconds saying Explorer need to shut down. It never did and the error screen just kept popping up.

Browsing and other programs worked fine, but I found that in order to print from WordPerfect I had to close the window each time it opened until the printer was recognized.

Today out of the blue the computer reaches the sign on screen, you choose the user and then the Wallpaper appears, then icons appear over the wallpaper.

Then it goes into this loop of the icons disappearing (you can see the wallpaper) then reappearing.

You can't access any programs by either clicking on the icon for the 3 seconds it appears nor can you from the Start Menu.

Ctrl Alt Del will bring up the task window and that window will stay, but you can't run anything from there either.

I just want to be able to get to my computer to back everything up and then just start over with a new hard drive unless there is an alternative solution.

Any suggestions? Thanks ahead of time.

Jason

 

>> Then it goes into this loop of the icons disappearing (you can see the wallpaper) then reappearing. You can't access any programs by either clicking on the icon for the 3 seconds it appears nor can you from the Start Menu. Ctrl Alt Del will bring up the task window and that window will stay, but you can't run anything from there either. <<

This problem "desktop icons disappearing act" can be caused by a variety of entirely different reasons.

The first thing I'd suggest Googling the exact terms: desktop icons disappearing, and looking around there for a while, at the various search results. The second suggestion would be to run a free online scanner; such as BitDefender Free Online Virus Scan.

Note: I’m not sure exactly if this will help in your situation but I had a very similar problem a few months ago and I managed to solve it by running a VBS file script from this website: kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm Line 195 (on the right) "Restore Desktop Icons and Taskbar"

Good Luck!

 

http://users.rcn.com/taylotr/icon_restore.html

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm =
number 61 right.

Rebuild your shell icon cache with the XP power toy Tweakui = http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp