Download latest antivirus from www.quickheal.com for trial. install it in safe mode.. Then enable boot scan.. i think it is virus that have removed admin credentials... Please get back if done.
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Browse All TopicsHave an XP Pro laptop receiving an error message at startup. Exporer.exe is crashing, and if the error report is sent, a Dr. Watson Postmortem Debugger crash also occurs. No icons, no desktop. Can access taskmanager, but nothing changes when I try to run explorer.exe. I have run Malwarebyes scan, with no infections found. Can't run superantispyware because it say's "Administrator has disabled this ability" which doesn't make sense, because I'm on as admin, and no infections were found. Any help would be appreciated.
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Download latest antivirus from www.quickheal.com for trial. install it in safe mode.. Then enable boot scan.. i think it is virus that have removed admin credentials... Please get back if done.
Was able to run SuperAntispyware in user profile. I'm able to execute programs through task manager. Maybe it just wasn't installing since I was in safe mode, but the "Admin Disabled. . " message was strange, and I would agree it looks like a virus. I'm scanning now with Superantispyware and will also download from your recommendation once it's finished. Will update when the scan completes in a bit.
Scan with both Malwarebytes and Superantispyware came out clean. Explorer.exe still crashes when computer starts up. No icons, no taskbar. Nothing. When trying to send the error report, Dr. Watson also crashes, and shows an error report. Let me know if you need more details or the error. Comp seems to be clean of any malware. Any advice of what to try next?
The laptop certainly shows symptoms of an infection, but often these remain hidden to a number of scanners. Even though HijackThis can also miss them, it seems a good idea to install and run Trend HijackThis 2.02, so that we can at least decide on a more appropriate tool to use(if necessary):
http://majorgeeks.com/Tren
Create a folder where you would like the HijackThis file to reside and run it from there, not from the Desktop or a temporary folder.
Run the scan & save the logfile. Then click the "Attach Code Snippet" box, paste the logfile into the "Code Snippet" page and there it can be analysed. We may be looking for a Trojan.
You may have to rename "HijackThis" to run it, or even download it to a suitable media on another machine.
Located an earlier thread containing some more ideas. Although i'm not suggesting a reinstall is necessary, it does highlight the depth of a possible infection >
"Windows XP No Desktop Icons, Explorer.exe will not open, program closes it":
http://www.experts-exchang
Also, Hijackthis ran fine with no need to rename or change users. I am going to increase the point value and I am hoping someone can provide a way to solve without reinstall of OS. All other files seem ok. Have run CHKDSK /r from recovery console earlier, and nothing. Seems strange, but also seems like it's just explorer and Dr. Watson postmortem debugger which are both preventing Windows from running properly. I am able to navigate around and run programs through task manager. But still no icons, taskbar. Desktop background is still the same. It has not been effected.
The HijackThis logfile certainly looks clean.
See if these links help>
Restore Desktop Icons and Taskbar (see Line 195)
http://www.kellys-korner-x
Restore the Taskbar to Default Functionality (see Line 164)
http://www.kellys-korner-x
Hide All or Show All Desktop Icons (see Line 172)
http://www.kellys-korner-x
You could ensure that the auto-hide option is not enabled for Taskbar and Start Menu Properties. Details >
http://support.microsoft.c
More suggestions>
Boot to desktop - no icons...no taskbar...:
http://www.experts-exchang
XP Home, no task bar, no desktop icons, no start button
http://www.experts-exchang
Thanks Jonvee. I am looking at some of the articles now. I am wondering if I can create a new profile and just move the files over. I know when I logged on under administrator profile in safe mode it worked. So, is there anyway to create a new profile through task manager, since that is the only access I have? If so, I can try doing that. Sounds like it worked for some people. Thanks.
Created a new profile, and was able to logon with no explorer or dr. watson errors. However, did receive Windows error, and error reporting said that there is a problem with the RAM, so I ran Windows Mem Test and no errors found. Also reseated RAM. Still receives same error for the original profiles, but seems to be running ok under new profile. I will test it out and see how it operates, and get back in a bit.
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by: lskairPosted on 2009-04-07 at 19:58:58ID: 24093630
One other thing, I can logon in safe mode under administrator account, and icons appear. But user account still receives errors, even though they have admin credentials.