Win XP stuck after log in

[Voss]

Hi everybody, this is my first time in this forum. I hope you can help me now and I hope I can help you too.

Well this is the issue: I'm fixing a computer, the problem is when i log in with any account it stucks immediatly after this action. I can only see the wallpaper and nothing else, I can't see any icon, neither the start button.

I think is a virus, but I haven't figured a way of scan the computer. The same ocurrs if I boot the machine in safe mode. Using BART ( Bootable antivirus and recovery tool ) cd I could copy the important information into another computer using the network. So I can format the computer and everyone is going to be happy, but I really wanted to know what's going on before performing this.

Any ideas or help is all welcome.

Thanks a lot!

[strel]

You think it is a virus, use an antivirus scanner from a bootable media to scan the HD for the virus, if you find it try to clean it. And be careful because the virus could be in the data backup you saved. I'd wait to use this data until I'd be able to clean any virus contained.

Edited September 20, 2009 by strel

[Geej]

Hi everybody, this is my first time in this forum. I hope you can help me now and I hope I can help you too.

Well this is the issue: I'm fixing a computer, the problem is when i log in with any account it stucks immediatly after this action. I can only see the wallpaper and nothing else, I can't see any icon, neither the start button.

Any ideas or help is all welcome.

Thanks a lot!

Try Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up Task Manager. Type Explorer.exe from Files-> New Task (Run...). It might restart Explorer and get to desktop.

[Voss]

Hi everyone, thanks for your answers. About to use an antivirus I already tried with the same disk I used for backup the data, certainly the data i backed up was already scanned and no virus was found, the bad news is that the bootable antivirus the disk has was useless, it stucks in the middle of the scan.

About use ctrl + alt + del I already tried that too, I did the explorer procedure you described but nothing happened.

Can you recommend me another booteable antivirus please????

[*Daniel]

Some of the ones I use include Kaspersky, Bitdefender, Norton MAY have one but I'm not sure

[Ponch]

About use ctrl + alt + del I already tried that too, I did the explorer procedure you described but nothing happened.

Maybe you can try typing CMD instead of Explorer then at the command line type "chkdsk c: /f" and see if anything gets fixed.

[Voss]

Thanks, let me try those antivirus and the cmd option and I'll let you know about the results.

[JRosenfeld]

It could be due to a conflict between two items set to load at startup.

try going into safe mode and use msconfig to disable all startup items. If that solves the problem, renable one or two and test, etc.

Edited September 28, 2009 by JRosenfeld

[macgyvr]

Hi everyone, thanks for your answers. About to use an antivirus I already tried with the same disk I used for backup the data, certainly the data i backed up was already scanned and no virus was found, the bad news is that the bootable antivirus the disk has was useless, it stucks in the middle of the scan.

About use ctrl + alt + del I already tried that too, I did the explorer procedure you described but nothing happened.

Can you recommend me another booteable antivirus please????

If Windows is hanging AND the antivirus software is hanging, even from a bootable disk, you've got a hardware problem. Most likely faulty RAM.

[Maxfutur]

Maybe there is a virus, maybe not anymore.

I have seen same problem once about 8 monts ago.

What it does?

Move, Delete or Rename explorer.exe

How you can fix this?

Open task manager

Open CMD

Copy from somewhere else the same or closest explorer.exe versión to C:\windows or where %WINDIR%\ is.

Works for me, then update outdated kaspersky virus database (didn't reboot), run the scanner, 1 virus found and killed.

Edited September 28, 2009 by Maxfutur

[Tripredacus]

There is also the dreaded "Antivirus 2009" clones which do this AND disable Task Manager. The OP didn't mention whether or not Task Manager opened or not, only that it was tried.

[chilifrei64]

When you said you were "Fixing your computer", what were you fixing it from.

I had a similar problem when fixing my brothers computer. I replaced his failed hard drive, imaged it and copied it over to his new hard drive. I spent hours doing boot logging and reading logs and everything and nothing came out of it.. a quick repair installation took care of it though..

So yeah.. might be a hard drive issue???

What happened since the last time it worked and now?

[Maxfutur]

There is also the dreaded "Antivirus 2009" clones which do this AND disable Task Manager. The OP didn't mention whether or not Task Manager opened or not, only that it was tried.

He wasnt clear but he did, see "i did the explorer procedure..." and the post before.

What he didnt say is "i saw only one explorer" or "i tried 2 files called explorer".

Hi everyone, thanks for your answers. About to use an antivirus I already tried with the same disk I used for backup the data, certainly the data i backed up was already scanned and no virus was found, the bad news is that the bootable antivirus the disk has was useless, it stucks in the middle of the scan.

About use ctrl + alt + del I already tried that too, I did the explorer procedure you described but nothing happened.

Can you recommend me another booteable antivirus please????

It can be very possible that there is not explorer.exe, only explorer.scf wich does nothing if there is not explorer.exe.

[gerson2k]

This problem is due to a virus.

What you need to do is delete the explorer key in the registry.

CTRL + ALT + DEL and bring up task manager, file>new task (run) and regedit -

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\Explorer.exe

When you try to delete this it will throw up an error telling you you don't have permissions. Drill into the properties and take ownership (assuming you're an local admin), then reapply permissions by inheritance. You should now be in a position to delete this key. Log off and it should now log in fine.

[Voss]

Thanks everybody, sorry about the delay in my answers, I still have the computer for

trying all the recommendations you told me.

Well, reading the posts, I'm gonna try the following and I'll let you know what

solve the issue.

1-

Maybe you can try typing CMD instead of Explorer then at the command line

type "chkdsk c: /f" and see if anything gets fixed.

2-

Open task manager

Open CMD

Copy from somewhere else the same or closest explorer.exe versión

to C:\windows or where %WINDIR%\ is.

3-

CTRL + ALT + DEL and bring up task manager,

file>new task (run) and regedit -

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\Explorer.exe