desktop/taskbar missing

I have been using Win XP Home since it came out with no problems. Now it boots up with just wallpaper - no desktop icons or taskbar.

Thanks for any help

 

You should probably reinstall over the top (if you have a CD). But try running chkdsk from the Recovery Console.

 

For the missing Icons; Right click on the desktop, on the pop-up menu select Arrange Icons By and make sure there is a checkmark in Show Desktop Icons.

For the missing taskbar, move your mouse to where the taskbar should be and see if it appears. If it does click on Start|Settings|Taskbar and Start Menu and remove the checkmark from Autohide the Taskbar.

If this does not resolve your problem try logging in as a different user to see if another account is experiencing the same problem.

HTH

 

I've encountered this problem and learned it's almost always a video card driver problem.

I've fixed it by booting into Safe Mode (press F8 repeatedly as soon as Windows starts to load), resetting the screen resolution to 800 X 600 (or lower) and color to 256 (right click desktop, choose Properties, go to Settings tab), then rebooting.

Then, once back in normal mode, reinstall the video drivers (right click My Computer, go to Properties>Hardware tab>Device Manager button>expand Display Adapter>double click the video card listed>go to Drivers tab>choose Update Driver button). After the drivers are reinstalled, you should be able to set the resolution and color back to your preference.

 

Thanks for all the help. I re-installed XP and all is well again. Still wonder what caused it. Oh well, thanks again. This is a great site!

peapicker

 

Glad you're all set.

Re-installation seems like the very last resort to some, but I do it whenever it seems I'm spending more time on a problem than a re-installation would take. It really is painless.

You'll need to reinstall most Windows Updates, though.