I'm a newbie to these forums, and I really know very little about fixing problems with computers. I have a Windows desktop, running XP Professional edition. It's been great for 4 years now, with only little issues that I've been able to fix on my own, but I just ran into a problem I have no idea how to go about solving.
Last night I somehow got an 'Antispyware 2010' virus on the computer. Fixed it today by downloading MalwareBytes, and computer worked fine afterwards. I'm pretty sure this isn't what's causing the problem. Windows Defender hasn't been working for a while, so I decided that this would be a good time to get it back up and running. I followed some advice related to the error message (http://social.technet.microsoft.com.../thread/e2a2d814-60ad-4c5b-9507-2370cbe29f7c/) and after restarting the computer the problem at hand arose.
The issue: The computer restarted (and restarts) fine. It comes up to the screen where you choose the user. Once you choose the user and type in the password it starts up alright, the wallpaper loads, and the desktop images load. That's where everything stops working correctly. The taskbar fails to load - it remains a darker shade of blue than normal, start menu doesn't show, and the system tray doesn't show. When you drag the cursor down over the taskbar, it changes from the pointer to the hourglass. All of the desktop icons are there, but you can't click on any of them. Control+alt+delete doesn't work. The computer is basically frozen, except for the fact that you can move the cursor around.
I have no idea how to begin getting the computer back up and running. I am writing from a laptop, so the PC is basically non-functional for the time being. Any advice would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
Thanks in advance,
Matt
Last night I somehow got an 'Antispyware 2010' virus on the computer. Fixed it today by downloading MalwareBytes, and computer worked fine afterwards. I'm pretty sure this isn't what's causing the problem. Windows Defender hasn't been working for a while, so I decided that this would be a good time to get it back up and running. I followed some advice related to the error message (http://social.technet.microsoft.com.../thread/e2a2d814-60ad-4c5b-9507-2370cbe29f7c/) and after restarting the computer the problem at hand arose.
The issue: The computer restarted (and restarts) fine. It comes up to the screen where you choose the user. Once you choose the user and type in the password it starts up alright, the wallpaper loads, and the desktop images load. That's where everything stops working correctly. The taskbar fails to load - it remains a darker shade of blue than normal, start menu doesn't show, and the system tray doesn't show. When you drag the cursor down over the taskbar, it changes from the pointer to the hourglass. All of the desktop icons are there, but you can't click on any of them. Control+alt+delete doesn't work. The computer is basically frozen, except for the fact that you can move the cursor around.
I have no idea how to begin getting the computer back up and running. I am writing from a laptop, so the PC is basically non-functional for the time being. Any advice would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
Thanks in advance,
Matt
