XP Pro No Desktop Icons or Taskbar

ElminstyrElminstyr
edited February 2006 in Science & Tech
After working on getting rid of Alfa Spyware, I am left with my original desktop, but I have no icons or taskbar. I get to ctr-alt-del, and access some things by using new task. I get errors upon opening IE, but I can move it to the side and browse.

I've read that it is possible to repair an XP install, but I don't know how. I made a backup of my cd onto harddrive, but never got around to making a backup onto cd. If I try to install from the hard drive, I get the option to do an upgrade, but then it tells me there is a program that had not finished installing and to reboot, let it finish, then come back and upgrade. I have no idea what app. it is referring to, and I assume that is just another symptom.

Any suggestions?
Thank You.

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2006
    What happened to the original CD you made the copy to your HD from?

    A Repair Install is quite easy, but you can't do it from within Windows.
  • ElminstyrElminstyr
    edited February 2006
    profdlp wrote:
    What happened to the original CD you made the copy to your HD from?

    A Repair Install is quite easy, but you can't do it from within Windows.
    My 2 year old happened to it. ;)
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2006
    That'll do it... :hair::D

    Can you borrow a copy of whichever version matches yours (Home or Pro)? You can still use your own CD Key.

    For a Repair Install you boot from the CD and proceed as though you were doing a clean install. At some point Setup will discover your existing Windows Installation and give you a set of choices. Pick "Repair" - NOT "Add A New Copy". The rest goes automatically from there.

    You could try copying the files on your HD to a CD and make sure you make it bootable. If it works at all you'll probably have a few extra hoops to jump through to start Setup. The easiest way is to borrow a CD, though. If all else fails, MS will mail you a replacement for about $10 or so.
  • ElminstyrElminstyr
    edited February 2006
    What would happen if I installed XP over the current install? Would I loose all of my apps. and files, or would I just have to re-install my apps.? I used to work with pre-XP Windows a lot, and one trick we did to get a clean install without formatting was deleting Win.com, will that work with XP?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited February 2006
    Elminstyr wrote:
    What would happen if I installed XP over the current install?
    What you describe is a Repair Install, but don't delete anything beforehand.

    Would I loose all of my apps. and files, or would I just have to re-install my apps.?...
    You won't lose anything. The only thing you'd have to do is reinstall any missing Service Packs and other Windows Update stuff.
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