After start up only wallpaper shows, no icons

Okay, so I might be really bad at this technology stuff but once you click ok the screen pops up right? And then HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe should be on the left hand side? Do you actually delete ALL the files within that folder? (HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, SECURITY, SAM, SYSTEM) I just want to be absolutely sure before I delete anything.

after finding explorer.exe what did u do

u delete them

I found something that worked at this website: http://ww38.vistaheads.com/forums/microsoft-public-windows-vista-general/221840-windows-explorer-startup.html?subid1=20200115-0155-52eb-bfef-d4fed75f32ef

Just use the following steps:

If the machine is clean, use this method to fix winlogon from MVP Rick
Rogers:

The shell entry may be damaged in the registry. From Task Manager, click
'new task' on the applications tab. Type regedit and click ok. Agree to the
UAC prompt, then expand the branches to reach this one:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Click on the Winlogon key, then on the right find the "shell" string. Double
click it, change the value data to read "explorer.exe" (without the quotes)
and click ok. Then close the registry editor and restart the system by
entering another new task as 'shutdown /r'.

I went into safemode, started regedit task using administrator privs, then used Wingiv's solution. Worked like a charm. I had explorer.exe C:\windows\system32\crss.exe or something else like that in the entry. I removed everything but explorer.exe and all was well again. Slick.

THANK YOU SO MUCH....THIS WORKED FOR ME!!! IT ALREADY HAD "Explorer.exe" in the value data but I changed it by making it "explorer.exe" (all small caps) and rebooted! Everything's back to normal! :)

Thankyou so much that worked for me.

I'm using Windows XP. To make a long story short, when I opened my desktop yesterday, no desktop icon appeared and there was also no START bar/menu. but my wall paper same and with only the mouse pointer (which, by the way, responds as I move the mouse ).

I was having same problem, whats the fix? hh

I am having same prob, tried typing in "explorer" and "explorer.exe" and I get error message that "Windows cannot find 'explorer'" and I did type it correctly--any ideas?

Thank you! I typed "explorer.exe" in the box after that, and it worked! Your help is much appreciated!
Lyle

guys just use this it is simple the other guy already said it click this link!! http://www.download.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-1­0227353.html and then scan it cheack all the boxes and delete it all!!! then restart your computer and then its all good.. try it ive done it my self
the Ctrl + Alt + Del thing can do it but it will not bring back your icons and the start button.
just want to say thank you to the guy who posted it first!!! THANKS DUDE YOU THIS IS SUCH A BIG HELP!!!!

SearingWolfe suggested the following for those that cannot find explorer.exe in the registry. I do not know if it works or is an appropriate solution. Good luck.

EVERYONE THERE IS A MUCH EASIER SOLUTION!! I found that I did not have explorer.exe in the registry, and I have the same problem. When I log on, I can only see my wall paper. Here's the solution. Do a Ctrl+Alt+Delete and look in the process tab. click image name to organize it in alphabetical order. you will see explorer.exe somewhere in there. Click it and click End Process at the bottom right. If you do not see explorer.exe then skip this step. Now click the Applications tab and you will see 3 buttons at the bottom called End Task, Switch To, and New Task. Click New Task. A small window will open up that says Create New Task. In the white bar type in explorer.exe and you will have your desktop back. Sadly, you will have to do this every time you log on, if you have a system restore point before this desktop problem, then do a system restore.
__________________________________________________
To reply to the message of SearingWolfe Please click on the link below:

THANK YOU!!!!


1 PROBLEM DOWN, 1 TO GO

i did everthing like you said but it gave me an error message that saids: ONLY PART OF A READPROCESSMEMORY OR WRITEPROCESSMEMORY REQUEST WAS COMPLETE. what can I do from here please help.thank you.

I just wanted to say thank you thank you sooo much I was going crazy because my computer was my life. when that happend I was realy upset and I did what you wrote and it worked thank you soo much!:)

omg thankyou I thought I would have to buy a new computer!

thank you jay for the info on the fast fix for the windows xp worked great

My computer won't let me use ALT, CTRL, DEL. and it will freeze up if I try to use safe mode. I tried to reinstall windows, it freezes during the process. any ideas?

I am having the same issue...

Been cleaning viruses for two weeks now. Each time I think the viruses are gone, but they come back.

Now when I boot up, windows xp only shows the wallpaper. Booting in safe mode gives the blue screen of death. Ctrl Alt Del does not launch anything. I can't right click, left click, get into DOS, see or do anything.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance! -GG

Hello - First let me say this is a great forum. Thank you everyone who has offered advice. Unfortunately, I am having similar issues that have been reported.

When I start my Windows XP machine, I am able to login. It starts to login and then quickly logs me out. Upon the 2nd try, I can see my wallpaper with no icons, start menu, task bar, etc. Like others have reported, CTRL ALT DEL, CTRL SHIFT ESC, Function Keys, Right Clicking, etc. has no action. No matter what keys I press, I am stuck looking at my wallpaper.

I have tried to reboot in safe mode, but I receive the dreaded "blue screen of death".

FYI...I recently had several spyware viruses that I removed with McAfee, SpywareTerminator, SuperSpyware and Malware Bytes. I tried running the vundo fix and the Sricam fix, but neither found any issues. I ended up needing to clean my registry because at the time, none of my executables worked. 2 days after resolving all of that mess, this new issue started. I'm guessing it is also virus related.

I don't have the ability to download anything or access the registry, so I am afraid that nothing I have read on-line thus far will help me.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I would really prefer not to reload XP, as I don't have my original MS Office install CD anymore.

I'm sure you are sick of replying to this thread and I appologize if I am overlooking the answer that will help my particular situation. I would appreciate any help that can be provided. Thank you for your support! **

Please help!!!!

cant access my task manager and the screen is blank except the wallpaper.

Hello

I have read this whole blog, and at first Crl, alt, del wasn't working, I finally got task manager to come up, and then tried starting new task "explorer" and explorer.exe and nothing is happening. I also tried the regedit idea and nothing came up. Is there anything else I could try?

Please help.
Thanks

A friend's laptop experienced the problem with no icons after starting up with her desktop wallpaper. I tried all the different solutions here and none worked. Got to Ctrl-Alt-Del bringing up the task manager and tried most if not all the solutions and nothing worked.

What finally worked for me, not sure if will work for others but I used the new task to run bring up a command prompt. Type cmd in the run field. In the cmd prompt went to c:\Windows, found the Explorer.exe file and deleted it. Figured if I was already to the point of giving up and just reformatting and reinstalling Windows XP, would do something harebrained. Anyway, after deleting the Explorer.exe, I went back to the run command and typed explorer. Using del Explorer.exe in the command window.

The screen at first brought up the System Restore but it had no restore points it could use, then after closing the System Restore screen, the icons started back up. I've restarted the system and it boots up fine. Only thing I can guess at is that the Explorer file was either corrupted or whatever and the system replaced it.

May work for those that get the explorer error message or not.

When I do the ctrl+alt+delte thing it just opens the file nothing else.

That was truly amazing, thank you so much. 10 seconds to fix it and hours and days sitting here trying to figure it out. Thanks again.

I did what you said but an error came up saying

explorer.exe - bad image
the application or DLL C:\WINDOWS\system32\UxTheme.dll is not a valid Windows image. Please check this against your installation diskette.

I don't know what to do PLEASE can anyone help me

You seem to be the life saver on here so I hope you can help. Last time I was able to open my computer I had a trojanSP/LX (?) virus. I'd run scans with McAfee and they finally showed that they saw this virus & wanted to restart my computer & run a scan. Once it was restarted I only had my wallpaper. I did a hard boot and then the same thing, only the walpaper. I tried cnt,alt, delete but it originally said that my task manager had been disabled by the manager or something. I kept trying and now that doesn't do anything. We've hit F8 and tried opening in so many ways, safe mode, last known configuration that worked, & I don't even know what else. Nothing works. I really don't want to pay Best Buy 200.00 that we don't have to fix my computer but I'm starting to lose my mind & dont' know what else to do. I'm not good wiht computers, I can navigate the internet & do all sorts of computer programs but when it comes to problems with a computer I'm a total idiot!! My husband's a little better off than me but he can't figure it out either. Help me!!! Please

Jewels,

My take on this and recent experience is in message 225. If you can't even open Task Manager with ctrl-alt-del then it looks like another variation of this problem. Before giving any advice I would need to know your level of expertise, no point in telling you change the first boot device in your BIOS to the CD or DVD drive if you don't know how to get into the BIOS etc. Sent me a PM and I might be able to help.

DEAR FRIENDS I FACED THIS PROBLEM & I FOUND A PERFECT SOLUTION JUST CONSIDERING VIRUS IS THE ONLY REASON OF THIS PROBLEM AND ONLY SOLUTION IS TO RESTORE WHICH CAN SIMPLY BE DONE BY CLICKING CT-ALT-DL AND IN NEW TASK BAR JUST WRITE msconfig WHERE U GET THE OPTION OF RESTORE JUST DO THE RESTORE AND RUN A GOOD ANTI VIRUSE AFTER RESTORING AND DELETE NEW RECENT DOWNLOADED SUSPICIOUS DATA ...CHEERS

That would be all well and good but when I did that it told me that system restore had been disabled by the administrative group, whatever that is. Also it said I did not have administrative privileges to make changes and I am the only one on this computer. I couldn't figure out how to log in as administrator when there is nothing on my deskktop. Calgon take me away !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't have an explorer file either, so I deleted the entire Image_File_Execution_Options key. Worked like a charm for me, your mileage may vary.
Good Luck!

Hi, Your previous email said you could not found image... folder. I could not find it either. How do you fix the problem? Did you find the folder at different ways. Many thanks! Norman