Did a System Restore and now all I see is a blank backround? Please Help

12 replies

Apr 7, 2009, 12:08 AM

Please help!

My computer had been giving me a lot of problems (AOL errors, Mozilla taking me to spam sites, Mozilla closing randomly, etc.) so I decided to do a System Restore to a couple of months back and when it booted back up it just had my background on the screen and no icons, no start menu, nothing. All I can do is control, alt, delete and bring up the Windows Task Manager and either try running stuff through there or browsing stuff.

Did I mess up my computer, did I do something wrong, or is there anything I can do to fix this?

Thanks in advance!

like2godluxury_box

Apr 7, 2009, 12:26 AM

Can you start up in safe mode?

I love you Mom, you are the greatest woman that I've ever known.

byroanadmin

Apr 7, 2009, 12:27 AM

When you open task manager and run explorer.exe what happens?

Davone BessNew Member

Apr 7, 2009, 12:40 AM

"byroan wrote:
When you open task manager and run explorer.exe what happens?

I actually just did a new task run for c:\windows\explorer.exe and the start menu/icons began popping on and off for about a minute or two and now its all here. Do you think if I shutdown or restart it will all be here and everything will be fine or should I still do a system restore to an earlier point?

Thanks for the help

Also, any idea what could have caused this?

like2godluxury_box

Apr 7, 2009, 12:43 AM

Well the fact that you said that FireFox was redirecting you to spam sites leads me to believe that your machine is infected. What sort of antivirus/spyware programs do you use?

I love you Mom, you are the greatest woman that I've ever known.

Davone BessNew Member

Apr 7, 2009, 12:45 AM

Spybot and Adaware.. I actually downloaded them a few days ago when I started having problems.. so I bet my machine is still infected.. any suggestions?

Also, if I reboot will I lose everything or not see my start menu, etc. again? or did I miraculously fix it?

Thanks in advance

like2godluxury_box

Apr 7, 2009, 12:50 AM

"Davone Bess wrote:
Spybot and Adaware.. I actually downloaded them a few days ago when I started having problems.. so I bet my machine is still infected.. any suggestions?

Download AVG, it's a free program and one of the best out there.
http://free.avg.com/

I actually have a whole arsenal of programs that I run a few times a week.

AVG
Spybot
Malwarebytes
CCleaner
Uniblue Registry Booster
Uniblue SpeedUpMyComputer

Also, if I reboot will I lose everything or not see my start menu, etc. again? or did I miraculously fix it?
Thanks in advance

That I'm not sure about, maybe by will know a little more about that. But I would definitely download and run a scan before I restarted the computer.

I love you Mom, you are the greatest woman that I've ever known.

2socksforum_veteran

Apr 7, 2009, 12:52 AM

"Davone Bess wrote:
Spybot and Adaware.. I actually downloaded them a few days ago when I started having problems.. so I bet my machine is still infected.. any suggestions?
Also, if I reboot will I lose everything or not see my start menu, etc. again? or did I miraculously fix it?
Thanks in advance

did you run adaware before you did the system restart?? if you did and adaware deleted some of your windows files....you may need to reinstall windows or try to go back to a earlier time using adaware.

Winning isn't everything - it's the only thing
In Our Business there is no second place
Either your first or your last

Vince Lombardi

anlgpNew Member

Apr 7, 2009, 12:59 AM

If you have the recovery disc I would just do a clean install.

"A man's suffering is similar to the behavior of gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus, suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering great or little. Therefore, the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative." - Viktor Frankl

Davone BessNew Member

Apr 7, 2009, 01:05 AM

"anlgp wrote:
If you have the recovery disc I would just do a clean install.

Easier said then done :no: Can't find it at all..

Davone BessNew Member

Apr 7, 2009, 01:06 AM

"like2god wrote:
Download AVG, it's a free program and one of the best out there.
http://free.avg.com/
I actually have a whole arsenal of programs that I run a few times a week.
AVG
Spybot
Malwarebytes
CCleaner
Uniblue Registry Booster
Uniblue SpeedUpMyComputer
That I'm not sure about, maybe by will know a little more about that. But I would definitely download and run a scan before I restarted the computer.

Will do thank you!

2socksforum_veteran

Apr 7, 2009, 01:14 AM

"Davone Bess wrote:
Easier said then done :no: Can't find it at all..

I was to go to HP a few months ago using another machine and download and then burn to a disc the restore disc...you may want to give it a try:up:

Winning isn't everything - it's the only thing
In Our Business there is no second place
Either your first or your last

Vince Lombardi

anlgpNew Member

Apr 7, 2009, 01:16 AM

"2socks wrote:
I was to go to HP a few months ago using another machine and download and then burn to a disc the restore disc...you may want to give it a try:up:

the issue with burning a pirated windows disc is that microsoft can send updates through the system that can tell whether or not your system is legit.