August 29, 2008 08:04pm pdt

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	[x] Attachment Details

No Startmenu bar, background, just a black screen with an Windows Explorer pane open

Zones: Operating Systems Network Security, Networking Security Vulnerabilities, Windows Network Security Questions

Tags: screen, black, windows, explorer

I needed to install Norton Antivirus 2007 for a friend's laptop today - HP Pavilion 9417 or whatever it is.. I downloaded this keygen file separtely, as there was already a 60 day trial of Norton Antivirus...

The keygen file gave me some runtime error that I cannot remember, so I gave up. And then I tried downloading another keygen file on my own laptop, same error. So I rebooted my friends computer, and here are the symptoms :

As it boots up, it opens one lone window - a Windows Explorer pane that shows the last open directory I had since the last shutdown. ANd nothing else. No start menu bar, no background, none of teh desktop icons, NOTHING. I can run the task list, however, by hitting ctrl alt del, and I can reboot the system etc.

And then, when I re-booted my own laptop, which is an HP Pavilion 9205 (hence a slightly older model than my friend's, but still the same thing more or less) I have the same symptoms. So it must be from the keygen.exe file I ran on both computers that gave me errors...

Here's some things I tried :

System Restore - It doesn't show any restore points. Unbelievable - this must be the virus that wiped it out somehow? I just had my own system set up about 2 weeks ago after a full recovery using the factory recovery disk, and never turned off restore so there should be restore points.

Tried rebooting in safe mode and re-booting again in regular mode - still teh same thing. Just the 1 windows explorer pane shows, nothing more...

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6.4

Question Stats

Zone: OS

Question Asked By: jeffkee1985

Solution Provided By: SheharyaarSaahil

Participating Experts: 1

Solution Grade: B

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