missing desktop

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

Guest

this is the second time i have seen this: After setting up a new xp pro pc
and installing a software program, (different program each instance) the
desktop doesn't show after a reboot. If I go to task mngr and navigate to
explorer.exe for new task then i can get to desktop but if I reboot it still
reacts the same. I cannot find any resolution with the kb articles.
 
ok... I just set up another new pc. After i created the user profile for the
same user and logged off then logged on under the admin account the same
thing happened. The explorer.exe service does not automatically start. Is
this a problem with the user profile? Please help with any suggestions...
 
In rodent had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
this is the second time i have seen this: After setting up a new xp
pro pc and installing a software program, (different program each
instance) the desktop doesn't show after a reboot. If I go to task
mngr and navigate to explorer.exe for new task then i can get to
desktop but if I reboot it still reacts the same. I cannot find any
resolution with the kb articles.
Click to expand...

Seen similar and I'm not sure how much this is going to help... I have to
wonder if the installation of the OS was corrupted...

Anyhow, see here:

Missing Icons and Taskbar:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/missing_desktop-icons_taskbar.html

Instead - you already know how to start explorer, simply try restoring to
just before the application was installed... Was the OS installed both times
with the same installation disk(s) perhaps?

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my
declining years to the composition of a textbook which shall focus the
whole art of detection into one volume." - Sherlock Holmes
 
Here is some additional information. Each instance of this issue didn't
happen until the pc was profiled for a user that authenticates to server 2003
and uses ScriptLogic / Desktop Authority version 6.52 to map their drives.
This issue doesn't happen on the older pc's that are runninf 2Kpro or pc's
that were upgrades to xp pro or even pc,s that i manually install os and all
the other programs. At first logon for the user the profile builds and the
desktop launches without any problem, but after you logoff and then logon the
desktop doesn't launch. Explorer.exe doesn't start up as a process
automatically. It has to be manually started. When ScriptLogic is first run
it creates a folder in the root of "c" but nothing in the startup menu or
nothing in addand remove programs.
 
Run msconfig. go to startup option and be sure the explorer.exe is checked.
apply changes and restart
 
explorer.exe is not an option under the startup tab here for winxp/sp2
logging into server 2003.
 
In rodent had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
explorer.exe is not an option under the startup tab here for winxp/sp2
logging into server 2003.
Click to expand...

LOL No, not at all. It's assumed...

I'd start pinging third party vendors given your view or, maybe, ask in a
server group as this isn't an accessibility issue. I'm not sure what the
other person was trying to tell you but, well, no... It is VERY likely that
it is one of your two apps and someone in the server groups has seen this
and has found a solution for it. As for MSCONFIG, well, you already know and
don't hold the entire group accountable. ;)

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my
declining years to the composition of a textbook which shall focus the
whole art of detection into one volume." - Sherlock Holmes
 
In VyrusNine had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
Run msconfig. go to startup option and be sure the explorer.exe is
checked. apply changes and restart
Click to expand...

I'm sorry - I'm in a bad mood and THIS sort of "stuff" (and that is me being
in a GOOD mood or at least trying to) is bothersome. Can you take a
screenshot of the explorer.exe process being shown in MSCONFIG on any
default installation of any Windows operating system? Anywhere? As tempting
as it is to say mean things I'm not like that and so, well, please read up
and learn if you want to offer help. We can use all the help we can get and,
at the same time, we can use all the anti-help we can get too.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my
declining years to the composition of a textbook which shall focus the
whole art of detection into one volume." - Sherlock Holmes
 
Thanks for trying anyway. And thanks for that last input. Most times I get
good results from using this method, but sometimes I have one that is beyond
logic. LoL
Anyway, How do I repost this thread to another group with all the thread
history? Maybe a group like Configuration & Management or even Performance &
Maintenance might have an answer.
 
In rodent had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
Thanks for trying anyway. And thanks for that last input. Most
times I get good results from using this method, but sometimes I have
one that is beyond logic. LoL
Anyway, How do I repost this thread to another group with all the
thread history? Maybe a group like Configuration & Management or
even Performance & Maintenance might have an answer.

"Galen" wrote:
Click to expand...

You might and you can include a link (perhaps Google Groups) to the original
post if you'd like that way you don't fill the new question with a bunch of
wasteful packets. (I was grouchy but nope, explorer's not in the startup
section in MSCONFIG *grins*)

Anyhow, it oozes of something third party... Corrupted profile perhaps? I
have a hard time picturing ScriptLogic (used wisely) doing anything of the
sort - I've followed them since they were wee lads working out of their
homes. Good stuff... Anyhow, yes... I'd try another group or, alternatively,
start pinging the vendors of the add-ons.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my
declining years to the composition of a textbook which shall focus the
whole art of detection into one volume." - Sherlock Holmes
 
OK..One more thing i wiould like to try but I don't know where to find what
I am looking for. I want to find in the REGISTRY where the explorer.exe
string is and check to see if the value is incorrect and possibly changing it
(0 to 1) that controls weather the desktop launches or not after logging into
the pc.
 
Please read the entire thread. I am a tech rolling out new pc's. The
problem doesn't happen with older pc's that have been migrated from one
domain to another. The problem only occurs when a new pc is profiled for the
user that authenticates mappings through ScriptLogic Desktop Authority. The
pc is completely configured with all the updates and admin accounts profiled
(admin doesn't use ScriptLogic for mappings). Somehow ScriptLogic does
something to the explorer.exe desktop shell after a reboot. There has to be
a registry setting dWord switch that gets changed by ScriptLogic on these
virgin setups. I just want to know where to find the registry string that
controls explorer.exe/desktop shell.
 
Thanks for sharing anyway David. Why waste your time in this newsgroup? You
didnt even bother to read the entire thread history. By the way, XP Pro has
not been out 20 years. The hive structure for XP Pro registry is not the
same as the legasy OS you are probably using. If you were truly a tech that
has a passion to help then your response would have been more mature.
 
Win 3.1 it was in an ini file. In NT it's been in one place. 9x had it somewhere else. But it's all the same setting.

Unlike you I don't assume. And I did read the whole thread. I just ignore your conclusions as they are not based on evidence. You may be right. But there is nothing you said that would indicate that.

You have also made the cardinal error. You are asking how to implement a fix that you don't know is a fix. I concentrate on the problem. There is no dwords involved at all.
 
In XP Pro/w SP2 there is a string as follows:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BEHAVIORS
and the entry on the right is: explorer.exe under name, REG_DWORD under
type, and 0x00000001 (1) under data. I'm assuming that when I go to work
Monday and check the problem machines and the data value is (0) and the
machines that are ok the data value is (1) then this would be the string i am
looking for.
 
Shell
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Data type Range Default value
REG_SZ Name of executable file Explorer.exe

Description
Specifies the programs that provide the user interface to the operating system.

By default, Winlogon starts the programs specified in the value of Userinit, including Userinit.exe. Userinit.exe starts the user interface program. However, if Winlogon cannot start the programs specified in the value of Userinit, Winlogon directly executes the programs specified in the value of Shell.

Related Entries



Userinit



System



Userinit
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Data type Range Default value
REG_SZ Names of executable files (filename extension not required) userinit


Description
Specifies the programs that Winlogon runs when a user logs on. By default, Winlogon runs Userinit.exe, a program which runs logon scripts, reestablishes network connections, and then starts Explorer.exe, the Windows user interface.

You can change the value of this entry to add or remove programs. For example, to have your program run before the Windows Explorer user interface is started, substitute the name of your program for Userinit.exe in the value of this entry, then include instructions in your program to start Userinit.exe. You might also want to substitute Explorer.exe for Userinit.exe if you are working offline and are not using logon scripts.

Related Entries



Shell



System
 
Back
Top