Posted on 04/26/2011 1:01:00 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Dear Computer-wise Freepers,
I was messing around with my computer and have deleted something very serious. I now only have the "My Computer" icon and the "Recycle Bin" icons on my desktop. My wife's and my accounts were on this computer and it is the same issue with her desktop. My program folders are still there and can been by going to My Documents through another route. I can not send an icon to the desktop of any program though. In control panel, I can not go to "My programs" -- nothing shows. Can anyone help me reverse this disaster? Thanks. (Using another computer on the network which still allows me to access everything.
Shut down, boot up while pressing the F8 key, then take the option to restore to a previous point in time from the menu.
have you tried booting up in safe mode?
Sounds like a spyware issue I had this past week.
Try this, navigate to the Desktop in C: Documents and Settings\ (user) and then right click on it and go to Properties. On the Attributes check and see if it the box for ‘Hidden’ is checked - if so, uncheck it.
Start there. :-)
Great suggestion. I hope you had System Restore turned on.
Start -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore.
Click Next.
Select a date to restore to.
Click Next.
Click Next.
Right click on desktop. Choose “Arrange Icons By...” and make sure there is a check mark under “Show Desktop Icons”
Click your Start button and go to “Help and Support.”
Click the “Undo changes to your computer with System Restore” link.
In the screen which pops up, click NEXT.
Click a date on the calendar from before this happened and click NEXT.
Click NEXT one final time.
Then let it do its thing and once it’s rebooted, you should be back to normal.
Agreed. Try system restore first.
Best way is from the command prompt. He can do the restore from Windows without programs. This is usually my first method on a system as bad as his.
To start System Restore using the Command prompt, follow these steps:
* Restart your computer, and then press and hold F8 during the initial startup to start your computer in safe mode with a Command prompt.
* Use the arrow keys to select the Safe mode with a Command prompt option.
* If you are prompted to select an operating system, use the arrow keys to select the appropriate operating system for your computer, and then press ENTER.
* Log on as an administrator or with an account that has administrator credentials.
* At the command prompt, type %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe, and then press ENTER.
* Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to a functional state.
Let’s start with what you think you deleted...
%systemroot% = windows (most cases).
Do you have a start menu?
Open up Recycle Bin and restore files there...
This would be a good time to back up your files.
Download unhide.exe & save it to your desktop.
Double-click on unhide.exe to run it.
Reboot
This will unhide folders/files that were set to be hidden (in the event of an infection).
Let me know if that solved your problem.
Do this first, before you do a system restore or run any malware program!!!!
It sounds like you've just changed the desktop settings to hide the icons. No bigger deal than changing the desktop wallpaper, just change it back.
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