Member Avatar for trocadero

hi
can anybody help me,i'm running on xp sp2 on a acer travelmate 40000wlmi and my start menu and desktop icons have dissapeared.
thanks in advance.

  • 4 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 146 Views
  • 11 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by John A

Dani AI

Generated

A few additional, targeted steps to try that haven’t been suggested yet — these focus on whether Explorer (the shell), the user profile, or system files are at fault rather than display/taskbar settings. Note: raised the installation question and and posted earlier; the actions below extend that troubleshooting.

First, check and restart the shell (Explorer). Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete or Ctrl+Shift+Esc). On Windows XP: look under the Processes tab for explorer.exe. If it is not present, use Task Manager -> File -> New Task (Run...) and type:

explorer.exe

If it is present but unresponsive, End Process on explorer.exe then start it again with the same New Task step.

If restarting Explorer does not restore the Start menu, boot into Safe Mode (press F8 during startup) to see whether the Start menu and icons appear there. If they do, the problem is likely a third-party startup program or shell extension; use msconfig to selectively disable non-Microsoft startup items and reboot to isolate the cause.

Try System Restore to a point before the problem began (Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore in XP), or run the System File Checker from a command prompt to repair corrupted system files:

sfc /scannow

(Windows XP may prompt for the original CD.)

If the issue is isolated to your account, create a new user account (Control Panel -> User Accounts) and log into it. A working Start menu there indicates a corrupted user profile; back up Desktop/My Documents and migrate data to the new account.

Advanced check: open Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to

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

Confirm the Shell value is explorer.exe. Back up the registry before changing anything.

Finally, consider a full antivirus/malware scan — some malware hides shell elements. If uncomfortable with any step above, seek hands-on help or create backups before making changes.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for Joe91

did you install eny software resently since this hapened

Member Avatar for trocadero

i did not install anynew software,thanks.

Member Avatar for extofer

try changing your screen display settings. or use your mouse and go as low are you can on your screen and maybe it's hiding and you have to pull it back up (That's happened to me.)

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.