Desktop icons lost on startup

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
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Guest

Today when I started up my computer, I noticed that most of the icons on my
desktop (primarily shortcuts) have been replaced with blank squares. The
icons are still functional, but the images that always appeared before are
gone.

Also, when I press Start, the icons that always appeared there have also
been replaced by the generic blank squares.

What happened, and how can I change this back to what it was?

Thanks.
 
Jackpine said:
Today when I started up my computer, I noticed that most of the icons on
my
desktop (primarily shortcuts) have been replaced with blank squares. The
icons are still functional, but the images that always appeared before are
gone.

Also, when I press Start, the icons that always appeared there have also
been replaced by the generic blank squares.

What happened, and how can I change this back to what it was?
Click to expand...

I don't know what happened because I can't see your computer. As a quick
fix, try a System Restore to yesterday when presumably everything was
working.

Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore
"Restore my computer to an earlier time"

If that doesn't work, come back with more details about your computer, what
changed between the time things worked, your antivirus/malware status, etc.
for focused help.

Malke
 
I ran the following programs: Webroot Spyware Sweeper, Spybot, and Spyware
Doctor. None of them found anything during their scans. Before going to
system restore, I rebooted the machine to see what would happen.

I was very surprised to see that all the icons that were lost had now
returned! I don't have a clue why they went away, or why they returned. I
will monitor the next few reboots. I may yet have to use system restore.
Thanks anyways for the suggestion.
 
Jackpine said:
I ran the following programs: Webroot Spyware Sweeper, Spybot, and Spyware
Doctor. None of them found anything during their scans. Before going to
system restore, I rebooted the machine to see what would happen.

I was very surprised to see that all the icons that were lost had now
returned! I don't have a clue why they went away, or why they returned.
I
will monitor the next few reboots. I may yet have to use system restore.
Thanks anyways for the suggestion.
Click to expand...


If it happens again, you can try some of the steps here (and apparently
restarting the computer is one of them!)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/132668/en-us
 
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