Thread: Computer Help

Turn it off.
Wait 1 minute.
Turn it on.

I am no Techy-Geek, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.

"Del" wrote:

"Marrdro" wrote:

"Del" wrote:

Here is a fun one.

For some reason my desktop is always hidden, meaning I can see it but when I try to click on the icon it just beeps at me.

The only way I can click on my icons is to right click the bottom bar (the one the start button is on) and pick "Show Desktop"

Any ideas how to fix or anyone experienced this?

Del,



What happens when you right click on the desktop?


You should get a box that pops up with options in it.
Top one should say "Arrange Icons By"



Click on that.
Should give you another box.
Third one from the bottom should have a check next to it.
If it doesn't that is your problem.
Click on it.

Marty

I can't even right click the desktop. It just beeps at me.

I've tried to get my other computer to replicate what you are saying and I can't figure it out.

I check with you in the AM and see what the geeks that work for me have to say.
Probably something simple, however, its beyond me.
???

"Del" wrote:

"UndisputedVike" wrote:

Have you scanned your computer for Viruses/Spyware etc...the Taskbar, Icons and such are all linked to the explorer.exe and Shell32.dll which in turn if those are corrupt than that usually means infection.

If your willing to...run a few scans at these places just to be sure.

Here
http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/
and here.
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

If all clean, try this click start, run and type in "sfc /scannow" without the quotes, it will recover/restore any and all important files essential to Windows, you may need your Windows CD or Windows restore CD to complete, sometimes you don't.

Trying the links ty.

I run AVG Virus protection and Ad-Aware.

I'll give the links a shot.

No wonder your having trouble.

Some advice, if I may. Lose AVG A/V, it's terrible, in some of the A/V tests done around the net AVG has scored the lowest in every category.

I use Avast!, it's free auto-updates without ANY hassle and very effective.

Download it http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-E...=dl&tag=button if you want, of course you will need to uninstall AVG A/V.

If you chose to download it and install it, when it opens and asks for a registration, go here. http://www.avast.com/i_kat_207.php#register-form It is a free license for 1 year, after which all you do is re-register and get another one after a year, completely free.

Also, you need real time Anti-Spyware protection and a firewall.

For Anti-Spyware, free of course is Windows Defender. Ad-Aware is a great Anti-Spyware remover but it is not
real-time protection.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Microsoft_Windows_Defender_d4466.html


For a firewall, ZoneAlarm offers a free version, very easy to use, it will however prompt you to Allow Or Deny certain programs you run for the first time, to avoid it asking you that for the same program all the time just check the Remember box and just click Allow.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/ZoneAlarm_Free_d388.html


This should be all you need, it will keep you safe and virus free. This is all I use and I haven't had any trouble.

I agree with the recommendation for avast over AVG. It's a very robust setup.

"Del" wrote:

Here is a fun one.

For some reason my desktop is always hidden, meaning I can see it but when I try to click on the icon it just beeps at me.

The only way I can click on my icons is to right click the bottom bar (the one the start button is on) and pick "Show Desktop"

Any ideas how to fix or anyone experienced this?

First - never let your wife have an account which can make any permanent updates to the machine, even if it's "her" machine.
Always set them up with Limited User access.
Would you let her change the oil in your car?
Use your grill?
Same principle.

Second - sounds like the machine has gotten stuck in Extended Desktop mode - essentially, it believes that the screen is Extended beyond the actual size of your monitor.
Go to Mickeysoft's website, navigate to the support site and check the knowledge base for articles on Extended Desktop.

=Z=

"UndisputedVike" wrote:

"Del" wrote:

"UndisputedVike" wrote:

Have you scanned your computer for Viruses/Spyware etc...the Taskbar, Icons and such are all linked to the explorer.exe and Shell32.dll which in turn if those are corrupt than that usually means infection.

If your willing to...run a few scans at these places just to be sure.

Here
http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/
and here.
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

If all clean, try this click start, run and type in "sfc /scannow" without the quotes, it will recover/restore any and all important files essential to Windows, you may need your Windows CD or Windows restore CD to complete, sometimes you don't.

Trying the links ty.

I run AVG Virus protection and Ad-Aware.

I'll give the links a shot.

No wonder your having trouble.

Some advice, if I may. Lose AVG A/V, it's terrible, in some of the A/V tests done around the net AVG has scored the lowest in every category.

I use Avast!, it's free auto-updates without ANY hassle and very effective.

Download it http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-E...=dl&tag=button if you want, of course you will need to uninstall AVG A/V.

If you chose to download it and install it, when it opens and asks for a registration, go here. http://www.avast.com/i_kat_207.php#register-form It is a free license for 1 year, after which all you do is re-register and get another one after a year, completely free.

Also, you need real time Anti-Spyware protection and a firewall.

For Anti-Spyware, free of course is Windows Defender. Ad-Aware is a great Anti-Spyware remover but it is not
real-time protection.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Microsoft_Windows_Defender_d4466.html


For a firewall, ZoneAlarm offers a free version, very easy to use, it will however prompt you to Allow Or Deny certain programs you run for the first time, to avoid it asking you that for the same program all the time just check the Remember box and just click Allow.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/ZoneAlarm_Free_d388.html


This should be all you need, it will keep you safe and virus free. This is all I use and I haven't had any trouble.

Whats funny is the spyware link you gave me in your previous post is AVG.

I haven't been impressed with AVG (the anti-virus, not the spyware program) either I only have it because it is freeware. I have actually used Avast too, I was not a fan and it kept blocking things I didn't want blocked and forced me to open ports on my router and disable things when downloading patches for my online games which granted should not be a priority when discussing security for your computer.

I will probably give avast a shot again and see what it can do.

I'll check the links you gave.

I fixed it somehow for now. I am very skeptical that it had anything to do with a virus or spyware. I have no idea what I did, I just messed with everything so I imagine in a few weeks I will have a few new problems.

What I need to do is reformat the hard-drive and start over, but the computer is like 3 years old, so it has tons of stuff on it that I am too lazy to transfer over.