After start up only wallpaper shows, no icons

Solved

Windows
Laptop screen
Computer

Challanged - Updated on Jul 5, 2017 at 04:19 AM
Ranjeet - Mar 9, 2023 at 10:00 AM

Hello,

Upon start up only my wallpaper shows. There are no icons, no task bar, no start menu, nothing, just a blank screen other than my wallpaper. When I right click just to get into the desktop, I select display and even that gets no response. Can someone please help me.

Thank you

Only wallpaper shows no icons windows 11
My laptop only shows wallpaper - Best answers
Why is my laptop only showing wallpaper - Best answers
Fc 24 free download for pc windows 11 - Download - Sports
Ms access free download for windows 11 - Download - Databases
Net send windows 11 - Guide
Bandlab download for pc windows 11 - Download - Musical production
Blackmagic disk speed test windows 11 - Download - Diagnosis and monitoring

70 responses

Answer 1 / 70

Best answer

approved by Jean-François Pillou

merr
Updated on Nov 26, 2018 at 12:01 PM

CTL+ALT+DEL then click file and new task. then type

explorer.exe

and press ok

gerri
Mar 21, 2010 at 12:17 AM

it worked...... thanks a million.

jff
Apr 2, 2010 at 12:45 PM

none of the others above worked - this one did - thanks heaps !!

Answer 2 / 70

Matty3000
Oct 5, 2008 at 07:43 AM

Hi,

I am able to get to my Regedit.

When I get as far as "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options" there is no "explorer.exe" nor is there "iexplorer.exe"!

Does anyone know where these folders/files are? I only have 2 folders in the "Image File Execution Options" namely "DIINXOptions" and "IEInstal.exe" and they have some files (.dll) in them...

Any advice would be really really appreciated. I hope all of you get your pcs up and running soon!

Chow

prmoment
Oct 6, 2008 at 10:16 AM

Is this work for you? Set the below registry:

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

Mr.Boy1337
Mar 29, 2010 at 07:09 PM

@prmoment,

What if you don't have Shell either? I don't have any of the three and I have the same problem as the original person.

inspiron
Apr 17, 2010 at 10:37 AM

thanks its worked for me,,, yeahhh now I see my icons and taskbar and start menu....

Harry
Oct 21, 2012 at 04:46 PM

Thanks this worked for me

Answer 3 / 70

Command Prompt
Apr 17, 2009 at 05:22 AM

Hi regarding about this problem
try this method:
1. Type Regedit on the run task, then located this path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Image File Execution Option\Explorer.exe <<<--- Delete this folder if you can see this one or
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Image File Execution Option\Your Image File Name Here without a path <<<<--- Delete this one if you cannot find the Explorer.exe
3. Restart your PC then its ok.

<<Command Prompt>>

Answer 4 / 70

lastresort
Sep 9, 2008 at 06:51 AM

Just to let everyone know.... While surfing through the internet I found someone who solved this problem and has a way to fix it. There are 2 registry keys in the registry that are causing the problem. It affects the explorer.exe and iexplorer.exe files.

This is the key that needs to be deleted...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\iexplorer.exe

Once these keys are deleted the desktop and internet explorer should come back to life.

Thank you whoever found this information and I hope this will be a benefit to someone else out there.

hber08
Sep 11, 2008 at 03:49 PM

Thanks so much!! Delete registry key really works for me.

By Alt-Ctrl-Dele on the wallpaper screen, enter "regedit" in the new task, click ok, bring you to registry window. Follow the route:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\iexplorer.exe

Great!, I am back. Really appreciate!! Alan

Woody
Sep 15, 2008 at 06:10 AM

Hi,

Thank you for the REGEDIT info, I was looking at a system format otherwise. Worked like a charm!

thanks again, keep up the good work!

Woody

davewithabeard
Sep 16, 2008 at 03:38 AM

Cheers for that. Only found explorer.exe but at least now have a normal desktop.
Regards, Dave.

Reiver
Sep 20, 2008 at 05:03 AM

Brilliant! Thanks for the regedit hack. That worked on a mate's PC I was asked to look at.

gini > hber08
Sep 20, 2008 at 07:05 AM

Thanx a lot. this "regedit" thing worked for me as well. Thaannks a lot again. I suggest this solution to everyone having similar problems. I had tried a lot of other things but only this worked

Answer 5 / 70

challanged
Jul 9, 2008 at 06:16 PM

Well good news for me; I have fixed the problem with my machine. After hours of reading blogs and posts and getting different suggesttions from many people I decided to do what I know. I restarted my computer, upon start up I hit F8 to get into the safe mode options. I selected start in safe mode. I then went into control panel, and did a system restore to a date from last month. Once that happened, the comp restarts itself and lo and behold everything was back to normal.

I would give this option a try.

I did many things from creating a new user account, etc etc. and nothing worked. Try the system restore and that should fix the problem.

shivakumar
Sep 27, 2008 at 02:20 AM

Dear administrators..
iam using windows vista home Edition
Upon start up only my wallpaper shows. There are no icons, no task bar, no start menu, nothing, just a blank screen .
desktop icons and start menu recent program icons dont display!. Can someone please help me.

how can I recover it

solmolu
Sep 27, 2008 at 03:52 PM

Oh wow, thanks bunches. The other solutions didnt really make sense to me because I they were asking me to do things when I couldnt do anything with my computer, but your solution really made some sense, and WORKS! well, the last part was a bit unclear, so, ill clarify it a bit for anyone who still has this problem. Start up your computer, and while the computer is still black and it shows you all of those numbers and stuff, press F8. Then, browse through all of the options and select starting with Safe Mode. This might take some time, so don't get discouraged. After thats done, X out of that thing that pops up, and wait for your screen to load. Then go to start -> all programs -> accesories -> system tools(im translating the option from my computer so, this might not be the exact wording) -> system restore. Then, pick a point from before you had any of this nonsense and wait for your computer to do its magic, and soon you will be free of it =D

kee kee
Nov 20, 2008 at 08:39 PM

Thank you very much this really did work. thanks a bunch

dada
Nov 29, 2008 at 02:19 AM

i have same problem and I tried ur soln but in safe mode also nothing appear but black screen.if u know how to do it in safe mode with command promote pls help me

TheParoxysm Posts 169 Registration date Sunday December 7, 2008 Status Member Last seen March 25, 2011 74
Dec 8, 2008 at 12:19 AM

You were having a login error and I am sorry I wasn't a member a the time or else I could have helped you repair your registry/login.

Rolling back your system restore, or reverting to old settings is NOT a fix, I repeat, it is NEVER a fix. Rewinding time merely means that IF you don't repeat the same mistake (and if you never find out what the problem is, you never know the mistake to avoid) then you won't encounter a problem. It's rare that it actually solves anything permanently. Also clutters up the hard drive space. Can you say frequent defrags and hard on the hard drive?

So in the future, don't accept the old "format/system restore/rollback/reinstall" option.

There is always a better and more reliable option to permanently deal with the problem.

Have a good day!

Answer 6 / 70

SearingWolfe
Mar 26, 2009 at 03:05 PM

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.

dropit69
Mar 23, 2010 at 09:01 PM

wohoo worked like a charm thanks you so much !!

KIM FROM OHIO
Apr 7, 2010 at 08:51 PM

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP THIS DEFINATELY WORKED! :)

sandyp
Apr 22, 2010 at 03:02 PM

this might stop working after a few times. it is always better to figure out what process is causing this issue...

Bob
Apr 23, 2010 at 07:51 PM

Works great xD ty

spanishwebguy
Jun 10, 2010 at 02:45 AM

Brilliant - thanks

Answer 7 / 70

rg
Feb 26, 2010 at 01:00 PM

i just had this same problem....NOTHING WORKED UNTIL--AND IT WAS SOO EZ (i too couldnt find explorer.exe, etc) I did what post 205 said..basically force a restore and ur back immed. then do the superantispyware clean. IM BACK!!!!!! AMEN. THANK YOU WHOEVER POSTED 205.

Answer 8 / 70

anne
Apr 1, 2010 at 10:01 AM

For Windows 7:Take out the white plug at the back of your PC. (from the monitor) There's a blue and a white one on mine. Take out the white one and your icons, your taskbar and anything else you've clicked comes back! Worked for me..does anyone know why?

Answer 9 / 70

Jim333c
Jul 16, 2008 at 10:16 AM

I had the same problem. It's just some stupid spyware garbage. This is a very simple fix. Just download (HiJackThis) https://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html

It only took me 10 sec. to do the scan. It will ask you if you want to delete everything, I clicked yes. Just make sure that there are no other programs (including the internet) running. This just make it easier to delete the files encase there running. MAKE SURE YOU RESTART YOU COMPUTER, when it comes back on you will have you lovely computer computing for you again!!!

I understand that nothing is a guarantee, but all I see is people coming up with these crazy answers to solve this problem and their all over thinking it. It's spyware, just spyware. So try my way out its very fast and easy. Feel free to respond with any question I'll be glad to help. Good Luck!!!

RayRay
Aug 6, 2008 at 08:36 AM

how can I run this spyware if no icons show up, icons dont even show up in safe mode??

dan
Aug 6, 2008 at 12:23 PM

How can you download when there is no way to access the computer. After turning on the computer the screen only shows the wallpaper. I cannot access any keys.

lilnicky
Aug 13, 2008 at 08:24 AM

Wow I had the same problem and Hijack fixed the problem........its was free and really fast. Thank you so much for the help!!!!!!!!!!!!, this was beggining to get real annoying.

trace76
Sep 2, 2008 at 04:44 PM

tried your suggestion with your link to scan for spyware &...it didnt work. :( not sure now what to do. so frustrating!!! :(

any other ideas what to do???

thx! :D

mevs > RayRay
Sep 16, 2008 at 05:20 AM

press ctl + shif + esc and click on new task type in explorer

if that dont work just reinstall windows and alos I would like to know how your doing this with out a computer

Answer 10 / 70

MAC
Aug 6, 2008 at 10:02 AM

You can Ctrl - Alt - Del, and under the Applications tab click "New" and type in "explorer". This will bring up your desktop. You can then try the many suggestions that you have read about.

jolyn
Oct 9, 2008 at 10:57 PM

Thank you so much for ur advise... first thing I tried and it worked.

weatherdog
Jan 14, 2009 at 09:59 PM

Awesome! I messed with this all day unistalling SP3 etc and your "explorer" advice fixed it. Very much appreciated.

JWS

MessedPC
Mar 12, 2009 at 12:19 PM

THANKS MAN IT WORKED NOW I CAN DELETE THIS STUFF ON MY COMPUTER

ARTEM
Dec 28, 2009 at 07:27 PM

Laptop does not respond to CTRL+ALT+DEL at all. It only shows the sand watch (or whatever you call it) for one second and that's it.

pensoc
Jan 20, 2010 at 12:21 PM

Hi there, When I cnt alt and del task manager isnt even on there !! help.
pensox

Answer 11 / 70

Jay
Feb 21, 2009 at 07:30 AM

Hi, I found the following at a Windows XP Newsgroup at

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/reader.mspx?query=no+icons&dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.general&cat=en-us-ms-winxp&lang=en&cr=US&pt=&catlist=B0DE109D-10E1-4C3C-BCC9-8EB7A22FC6A0&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-us

In short, the proposed action plan that worked for him and seems to be
working for me follows. Jay

I read many posts related to the topic and eventually did the following:

1. booted up to windows
2. ctrl+alt+del to get windows task manager
3. File, new task, typed regedit, clicked ok
4. go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current
Version\Image File Execution Options\
5. In there I had an explorer.exe folder that I deleted (you may have an
entry in the root of the Image File folder as well.. delete them also).
6. Rebooted and everything was back to normal.
7. Breathed a sigh of relief.

You can back up the explorer.exe folder (and files in the Image File
Execution Options root if applicable) by exporting them before the deletion
process.

Hopefully this thread will save many people lots of time in the future.
Thanks to everyone for their help and happy new year!
Sean

Eric
Feb 24, 2009 at 02:23 PM

Worked Great , thanks !!

rahul
Mar 1, 2009 at 06:54 AM

that not work there is no explorer.exe

jtk > rahul
Mar 10, 2009 at 06:22 PM

there is also no explorer.exe folder in my registry or iexplorer folder so is there another option besides sys recovery ... also don't have a previous restore point plz help

pooge
Mar 12, 2009 at 05:02 PM

That worked like a charm. I was having the same problem with Windows XP. When I booted up I would get to the desktop screen, but there were no icons. The mouse moved fine but nothing to click. When I pressed ctl-alt-del and deleted the explorer folder and rebooted everything worked fine. Thank you thank you thank you.

DLAdy3 > jtk
Mar 13, 2009 at 03:36 PM

I am having the same problem I looked up this problem on many sites and forums and have found many solutions like using ctrl+alt+del which at first was working for me now when I log on it wont even open task manager anymore I opened the regedit but found no explorer.exe nor a iexplore.exe. I also seen that it could be from deleting a spyware which changed the userinit.exe which is not my problem either. I operate a windows xp. if you can help please email me!!

Answer 12 / 70

TemperanceFixItShop
Sep 10, 2008 at 11:55 AM

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe

Just went into regedit and removed and I am up and working.

Koodos

That was the ticket. Thank You. Joe

Andrew
Sep 11, 2008 at 01:48 PM

Removing the explorer.exe key from the windowsnt directory in the registry worked perfect for me as well. Windows starts fine now. Run a system scan with your spyware/virus software to make sure all is well once completed.

avinava89 Posts 1 Registration date Sunday November 4, 2012 Status Member Last seen November 3, 2012
Nov 3, 2012 at 11:29 PM

well dis is a spy/malwre prob...
and I believe dis is d best possible solution...
TY..

Answer 13 / 70

Golden Guy
Sep 12, 2008 at 11:47 AM

I have the solution. I spent 5 days until I found a solution to this Trojan Virus problem. Each time you boot up and click on one of your software icons ALL the icons and control bar on the bottom of the screen disappear. I tried all the leading anti-virus software and none worked. I got on a Microsoft blog site and kept seeing the same software mentioned as a solution. I used SUPERAntiSpyware 4.21 to clear the Trojan out and then Uniblue "Registry Booster 2" to fix the registry problems caused by the virus.. This Trojan virus is a very difficult virus to kill, but this SUPERAntiSpyware did the trick.

Another unrelated problem that I had on ALL of our computers that Microsoft could not solve, but our staff did.... When we installed SP3 all of our windows xp systems were stuck in a continuous boot-up loop after rebooting. Once we re-booted the system after the SP3 installation the computers were stuck on the "Windows XP graphic" on the screen with a continuous scroll bar. THE SOLUTION: Get rid of all firewire cords on external devices and replace with USB cords if the drive or components can use USB. Windows xp with Service Pack 3 will not boot up completely with firewire cords attached to the computer. Microsoft spent 3 hours trying to solve the problem and finally told me it was a driver problem with WD USB drives. This was not the case.. INCORRECT. Just remove the firewired compents... You do not need any new drivers for you hard drives.

I hope this help someone out there.

Answer 14 / 70

Ant7t5
Sep 20, 2008 at 06:27 AM

The reg edit worked for me, many thanks.

Also, tut tut to the response that suggested "go buy a MAc etc etc." I agree that whilst Macs may suffer from less issues than PCs, this is a forum where people are asking for help with specific problems. "Go buy a Mac" isn't the most constructive advice (isn't really helpful at all!)

Fuckyou
Jul 13, 2010 at 02:05 PM

Macs do not suffer from less issues, there just so bad already they arent worth making viruses for.

Answer 15 / 70

Scrumpychap
Sep 25, 2008 at 12:59 PM

Thanks, Last Resort! That registry edit did the trick and saved my bacon!

Answer 16 / 70

Gez
Aug 17, 2008 at 11:36 AM

I've had a similar problem, if your computer is windows xp then there is a simple fix.
If your computer fails to show icons and start bar this is because windows explorer has not started for some reason or other. to simply turn this on hit "ctrl+alt+del" to bring up the task manager.

Select file in the top left corner and new task.

Type into the box "explorer" without the quotation marks and you should have your precious icons back, I would then do a scan to see if a virus has caused this.

edunk
Aug 17, 2008 at 12:28 PM

Ctrl+Alt+Delete does nothing for me. nothing shows up. Safe modejust shows a black screen. Anyone have any ideas??

Milky
Aug 31, 2008 at 11:34 PM

i tried but no result. When type Explorer in new task box then answered "Make sure the type in box" if wnat to search then click the start menu and then search.

The bob > Milky
Sep 4, 2008 at 06:44 AM

Same here.

Nat
Sep 8, 2008 at 08:24 PM

Hello....I Found your answer to a problem that I am having and tried it a few times and nothings seems to be working.
Do you have any other advise, I am about to throw my computer out the window....just kidding but I am very frustrated now. Been sitting here for about 5 hrs and nothing seems to work.

Byrd > The bob
Feb 2, 2009 at 04:46 AM

just for alll those people who say ctrl+alt+del doesn't work do this to alternately pull up task manager ctrl+shift+esc
then try new task explorer.exe

Answer 17 / 70

stonedcow
Sep 24, 2008 at 04:57 AM

went to regedit and deleted the following registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe

ran hijackthis after and found some nastys, was a variant of the XP 2008 Antivirus software
had to get spyboat and adaware also on the machine to try tidy it up otherwise it would come back
they was a twest.exe file which was making the reg entry to stop explorer running

Answer 18 / 70

morrisminor 0
Oct 2, 2008 at 04:01 PM

The reedit fix is brilliant - in my case after system restores, chkdsk, safe mode fixes and checks and endless diagnostics using msconfig deleted debugger value in the right hand pane of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe
then restarted.

Thanks saved a complete rebuild on an otherwise two month old machine.

Answer 19 / 70

mns
Nov 12, 2008 at 04:03 PM

Thank you so much. After trying all different method the regedit method worked for me perfectly. I have got all the icons back and it is working fine.

Thank you very much for this forum.

Answer 20 / 70

Musy_Trini
Dec 7, 2008 at 10:13 PM

Situation I had

I turned on my computer and a message about explorer having problems came up after that the problem began... all the icons went away , and even though I tryed loging in as a diff user and turning off/on , restarting, etc nothing seemed to work.

I found this page and followed this advice i'm descriving below (which I got from some one here :) ) (thank you so much) hoping that if someone have the same problem they can get help.

At first I saw the "download a free spyware thing" but I usually dont trust those...anyways they are gonna do what I did manually and then stay in your computer. Who knows how "good" or "bad" are they anyways.

Well.... once I restarted my computer and while the machine was in the process of doing so I pressed F8 and ran windows in save mode, then press ctrl shift delete to get task manager and then the following:

solution that worked for me: (from the ones listed here)

Alt-Ctrl-Dele
File>New Task
type in: regedit
this will bring up the registry window
Follow the route:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe

ONce I did that I saw two items and I was able to erase one of them. the other one I was not. but after I finished my machined worked , then I restarted it again and it was running as usual. at some point you are asked if you want to reset it some days back to which you say yes.