Fixes in Posts Failed- Still Blank Desktop- CTRL+ALT+DEL shows nothing - error msg

Hubby running Win98 on old Dell Pentium XP Desktop. Don’t think I can restore old registry files as in trying to fix problem used F8 to boot into command prompt, it didn’t work ¾ of the time and rebooted to blank desktop numerous times so assume then backup files all have the problem in it. Is that right? Haven’t lost any of the files since I can see them if boot into winfile.exe. Sorry this post is SOO LONG but thought it would be more helpful if listed everything I’ve done so far that didn't work. I'd appreciate any help - pulling hair out. I’m not completely computer illiterate so didn't join as beginner but not sure if I'm intermediate either. Don't want to mislead anyone answering. Keep it simple PLEASE.

Hubby had lots of spyware problems, so ran AD-AWARE 6/hexdump add on. Still problems so installed NAV 03 (crashed during install/running program). Downloaded/Ran SPYBOT and HIJACK THIS. Then ran NAV (took 2.5 hrs) but afterwards computer booted up fine . THEN STUPID ME couldn't leave well enough alone & tried getting rid of junk on his computer and saw a folder I thought was spyware and had gotten rid of it. I deleted the folder and it caused desktop to go blank with no icons or anything. When pushed CLTR-ALT-DEL showed nothing was running. Turned off computer and restarted and got IPF error in explorer.exe. Tried all of the following but to no avail.

FOLLOWING ADVICE FROM MICROSOFT.COM SUPPORT PGS DIDN "T WORK:
1. Extract/Install shdocvw.dll ,shlwapi.dll 10/16/03 dates
2. Extract/Install mshtml.dll , comctl32.dll 8/29/03 dates
3. Since the above dll's had different dates could this have been the why it didn't work?.
4. Next I ran rundll32s setupwbv.dll, IE5 Maintenance -(can’t remember error msg - tried too many fixes since then)
5. Ran setup.exe in Program Files/Internet Explorer to remove IE - error msg.

RAN SPYWARE PROGRAMS
1. Ran SPYBOT to see if still spyware problems but said no spyware found. 2. Tried to run AD-AWARE and NAV but neither would work from the shell=winfile.exe.
3. Couldn’t find HIJACK this so got from my computer and installed on the Dell. When ran the program didn’t do anything - just hourglass spins then nothing - no program appeared.

TRIED THE FOLLOWING FROM SUGGESTIONS FROM DIFFERENT FORUM:
1. Removed everything from C:\windows\temp, C:\windows\temporary internet files, C:\temp
2. Deleted all files with a .tmp extention.
3. Deleted files in recycle bin.
4. Deleted all cookies.
5. Changed the system.ini back to shell=explorer.exe
6. Rebooted and still came up with blank desktop and error msg that there was an IPF in explorer.exe in module 17f00401f31.

All my files are okay so don’t want to loose them since lots of data on hard drive. Is there some way to get this fixed without loosing any of the data since it's there but just can't boot into explorer.exe.

 

I moved this over to Win98, as it doesn't seem to be working.
Try this.
Go to Bootdisk,and download the file for Win98SE OEM. Double click this file with a floppy in the drive, and a boot floppy will be created for you.
Boot the computer with it, select With CDrom support. Just before the A:\> appears, there is a message giving you the drive letter for the CD drive. It will not be the usual letter, it could be E:. Use this letter in place of the X below.
Insert the 98 CD, and do these commands at the prompt pressing Enter at the end of each line.
c:
cd\windows
extract /y X:\win98\win98_45.cab explorer.exe
If you do not have a Win98 CD, Dell installations usually have the files on the drive. Use this command, in place of the last command above.
extract /y c:\windows\options\cabs\win98_45.cab explorer.exe
Take out floppy, and see if it boots.

 

Should Mark62's suggestion not help, perhaps a restore is in order?

Hit F8 when rebooting to bring up the startup menu.
Select Command Prompt only
Type Scanreg /restore at the prompt
You will get a screen where you can select which registry backup to use
Choose a backup prior to when your troubles began and select Restore
When ready, you'll be prompted to Restart your computer

Good luck!

P.S. It should only store the registry backups from successful boots