No icons in My Computer

My friend has a Windows ME machine. Recently when trying to install Norton Firewall, he aborted the installation because it was taking too long.
When he restarted he had no icons in My Computer or in the Control Panel.
We reinstalled ME. Now when he clicks on My Computer he gers an error message "Explorer has caused an error in NISSHEXT.DLL ". The background is devoid of icons. Clicking on the message reverts to the desktop
Similarly with Control Panel the error message is "Explorer has caused an error in "WMPDXM.DLL ".
when I go to "Start "/ "Explore" I first get the error "NISSHEXT.DLL" but clicking on this error box brings up the Windows Explorer. All of his folders and files are accessible from here.
Would appreciate any help on this.

 

Use System Restore to put the computer back the way it was before Norton was installed. Go to Start\Program\Accessories\System Tools\System Restore, and pick a date before this happened. Look for the dates in bold.

 

Unfortunately System Restore had not been activated so there is nothing to go back to.

 

Hello bob,

Try installing NIS to completion and then uninstalling - see if that fixes the problem. One of the NIS .dll's is erroring NISSHEXT.DLL

Another road to go down is a registry cleanup program: http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm is about the best of them.

If none of this works, you're going to have to reinstall WinME, this time as a clean install. That means wiping the drive with fdisk and then installing the OS. First of course burn out user data.

Start > run > type fdisk > ok and follow the onscreen instructions.

Regards - Charles

 

Thank you for the reply. I will have to wait for his return but I will keep you informed. Thanks again. Cheers

 

Found several files norton and Symantec left over. I deleted all referenced files and the icons reappeared in both locations. There is still a Norton program listed in the ADD/Remove programs list that will not delete. It has two files each of which has two 'Norton" GIF files which also cannot be deleted. Since the computer is now running OK we just ignored this. He is still leery about installing the siftware again but he wants to get on the Internet, and is reluctant to abandon his "purchased" material for something else. He realizes the importance of protection and will, I presume make a quick decision.
We activated System Restore so at least there is one lifeline.
I want to express my thanks for your suggestions and slutions. I enjoy the challenges but have to lean on you experts for support which you aptly provide.
Anyhow, many thanks.
Cheers