At Boot nothing comes up but desktop background

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The computer in question belongs to my daughter and is a Dell Dimension 4700
Micro-Tower with a pentium 4 Processor 520 (2.8Ghz, 800 FSB). She has the
Windows XP Home Edition.
We had a power outage in the area and her power was off for 6 days. (From
Oct. 25 to Oct. 30) When she got on her computer on Oct. 31 it was running
slow and internet explorer wouldn't open browser windows. She rebooted and
everything was working fine. She ran a virus scan and it showed up clean.
(I might add here, a few days before the power went out her virus scan turned
up a Trojan and said it had deleted the files from it. She can't remember
the name of the Trojan it found.) She was on the computer for about 3 hours
and turned it off. The next time she turned it on the only thing showing was
the desktop background, no taskbar, start menu, or shortcut icons.
I am sorry this is a long description but I am a firm believer in the "the
more you know, the more you can do" philosophy.
We tried opening in safe mode, nothing but a black screen with the system
listed top, center, and safe mode in all 4 corners.
We tried last known working configuration, nothing but desktop background.
We tried safe mode with command prompt, still nothing.
We tried booting from the CD-DVD drive and got the Windows XP CD to open and
tried to use the repair. At first it seemed to be working, it started off
deleting files but when it came time to copy files it said it couldn't copy
any of them so we finally gave up on that.
We tried booting from the Dell Resource CD and got it to run diagnostics,
the CD-DVD ROM drive did not pass the confidence test or the read test.
Everything else passed. (I ran the test again later and it passed the
confidence test but still not the read test.)
We got the taskmanager to open and tried to run CD's from the CD-DVD drive
(D:) but it says "no disk in drive". We tried running from the CD-RW drive
(E:) and got them to run from there but they wouldn't do anything. The
Windows XP CD would open but if we tried to open anything but the install
button it stopped responding. We tried to do an upgrade install but it
didn't work.
From the taskmanager I found that her I386 file was missing from drive C so
I put the Windows XP CD in drive E and copied it with the command prompt.
I386 was back where it was suppose to be. That didn't fix the problem though.
I copied the Dell resource CD the same way, still nothing.
I have looked through her files and from what I can tell they are there.
Her program files, drive files, system 32 files, windows files, are all there
but when I try to open most things I get the invalid file path message.
Since she has no floppy drive I tried to copy files to a RW disk from
command prompt (which I read in the help and support doesn't work except to
put it to the CD Burning file) but it said invalid file path.
I tried to open some of her picture files and the only thing that will open
them is the Windows picture and fax viewer but it won't let me send them or
save them. The program stops responding if I try anything but viewing.
I am really sorry it has taken me so long to get to my question, but here it
is: What next? Should I give up and just do the Dell Restore to factory
settings?
Thanks for your patience and your help.
DJB
 
possibly cddvd rom failure.

How did you get to Task Manager if won't boot?

How did you get acces to rad files on HDD?

What CD are yuo using to try and do Repair?
 
I'm not familar with OEM systems, but it sounds like the power outage may
have occured
while the hdd was being accessed, causing same damage.
You use the dos command
chkdsk /f
to check for and repair errors.

Odds are you're going to have to use her restore cd to restore the computer,
which will
delete all of her files, so back them up while you can.
 
Thanks for responding. I opened task manager with the ctrl + alt + del keys.
However, most things would not open, or if they did they stopped responding.
I copied the files from my daughters Windows XP Reinstallation CD using the
xcopy command in the command prompt program. I was also trying to use the
Windows XP Reinstallation CD to do the repairs but it always stopped
responding that way.
My daughter came here today and we decided to do the Dell Restore to factory
setting. Everything is working now except the CD-DVD ROM drive still won't
read disks. I checked it out in the disk manager and it says it is working
properly so it might just need cleaned. I hate that we lost her pictures but
I couldn't find a way (and, believe me, I tried for days!) to copy them.
Thanks for your help.
DJB
 
Thanks again to you for responding twice. I did not try the swap because my
daughter wanted to take her computer home.
Thanks though, because I will keep the info for the next time I need it.
DJB
 
Thank you for your response to my problem.
We did end up doing the Dell Restore to factory settings but I was unable
to copy any of her files because everything came back with an invalid file
path even though I tracked them from start to finish. I ran the chkdsk from
the command prompt and it didn't show any errors.
After restoring with the Dell/Symantac Restore everything is back to working
but the CD-DVD ROM drive. I checked it out on the device manager and it says
it is working properly and the troubleshooter suggests it might just need
cleaned or updated.
My daughter took the computer home and she is going to try those things. I
agree with you, however, that it may have been damaged when the power came
back on. She does keep her system hooked up to a power surge device so do
you think that could still be the problem? And if it were damaged like that
would the device manager still say it is working properly?
Thanks again for your help.
DJB
 
Yes, it still could've been damage from the outage.
A surge protector only protects against inbound power spikes,
and can't protect a computer from potential damage occuring from
a power outrage at just the wrong moment.
She should get a UPS system to provide a few extra minutes of power
during outages, to shutdown safely.

The device manager doesn't report all damaged hardware or conflicts (i dont
know why)
With a hdd she should check out the hdd manufacturer's website for any
diagnostics
tools they may have for troubleshooting & reparing thier hdd's

Have her open the System Information Tool (Start | All Programs |
Accessories | System Tools | System Information icon )
In that tool, expand the Components tree, in the left pane, then select
Problem Devices.
Any problem devices the windows is aware of will be displayed in the right
hand pane.

The simple way to begin diagnosing CD/DVD rom troubles is to open the case
(make sure you ground out any static electricity you may have)
and make sure the optical drive and hdd are on separate cables and that its
cables are firmly seated,
that the cd/dvd drive is set as Master ( look for a set of pins on the back
of the drive and a schamtic that is either etched onto the back or drawn on
the top of the drive, that explains the correct pins to cover to set it as
Master)

Enter BIOS during boot, and make sure it's detecting the optical drive as
Secondary Master.
 
Thank you for all the information. I think you have answered all of my
concerns at this point. I will pass it along to my daughter.
Thanks again.
DJB
 
You were doing the analysis properly. For example,
executing comprehensive diagnostics from the CD-Rom was
important information. You should also know that the
diagnostics are also on hard drive - booted before the OS
loads. I believe it is either pressing F2 or F10 that offers
up those comprehensive diagnostics on a Dell. A function that
some other computers don't offer.

Unfortunately you did not confirm power supply voltages.
This is also a source of strange intermittents. However your
other symptoms makes a marginal power supply problem less
likely.

Other important information before doing a restore would
have been the event (system) logs. But you might not have had
access to them or Device Manager - another critical fact.

The OS booted. It had to to get Task Manager. Therefore
your problems would be more related to OS configuration.
Power loss is unlikely to cause such problems. An NT based OS
using the NTFS file system should not lose files (like FAT
filesystems on a disk would). Malware is a most likely
candidate. For example, the virus checker removed malware
files that may have already done damage. Damage that would
not appear until after computer is rebooted. Some targets
would be the registry or files in configuration directories
such as "Documents and Settings". Change those directories
and the desktop no longer has icons later. Simple thing for a
virus to target when other OS functions are so much harder to
harm.

Provided is background for someone who decided to first
learn 'whys' before pretending to be a computer expert. Yes,
there are so many others who would blame her computer failure
on no plug-in surge protector (that can even contribute to
damage of the adjacent computer). Blame the missing protector
without first learning basic electricity fundamentals or what
a surge protector really does. The protector would do nothing
to protect her from her problem - let alone even protect any
hardware. It does not even claim to do that - except where
myths are promoted.

Damage created by malware is a most likely suspect. Sorry I
got here only after she took back her machine. Notice, BTW,
how much easier a full restore was when using a serious brand
name machine. From what you have done, appreciate why other
machines, who don't even provide comprehensive diagnostics,
are missing essential functions.
 
Your reply might have come late but it is still very much appreciated. I
told my daughter with all of the things I had checked out and the way her
computer was acting I was fairly sure her trouble was from either the
previous Trojan or another virus. Even though I could not get any of her
files to copy we both felt fortunate to have the Dell/Symantec restore
option.
Thanks again for your help.
DJB
 
Something to execute today just to know how it is done.
Hardware diagnostics are on Dell disk drive. Those F2 or F10
(or whatever they are) options (during powerup) should be
exercised at least once to see a diagnostic work when the
system is good. Of course, never execute any test option what
would write to the disk drive. The diagnostics will not write
unless the human specifically says otherwise. Using that
powerful tool once just to know what a good report looks like
and how to execute it is useful knowledge. These
comprehensive diagnostics are only found on better computers.

I have seen viruses that were not detected by the virus
checker for something like 5 days. Yes it does take time for
the anti-virus manufacturer to discover then create solutions
for a virus; which is another reason why a virus (trojan,
worm) is the more likely reason for those problems.
 
I believe the diagnostic option you are referring to is on F12. If so, I ran
it on mine and have passed the info on to my daughter so she could do the
same.
Thanks again for the input.
DJB
 
It looks like you've already got more information than you needed but I
thought I would throw in my two cents. Even after a full system
restore has been done it still may be possible to recover some of the
pictures that were on the drive before the restore. I personally use
(and promote) a utility called "Get Data Back" written by runtime
software (www.runtime.org). For Windows XP you would want the NTFS
version. I've used it on hard drive so currupt that they appeared
useless and was able to recover files from more than two reformats
prior.

Just my two cents!
Hope that helps =)
-Dan
 
I am glad you put your two cents in. I will certainly check into the "Get
Data Back" utility. I believe, now that you mention it, when I was looking
through products months ago I saw a Symantec product (I don't recall the name
of it) that does data restoring. If you have an opinion on whether the
runtime is better than the symantec I would appreciate any input you can give
me about that.
Thanks for your two cents, which is actually worth alot more than that!
DJB
 
I havn't used the symantec product, so I wouldn't be able to give you
an objective answer. I have never been in a data recovery situation
that called for me to try another product! If I ran into one where GDB
didn't work, I would consider trying other products as well, but this
has yet to happen. hope that helps!

-Dan
 
turt288 said:
I am glad you put your two cents in. I will certainly check into the "Get
Data Back" utility. I believe, now that you mention it, when I was
looking
through products months ago I saw a Symantec product (I don't recall the
name
of it) that does data restoring. If you have an opinion on whether the
runtime is better than the symantec I would appreciate any input you can
give
me about that.
Thanks for your two cents, which is actually worth alot more than that!
DJB
Click to expand...

The data restore utility similar to "Get Back Utility" is called Norton
GoBack. If you have either Windows XP or ME, you might as well just use
system restore.
 
Except that windows system restore is a pile of crap, and corrupts
data... not to mention that it is very susciptible to viruses and
trojans.... The first thing I do when repairing a pc with
virus/spyware issues is shut off system restore and delete the restore
logs... As far as GoBack, I havn't used it more than twice, and I
used it more like a restore program than a file recovery. GetDataBack
is a file/partition recovery program that scans your volumns for pieces
of data that look like files and trys to put them back together.
GoBack is more is a system-state monitor program that creates restore
points like a better version of what microsoft tried to do with system
restore...
 
UnaCoder said:
Except that windows system restore is a pile of crap, and corrupts
data... not to mention that it is very susciptible to viruses and
trojans.... The first thing I do when repairing a pc with
virus/spyware issues is shut off system restore and delete the restore
logs... As far as GoBack, I havn't used it more than twice, and I
used it more like a restore program than a file recovery. GetDataBack
is a file/partition recovery program that scans your volumns for pieces
of data that look like files and trys to put them back together.
GoBack is more is a system-state monitor program that creates restore
points like a better version of what microsoft tried to do with system
restore...
Click to expand...

Kinda like Chkdsk?
 
--
in a tail spin


turt288 said:
The computer in question belongs to my daughter and is a Dell Dimension 4700
Micro-Tower with a pentium 4 Processor 520 (2.8Ghz, 800 FSB). She has the
Windows XP Home Edition.
We had a power outage in the area and her power was off for 6 days. (From
Oct. 25 to Oct. 30) When she got on her computer on Oct. 31 it was running
slow and internet explorer wouldn't open browser windows. She rebooted and
everything was working fine. She ran a virus scan and it showed up clean.
(I might add here, a few days before the power went out her virus scan turned
up a Trojan and said it had deleted the files from it. She can't remember
the name of the Trojan it found.) She was on the computer for about 3 hours
and turned it off. The next time she turned it on the only thing showing was
the desktop background, no taskbar, start menu, or shortcut icons.
I am sorry this is a long description but I am a firm believer in the "the
more you know, the more you can do" philosophy.
We tried opening in safe mode, nothing but a black screen with the system
listed top, center, and safe mode in all 4 corners.
We tried last known working configuration, nothing but desktop background.
We tried safe mode with command prompt, still nothing.
We tried booting from the CD-DVD drive and got the Windows XP CD to open and
tried to use the repair. At first it seemed to be working, it started off
deleting files but when it came time to copy files it said it couldn't copy
any of them so we finally gave up on that.
We tried booting from the Dell Resource CD and got it to run diagnostics,
the CD-DVD ROM drive did not pass the confidence test or the read test.
Everything else passed. (I ran the test again later and it passed the
confidence test but still not the read test.)
We got the taskmanager to open and tried to run CD's from the CD-DVD drive
(D:) but it says "no disk in drive". We tried running from the CD-RW drive
(E:) and got them to run from there but they wouldn't do anything. The
Windows XP CD would open but if we tried to open anything but the install
button it stopped responding. We tried to do an upgrade install but it
didn't work.
From the taskmanager I found that her I386 file was missing from drive C so
I put the Windows XP CD in drive E and copied it with the command prompt.
I386 was back where it was suppose to be. That didn't fix the problem though.
I copied the Dell resource CD the same way, still nothing.
I have looked through her files and from what I can tell they are there.
Her program files, drive files, system 32 files, windows files, are all there
but when I try to open most things I get the invalid file path message.
Since she has no floppy drive I tried to copy files to a RW disk from
command prompt (which I read in the help and support doesn't work except to
put it to the CD Burning file) but it said invalid file path.
I tried to open some of her picture files and the only thing that will open
them is the Windows picture and fax viewer but it won't let me send them or
save them. The program stops responding if I try anything but viewing.
I am really sorry it has taken me so long to get to my question, but here it
is: What next? Should I give up and just do the Dell Restore to factory
settings?
Thanks for your patience and your help.
DJB
Click to expand...
 
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