Meursault00
2005-01-29, 10:43 AM
Never had this problem before, but I think it may have been caused when the power at my house went out without warning.
But anyways, I turn on my computer and windows loads. However, when I finally get to my desktop, none of the icons on the dektop work. Nothing. And plus, their regular icons have been replaced with the icons Windows uses on file types it cant recognize. Also programs that I expect to load when Windows starts (Norton, Ad-Watch, stuff like that) don't start up, and instead leave a message that is the same as when you click on an icon that windows does not recognize.
No programs associated with windows work either.
Okay, no icons in the start menu work either. So basically, no program works, because (I think) Windows no longer is able to initiate programs with the file extension .exe.
I figure this could be because of a corrupt file, or it may be a virus, at the moment I'm unsure which.
What I do want to know is how to fix this. Reverting apparently doesn't fix this problem, and trying to use the windows CDs to reinstall/repair doesnt help either. The only thing I can think of to do would be to reformat my harddrive and start anew, but that's someting I really don't want to do unless it's necesarry.
Oh yea I'm using Windows XP Professional w/o service pack 2
But anyways, I turn on my computer and windows loads. However, when I finally get to my desktop, none of the icons on the dektop work. Nothing. And plus, their regular icons have been replaced with the icons Windows uses on file types it cant recognize. Also programs that I expect to load when Windows starts (Norton, Ad-Watch, stuff like that) don't start up, and instead leave a message that is the same as when you click on an icon that windows does not recognize.
No programs associated with windows work either.
Okay, no icons in the start menu work either. So basically, no program works, because (I think) Windows no longer is able to initiate programs with the file extension .exe.
I figure this could be because of a corrupt file, or it may be a virus, at the moment I'm unsure which.
What I do want to know is how to fix this. Reverting apparently doesn't fix this problem, and trying to use the windows CDs to reinstall/repair doesnt help either. The only thing I can think of to do would be to reformat my harddrive and start anew, but that's someting I really don't want to do unless it's necesarry.
Oh yea I'm using Windows XP Professional w/o service pack 2