Restore missing icons start menuSolved/Closed

Question

Hello,
My friend restored her computer last week because it didn't offer her any other options (or at least that is what I was told) and I am trying to help her bring it back up.  When the main screen came back up it said that there was no desktop.  The screen came back up blank with no icons and no start menu.  When I right click nothing happens.  When I bring up task manager everything seems to be there.  I can bring up Internet Explorer and AOL along with her other documents.  She does occasionally get a 404 error when trying to bring up webpages and I can't figure that out either even though I have checked everything it told me to check, but it doesn't happen every time.  How can I bring back the desktop and do anyone have any other suggestions.  By the way, it is an older computer but has been upgraded with Windows XP (I believe).  Thanks for any help you can give me.System Configuration: Windows XP
Internet Explorer 7.0

yaso · Accepted Answer

Hello,

I spent 5 day to solve this problem

Ctr + Alt + Delete // File - New Task (run...) // explorer.exe // OK
This will show your desktop icons but not solve the problem
To solve it just do this steps 

1- copy "explorer.exe" from other clean computer (from C:\WINDOWS)
2- in your computer go to C:\WINDOWS
3- show hidden files from (Tools - Folder Options - View - Show hidden files and folders)
4- delete explorer.exe and any other files start with explorer...
5- put the new file (explorer.exe)
6- log off or restart
7- log on 

Congratulation your desktop healthy now

blujay · Answer

I get this problem only after installing an update and restart computer...I usually restore, but once I went to user logon and it came back? I am still confused...do I have a virus? or a service not turned on? windows update corrupt? still working on it!

GoTeamScotch · Answer

I have had this same problem with multiple machines running windows XP. I usually just hit ctrl alt delete then kill the explorer.exe process then run explorer.exe again as a new task and then my computer works fine. But it is really annoying. I also found that if I have the welcome screen come up instead of an automatic login and wait a few minutes before clicking my name, the problem doesn't occur.

It seems to happen only after some kind of microsoft update has occurred. Again this is about the 5th time I've experienced this on 5 COMPLETELY separate computers

jim · Answer

i just had that problem

all I did was run malwarebytes (its free)

i did a quick scan and removed some trojans


now all the buttons came back

BigJohnMonkeyBrains · Answer

Hi as I was sitting here just then, on XP pro sp2, I went to click on my documents on start menu.
And it couldn't click, and then everything disappeared from the start menu.
Then I right clicked on the taskbar, clicked properties, start menu, customize, advanced.
And everything that should have been there was selected.
All I did was press ok, then apply, then everything was back on start menu and worked.
This is bizarre as nothing was changed this must be some kind of virus that comes through web browsing in the cache.

Myttin.da · Answer

Thanks for all your thoughts on this 'Wallpaper only' problem. It hit me when I created a restore point to see if I could stop my PC from running quite fast when nothing was being used. I suspected a virus/trojan. I had the screen and a cursor. That was it. Going to the task bar would enable me to find each item separately but still no icons. I then switched off and back on and selected my wife's start icon. Same with hers. But suddenly there was a change of sound in the PC and things started returning and........... the screen that confirmed the restore point had been successful. The system had hung partway through the restore. All OK now but it does cause a panic doesn't it?

GoTeamScotch · Answer

Hi, I came up with a solution. Its doesn't "fix" the problem, but it does make your desktop come up. Its a simple Windows batch script that restarts your windows desktop.

To use it do the following:

go to start
click Run
type notepad
then copy the following:


---------copy below this line-----------------
@echo off
color 0B
echo JumpStart! v0.1 by Scotch
echo.
echo Your desktop is being restored, Please wait. . .
ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 > NUL 2>&1
echo Killing process Explorer.exe. . .
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
cls
echo Success!
echo.
echo Your desktop is now loading. . .
ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 > NUL 2>&1
echo.
ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 > NUL 2>&1
start explorer.exe
exit
---------copy above this line---------------------

and then paste into your blank notepad document. Then in the notepad window click file>save as and call it jumpstart.bat
save it somewhere like My Documents or wherever you want. Then oprn up a window and find where you saved the jumpstart.bat file you just saved, then click and drag that file onto the start menu, then hover over "All Programs" until it pops up, then keep dragging the file into "Startup" and release it there. Now when you start your computer you'll see your wallpaper come up, then my program will start and relaunch your windows desktop. I've been using it on my computer with success. Sometimes it takes longer than others though.

Let me know how it works  :)

Aung Tun Lay · Answer

when I point all programs in the start menu,it does not work normally.How to fix it?

lathika · Answer

hi this is  lathika hpe this method will resolve ur prblem
step 1 press ctrl+alt+del to run the task manager
step 2 then type internet.exe  
step 3 click ok 
u will find the missing icons

Veral · Answer

CTRL-ALT-DEL, start task manager.  file -> new task.  type  explorer.exe.  that should fix it

bentherbunthat · Answer

This will be easy. right click on start, then click customize, click advanced, then check all item you want in your start up menu. Close, be sure to click the the apply button.

pjgiddings · Answer

EVERYTIME I START MY COMPUTER MY INTERNET IS NOT RUNNING. THE ICONS, TASK BAR AND START MENU ARE GONE WHY?

ALSO, THE SECURITY AUTHORIZATION KEEP POPPING UP.

I BOUGHT A NEW SOFTWARE AND NORTON VIRUS. AND IT WILL NOT UPLOAD.

AND IT KEPT STATED I DO NOT HAVE INTERNET SERVICE AND I DO.
I HAVE FIOS.

nikki · Answer

Report yaso Jan 29, 2009 9:05am GMT 
Hello, 

I spent 5 day to solve this problem 

Ctr + Alt + Delete // File â€" New Task (run...) // explorer.exe // OK 
This will show your desktop icons but not solve the problem 
To solve it just do this steps 

1- copy "explorer.exe" from other clean computer (from C:\WINDOWS) 
2- in your computer go to C:\WINDOWS 
3- show hidden files from (Tools - Folder Options - View - Show hidden files and folders) 
4- delete explorer.exe and any other files start with explorer... 
5- put the new file (explorer.exe) 
6- log off or restart 
7- log on 

Congratulation your desktop healthy now

Add comment - Permalink (#4) 


View all 4 commentsReport Anything - Feb 13, 2009 7:26pm GMT 
I have the same problem, but when I try to follow your instructions, nothing happens. 
I go to Ctrl + Alt + Del and try to find the "explorer.exe", I put but nothing happens after the "ok". 


D:
Permalink (#5) Report ITmom - Mar 25, 2009 5:38pm GMT 
I have seen this happen to various logins in Windows XP, on a number of computers. Ctrl-Alt-Del does not give you a shut down option, and the Start Shut Down option is also missing. When this happens, that user has to do a hard shut down to power off (holding the power button for 5 seconds). BUT - the interesting thing - is that this setting is user related - so meaning if you log in as a different identity, you will have those shut down options restored. It's not a nice fix - but it seems to work.
Permalink (#7) Report lotaluv - Jun 9, 2010 9:48pm BST 
Thanks for the fix ITmom! It worked wonderfully!
Permalink (#38) Report Jaco - Jun 10, 2010 1:39am BST 
THANKS!!! the virus delete my exploler.exe, then I decide to copy the exploler.exe from my computer to my laptop, and everything's back to normal :')
Permalink (#39) 
Add comment  
+5 
  Report boqurf May 6, 2009 5:15am BST 
Shutdown key is missing in my laptop what can I do?It was there before then sudenly disapeared.

Add comment - Permalink (#9) 


Report sheila - Oct 29, 2009 6:02pm GMT 
my permission got changed when hp took over my computer, go to regersty edit and put it back for your permission, I think he said limited user and cut off computer and turn back on and the red start button was back in the start menu, I even did a restore point but it did nothing. hope this helps
Permalink (#15) Report sorrywearenotavailable - Apr 21, 2010 1:54pm BST 
i do not know what to do - www.sorrywearenotavailablecpm/forums/1099437433-missing-start-menu-icons-help.html
Permalink (#31) 
Add comment  
+4 
  Report vikash_vikashjaiswal 12Posts
 
November 25, 2009Registration date
 
April 22, 2010Last seen
 Nov 27, 2009 6:58am GMT 
restore your system to a previous date.

Add comment - Permalink (#17) 


Report Missing Icons in my Control Panel - Jan 23, 2010 5:52pm GMT 
Hello from Connecticut. 

I have an XP, IE 8, and just noticed my Control Panel is no longer displaying all the Icons it once did. 

Could someone tell me what happend and how I may rectify the same? 

OS from Connecticut
Permalink (#21) Report Christy - Apr 4, 2010 1:37pm BST 
How do I restore it to a previous date
Permalink (#26) 
Add comment  
+2 
  Report ben Jan 11, 2009 3:48pm GMT 
Hey I have the same problem. is there anyway of fixing this without taking my computer apart? cause my mom wouldnt like that lol

Add comment - Permalink (#2) 


View all 6 commentsReport Will - Jan 26, 2009 9:14pm GMT 
Yes there is you can either restore you computer by clicking Start>All Programs>Accesorys>System Tools>System Restore or Pressing Alt>Ctrl>del And selecting system restore and restore you system
Permalink (#3) Report Ash - Mar 14, 2009 10:20pm GMT 
I have the same problem but I can't click start or right click on the screen, it doesn't do anything. How do I fix this?
Permalink (#6) Report Bengilo - Jun 26, 2009 12:10am BST 
How do I restore the icons and start menu after logging on the computer?
Permalink (#11) Report lim - Mar 4, 2010 5:17am GMT 
How do I restore the icons and start menu after logging on the computer?
Permalink (#23) Report John > Will - Aug 14, 2009 12:35am BST 
why would you restore your system if restoring the system was the problem in the first place?.......
Permalink (#13) Report scott - Apr 26, 2009 11:11pm BST 
Hello, how were you able to fix your problem?? 
I am running into same exact thing. 
Thank you.
Permalink (#8) 
Add comment  
+1 
  Report GoTeamScotch Dec 12, 2009 6:55am GMT 
I have had this same problem with multiple machines running windows XP. I usually just hit ctrl alt delete then kill the explorer.exe process then run explorer.exe again as a new task and then my computer works fine. But it is really annoying. I also found that if I have the welcome screen come up instead of an automatic login and wait a few minutes before clicking my name, the problem doesn't occur. 

It seems to happen only after some kind of microsoft update has occurred. Again this is about the 5th time I've experienced this on 5 COMPLETELY separate computers

Add comment - Permalink (#18) 


Add comment  
+1 
  Report Veral Apr 13, 2010 1:51pm BST 
CTRL-ALT-DEL, start task manager. file -> new task. type explorer.exe. that should fix it

Add comment - Permalink (#30) 


Report GJ - Jun 26, 2010 7:12am BST 
Thank you man!!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so very much!! Whew!!!!
Permalink (#43) 
Add comment  
+0 
  Report blujay May 10, 2009 1:56pm BST 
I get this problem only after installing an update and restart computer...I usually restore, but once I went to user logon and it came back? I am still confused...do I have a virus? or a service not turned on? windows update corrupt? still working on it!

Add comment - Permalink (#10) 


Report BunnyGurl - Aug 13, 2009 7:10pm BST 
OK, PPL, I JUST SPENT ALL DAY TRYING TO FIGURE THIS OUT.. 
I FINALLY, AFTER CONTACTING, DELL AND MICROSOFT, (NO HELP DON'T BOTHER), I SPOKE TO MY FRIEND, AND HE FOUND THE PROBLEM.. 
NOW I WORK WITH XP BUT, I'M SURE IT WOULD BE THE SAME FOR VISTA!!! 

GO TO : 

MY COMPUTER - DOCUMENTS & SETTINGS - ALL USERS 
COPY THE PROGRAM FOLDER "START MENU" TO YOUR PERSONAL FOLDER.. IN MY CASE, IT'S BUNNYGIRL 
THEN, OPEN THE FOLDER, SELECT ALL, RIGHT CLICK AND GO TO PROPERTIES, UNCLICK HIDDEN AND APPLY. 
CLOSE THE FOLDER AND YOUR START MENU SHOULD BE A O K.. LOL 

I LOVE MY ANDYBEAR HE'S SO SMART!
Permalink (#12) Report sgjcgirl - Oct 21, 2009 9:19pm BST 
Ok,well I tried to do what you said except that I cant get to my documents.its completely missing!!!
Permalink (#14) Report ghost2142 - Nov 27, 2009 5:53am GMT 
After doing the new task explore.exe once the start bar comes back up just right click on the start bar click on tool bars and quick launch worked for me
Permalink (#16) 
Add comment  
+0 
  Report jim Jan 4, 2010 10:28pm GMT 
i just had that problem 

all I did was run malwarebytes (its free) 

i did a quick scan and removed some trojans 


now all the buttons came back

Add comment - Permalink (#19) 


Add comment  
+0 
  Report BigJohnMonkeyBrains Jan 12, 2010 5:38pm GMT 
Hi as I was sitting here just then, on XP pro sp2, I went to click on my documents on start menu. 
And it couldn't click, and then everything disappeared from the start menu. 
Then I right clicked on the taskbar, clicked properties, start menu, customize, advanced. 
And everything that should have been there was selected. 
All I did was press ok, then apply, then everything was back on start menu and worked. 
This is bizarre as nothing was changed this must be some kind of virus that comes through web browsing in the cache.

Add comment - Permalink (#20) 


Add comment  
+0 
  Report Myttin.da Feb 17, 2010 8:02pm GMT 
Thanks for all your thoughts on this 'Wallpaper only' problem. It hit me when I created a restore point to see if I could stop my PC from running quite fast when nothing was being used. I suspected a virus/trojan. I had the screen and a cursor. That was it. Going to the task bar would enable me to find each item separately but still no icons. I then switched off and back on and selected my wife's start icon. Same with hers. But suddenly there was a change of sound in the PC and things started returning and........... the screen that confirmed the restore point had been successful. The system had hung partway through the restore. All OK now but it does cause a panic doesn't it?

Add comment - Permalink (#22) 


Add comment  
+0 
  Report GoTeamScotch Apr 4, 2010 5:31pm BST 
Hi, I came up with a solution. Its doesn't "fix" the problem, but it does make your desktop come up. Its a simple Windows batch script that restarts your windows desktop. 

To use it do the following: 

go to start 
click Run 
type notepad 
then copy the following: 


---------copy below this line----------------- 
@echo off 
color 0B 
echo JumpStart! v0.1 by Scotch 
echo. 
echo Your desktop is being restored, Please wait. . . 
ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 > NUL 2>&1 
echo Killing process Explorer.exe. . . 
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe 
cls 
echo Success! 
echo. 
echo Your desktop is now loading. . . 
ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 > NUL 2>&1 
echo. 
ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 > NUL 2>&1 
start explorer.exe 
exit 
---------copy above this line--------------------- 

and then paste into your blank notepad document. Then in the notepad window click file>save as and call it jumpstart.bat 
save it somewhere like My Documents or wherever you want. Then oprn up a window and find where you saved the jumpstart.bat file you just saved, then click and drag that file onto the start menu, then hover over "All Programs" until it pops up, then keep dragging the file into "Startup" and release it there. Now when you start your computer you'll see your wallpaper come up, then my program will start and relaunch your windows desktop. I've been using it on my computer with success. Sometimes it takes longer than others though. 

Let me know how it works :)

Add comment - Permalink (#27) 


Report lefteris - Jun 21, 2010 2:26am BST 
lol I love the ping command! it's totally irrelevant and does absolutely nothing pinging the local ip and directs the output of stdout and stderr to NUL. All these just to have a delay of 3-4 secondsbetween the commands
Permalink (#41) 
Add comment  
+0 
  Report Aung Tun Lay Apr 5, 2010 4:34am BST 
when I point all programs in the start menu,it does not work normally.How to fix it?

Add comment - Permalink (#28) 


Add comment  
+0 
  Report lathika Apr 7, 2010 6:34am BST 
hi this is lathika hpe this method will resolve ur prblem 
step 1 press ctrl+alt+del to run the task manager 
step 2 then type internet.exe 
step 3 click ok 
u will find the missing icons

Add comment - Permalink (#29) 


Add comment  
+0 
  Report rakesh May 17, 2010 7:46am BST 
Run the file then run the file back out of the Start menu, how will

Add comment - Permalink (#32) 


Add comment  
+0 
  Report bentherbunthat May 17, 2010 12:52pm BST 
This will be easy. right click on start, then click customize, click advanced, then check all item you want in your start up menu. Close, be sure to click the the apply button.

Add comment - Permalink (#33) 


Add comment  
+0 
  Report pjgiddings May 20, 2010 11:30pm BST 
EVERYTIME I START MY COMPUTER MY INTERNET IS NOT RUNNING. THE ICONS, TASK BAR AND START MENU ARE GONE WHY? 

ALSO, THE SECURITY AUTHORIZATION KEEP POPPING UP. 

I BOUGHT A NEW SOFTWARE AND NORTON VIRUS. AND IT WILL NOT UPLOAD. 

AND IT KEPT STATED I DO NOT HAVE INTERNET SERVICE AND I DO. 
I HAVE FIOS.

Add comment - Permalink (#34) 


Report lefteris - Jun 21, 2010 2:36am BST 
Ctrl+Shift+Esc File>New task... explorer.exe 
the icons and task bar should appear. Icons not appearing are most likely caused by a computer virus. Backup your documents so as not to loose them, but on new media since there is a small chance that the virus gets copied as well. 

The internet not running could also be cause of a virus, but as the various information relevant to internet connection lyes in several registry keys you are going to have a had time restoring it. 

The most easy solution to get rid of the virus is deleting everything (format hard drive) and reinstalling windows. of course experienced people can avoid this procedure and clean the virus manually but that's not something an inexperienced user should do.
Permalink (#42) 
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susu · Answer

Hello,
my laptop desktop program doesn't show, When the main screen came back up it said that there was no desktop. The screen came back up blank with no icons and no start menu. When I right click nothing happens. When I bring up task manager everything seems to be there. I can bring up Internet Explorer and AOL along with her other documents. She does occasionally get a 404 error when trying to bring up webpages and I can't figure that out either even though I have checked everything it told me to check, but it doesn't happen every time. How can I bring back the desktop and do anyone have any other suggestions. By the way, it is an older computer but has been upgraded with Windows XP (I believe). Thanks for any help you can give me.
             am following your below  instruction ,but same problem 
  1 - copy "explorer.exe" from other clean computer (from C:\WINDOWS) 
2- in your computer go to C:\WINDOWS 
3- show hidden files from (Tools - Folder Options - View - Show hidden files and folders) 
4- delete explorer.exe and any other files start with explorer... 
5- put the new file (explorer.exe) 
6- log off or restart 
7- log on 
pl help me                     
                                 thank u

not a geek · Answer

off and on then hold f8 go to last time when it was working when icons comes back to stop this frm happening again delete folder which has virus eg  macafy

Restore missing icons start menu

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