Laptop only displaying background at startup?

Question

Hi my friend has a laptop from Duracom. The computer boots fine and she is able to logon. However, once she logs on the only thing that is viewable from the screen is the desktop picture. The start button and the desktop icons are nowhere to be found. I was able to open task manager and explorer.exe is at 100%. Does she need to add more memory or is this virus related?

Answer 1

It could be virus/spyware/adware related but my first line of defense is to make sure that the Windows files are all okay.

Things can get corrupted from time to time so what I'd do is a "repair" installation of Windows.

Give this a shot:

REPAIRING OR REINSTALLING WINDOWS XP


Turn your PC on and insert the Windows XP disk into the CD/DVD drive.

Reboot/restart the PC. This will cause the PC to boot from the XP disk and not the hard drive..

Allow the PC to run the boot up sequence. It will stop at a “black and white” screen and there will be an option to select a “repair” installation or a “full” installation.

NOTE:

If you simply want to repair/fix any and all corrupted and/or problem XP files select the “repair” option. This will only rewrite the XP files and will not affect any of your personal files or software on your PC.

If you want to Format the hard drive and rebuild it completely select the “full” installation option. Be aware that with this option you will “erase” all the files and software on that hard drive.


Select either the “repair” or “full” installation option and simply let the software run. Follow any onscreen prompts that may appear, especially during the “full” installation.

Hope this helps.