No icons or task bar 1

[lgdpc]

Windows 98se, everything was working fine until I booted my system the other day. It boots normally, asks for login and password seems to be working correctly, then just about the time the task bar should come up, it flashes once then it's gone. My system displays the wallpaper, but there are not any icons or task bar. You get no response from right mouse clicking. If I do Ctrl-Alt-Delete the task manager comes up but there is nothing running at all. It does the exact same thing when booted in safe mode. I've booted on Norton 2004 cd and ran virus check but it did not find anything. Any other suggestions before I reload?
Thanks

 

[comtec17]

Can you scroll your mouse to the bottom of the screen to see if it will pop up?

Sounds like you have the taskbar hidden.

 

[carrr]

Check this out:

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win98/Q_20795997.html

"'Tis an ill wind that blows no minds." - Malaclypse the Younger

 

[lgdpc]

No the task bar is not hidden, it's gone along with all my desktop icons. Clicking the right mouse button does not give any response, the cursor moves but that's it. And like I said when you bring up the task manager there is nothing running at all.

 

[lgdpc]

carrr, since i'm not a paying member of experts-exchange, can you post the reply here? I'd appreciate it.

 

[carrr]

I'm not a member either, but I read solutions there frequently, but...here you are:

"boot to a ME or Win98 floppy bootdisk

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

and run this command

scanreg /restore

If still not fixed then

Reinstall the operating system over the top of itself. This will retain most of you settings and programs and replace the system files.

If the CD is bootable and your system allows booting from the CD then boot to the CD and install.

Otherwise boot to a ME or Win98 floppy bootdisk

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

Put the CD in the CD drive
At the prompt run the following command

setup

If you don't have the CD then run one of these commands

C:\Windows\Options\Cabs\setup.exe

or

C:\Windows\Options\Install\setup.exe

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;259181

Note that reinstalling Windows does not alter your currently installed programs unless a program has previously replaced a Windows system file. If a program does not work correctly after you reinstall Windows, reinstall the program, but note that the program may be replacing one or more Windows system files.

http://utils.skull-tech.com/bootdisks/boot98.exe"

(with a nod to CrazyOne)



"'Tis an ill wind that blows no minds." - Malaclypse the Younger

 

[speckie]

I am having the same problems with no icons or anything else. I tried those fixes but to no avail, it went to safe mode and did the same. Could this be a bug?

 

[jackha]

You by anychance didn't download anything from Friendly Greetings have you? If not it sounds like something very simular..Type it in you're search pragram and you will find all kinds of info about it..

 

[michparks]

I am having the exact same problem too.
It just started a few days ago. There is another thread going on with the same thing also- Thread615-749294.

I downloaded and installed the Excite Search toolbar from excite.com and noticed problems after that.
I am working with McAfee for help and we are trying things
but nothing yet.

Please post the fix if anyone finds it.

 

[mradmin]

Hello all,

I just repaired a PC (win98 first ed) that had those exact symptoms. It had something corrupted in Internet Explorer 6 (which had been downloaded & installed a couple of weeks ago) so the system never got past "wallpaper" even in safe mode. I was able to boot from a floppy and revert IE6 to IE5, which then allowed the normal boot. If the customer had had the correct disks, format & reinstall would have saved about a day!! but they only had a 5-year old restore disk... well, all in a day or two's work!

 

[rhoenig1277]

The user I was working with said they had downloaded an update for IE 6 so that must have corrupted this system also. Luckily they had the proper restore disks and I was able to get the system back to working order. My question is how did you revert back to IE 5 using a boot disk?

Thanks
Robert

 

[michparks]

I found a fix on another Web page.
This is it and it works!!!!!!!!!!!1
HI

Just a quick note, I ran into the same problem with no desktop icons, taskbar etc... all you could do was press ctrl, alt & del and no programs were listed, so you could only shutdown.

I found an article on Microsoft's knowledgebase, (sorry forgot to bookmark it) that this behaviour could be caused by a missing or corrupt shdocvw.dll file in the windows\system directory.

I check and sure enough this file was missing, I copied it from another computer running the same version of Internet explorer and rebooted and all was fine. The icons, taskbar and everything came back.

My client had answered yes when he received a dialogue box telling him he had spyware and would he like to get rid of it. I know this because after I rebooted, I was asked the same question and I said yes, with the same results. I checked and sure enough the shdocvw.dll file was again missing from the windows\system directory and windows not load the desktop icons, or taskbar once again. So, I copied the file into the windows\system directory once more and rebooted and everything was back to normal.

I then ran a virus scan using Norton, but it found nothing. Weird.

But, at least I did not have to re-install windows.

Hope this helps, I know an answer has already been accepted, but this may help someone in the future.

 

[TekTippy4U]

To all having probs:
Start>Run SCANREGW
say YES to prompt
then
Start>Run REGEDIT
Drill down to this key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects
and File Menu>Export that key to a safe place.
(Save it anywhere "easy" to find again, as a .reg file and name it whatever)
Once you've verified that your export worked and that the REG file is complete and correct (so you can undo the change you're about to make), (Right click and choose "EDIT&quot
go ahead and Delete it.

Also;
C:\WINDOWS\ShellIconCache
Copy it to somewhere other than Windows (easy to find) and name it
ShellIconCache.old
Delete it, restart

Also;
If the shdocvw.dll is missing, extract it from 98 CD or IE CD....or whevever your .cab files are
(maybe in C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS for 95/98 or
C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\INSTALL for winME

Then Start>Run REGSVR32 /i SHDOCVW.DLL


TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Oh Yeh; almost forgot,
To extract;

StartMenu>Run SFC
click OK.

Click "Extract one file from installation disk."
In the "Specify the system file you would like to restore" box, type
shdocvw.dll
Click Start.
In the "Restore From" box, Browse to the Windows 98 CD (D:\Win98) (D:,E:,F:,or whatever your CDROM letter is)
(or Navigate to your .cab files on HDD)

In the "Save File In" box,
Browse to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM
click OK.

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[TekTippy4U]

One more thing only, 4 now, i promise;
If you're using User Profiles (more than one user)
Delete this key and user profile keys as well pertaining to StuckRects only

Remember FIRST;
Start>Run SCANREGW
say YES to prompt

Start>Run REGEDIT
Drill down to this key
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[1043]

1) Boot to command prompt
2)type the following, scanreg /fix
3)run program
4) reboot

 

[TekTippy4U]

Or;
A-Boot to command prompt
B-type the following, scanreg /restore
C-run program, choose a "started" copy from before probs.
D-reboot

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.