Blank Desktop Help

[Mrplumberman]

Hi Guys

My sony Vaio desktop has today developed a blank screen, well just the wallpaper picture, no icons or sys tray etc etc

I think its a virus that my nortons 360 has not picked up, any ideas how to reload without losing data.?

[BeeCeeBee]

Normally MrPlumbermann I would just make a few suggestions on how to regain your desktop icons and restore your taskbar as I did here: http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/41729-post2.html You should, of course try the things listed but, even if it works it does not indicate why this has happened and, you may well have other problems that you can't see as yet.

 

However this appears to be the 4th time this week that we have had a similar set of problems. That is a bit to coincidental and I am now going to suggest that it may be a malware problem.

 

Can you get into safemode and see if any of the accounts listed there will allow you to either see your files or at least give you sufficient control over the computer so that we can try to disinfect it and, perhaps, avoid having to try to recover your data.

[drieschnoronha]

Dear sir,

 

I am no genius but I have had this problem before. What I did was get to the part where my wallpaper was displayed and then open taskmanager(Ctrl+Alt+Del) and go to the processes tab and check under the image name section for explorer.exe

 

If you cannot find it, at the top of task manager click on file and select new task and in the box type in explorer.exe

 

This should solve your problem. If it doesn't, you have either got a corrupt explorer file or a virus.

[BeeCeeBee]

That is good advice from the member with far too many letters in his/her name to retype. :)

 

One addition, should you happen to find explorer.exe in processes, end the process and then retype it as a new task.

[Mrplumberman]

Thanks guys, I now have my desktop back, I have done full system scan with my Nortons 360 and nothing found, but...... xp police keeps flashing up saying I have 627 serious infections, I have also run crap cleaner, Adaware and spybot and all i found were a few malware issues.

Any further ideas ?

[BeeCeeBee]

YES!!! This is also the 2nd time for the XP Police and you clearly did not mention that before. You have picked up some malware and need to get rid of it. XP Police is a rogue that pretends to be an antivirus program, First go to your control panel and then to add and remove programs. Uninstall any reference to XP Police. Once that is done run a search for xp police an remove any remnats that you may find.

 

I would suggest that you consider that Norton let this in in the first place when deciding on the future of antivirus protection for your PC. Once that is done reboot and see if the problem persists. If so there may be a registry change that needs correction

 

Once you reboot please consider the following proven maware removal process.

 

Your computer appears to be infected with Malware. Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. It is a combination of the words malicious and software. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

 

It is in your best interest to note the following:

1. Please disable your resident security applications (such as AVG, Spybot, WinPatrol, etc.) before performing the below procedure so that they do not interfere with the process.
   
2. Perform all the steps in the order listed to avoid any conflicts.
   
3. If unsure, please stop and voice your doubts.
   
4. You might be required to go offline during the disinfection process. Therefore, it is recommended to print off the instructions below for ease of reference.
   

If you stick to the above guidelines, all should go smoothly.

 

================================================

STEP 1

1. Download ATF-Cleaner by Atribune.
   
2. Save the file to your Desktop.
   
3. Double-click on the file to run the program.
   
4. On the Main tab, check the Select All button.
   
5. Next, click on the Firefox tab (if applicable) and check the Select All button.
    
   Note: If you would like to preserve your saved passwords in Firefox, then click No at the corresponding prompt.
   
6. Now, click on the Opera tab (if applicable) and check the Select All button.
    
   Note: If you would like to preserve your saved passwords in Opera, then click No at the corresponding prompt.
   
7. Press the Empty Selected button and click OK to acknowledge the corresponding prompt.
   
8. Click on the Exit button to quit the program.
   

================================================

STEP 2

1. Please click here to download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware.
   
2. Save the file to your Desktop.
   
3. Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
   
4. At the end, make sure a check mark is placed next to:
   
   1. 
      
   2. Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
      
   3. Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
      

 

[*] Click Finish.

[*] The program will download and update itself if it finds the necessity to do so. Please allow this.

[*] Once the program has loaded, select Perform full scan, then click Scan.

 

Note: Depending on your computer specifications, the scan may take some time to complete. Please wait patiently and do not interrupt the process.

[*] When the scan is complete, click OK, and then Show Results to view the results.

[*] Make sure that every entry is selected, and click Remove Selected.

[*] Restart your computer.

================================================

STEP 3

1. Please click here to download SUPERAntiSpyware (Free Version).
   
2. Save the file to your Desktop.
   
3. Double-click SUPERAntiSpyware.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
   
4. Open SUPERAntiSpyware.
   
5. Under Configuration and Preferences, click the Preferences button.
   
6. Click the Scanning Control tab.
   
7. Under Scanner Options make sure the following fields checked:
   

    

   [*] Click the Close button to leave the control center screen.

   [*] On the main screen, under Scan for Harmful Software click Scan your computer.

   [*] On the left, make sure you check mark C:\Fixed Drive.

   [*] On the right, under Complete Scan, choose Perform Complete Scan.

   [*] Click Next to start the scan. Please be patient while it scans your computer.

   [*] After the scan is complete, a Scan Summary box will appear with potentially harmful items that were detected. Click OK.

   [*] Make sure every entry has a check mark next to it and click Next.

   [*] A notification will appear that Quarantine and Removal is Complete. Click OK and then Finish to return to the main menu.

   [*] Restart your computer.

   ================================================

   STEP 4
   1. Please visit the ESET Online Scanner, using Internet Explorer to initiate the scan.
       
      Note: If you are running Windows Vista, then you will need Administrative privileges to complete the latter part of the procedure. To do so, right-click on the Internet Explorer icon in the Start Menu and select the Run As Administrator option in the shell context menu.
      
   2. Check mark the YES, I accept the Terms of Use box.
      
   3. Click the Start button.
      
   4. Click the Install button on the following screen.
      
   5. Click Start. This will will initialize and update the scanner engine.
      
   6. Check mark the box beside Remove found threats.
      
   7. Click the Scan button. This will start the scan. Please be patient while it is in progress.
      
   8. Restart your computer.
      

   ================================================

   STEP 5
   1. Click on Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and select System Restore.
      
   2. Choose the radio button marked Create a Restore Point on the first screen and click Next. Give the restore point a name then click Create. The new point will be stamped with the current date and time. Keep a note of this so you can find it easily should you need to use System Restore.
      
   3. Next, click on Start > Run, type Cleanmgr and click on OK.
      
   4. Click on the More Options tab.
      
   5. Click the Clean Up button in the System Restore section to remove all previous restore points except the most recent one.
      

   This will remove any infected files that have been backed up by Windows. The files in "System Restore" are protected to prevent any programs changing those files. This is the only foolproof way to ensure the deletion of those files.

    

   Note: Please don't use it on a regular basis as this will clear all previous restore points. The feature might be very useful to revert your computer to working condition if something goes wrong.

    

   Re-enable all your security applications and please return here and tell us how the computer seems to be operating.

    

   Happy Safe Computing! http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/../../images/additional-smilies/thumb.gif

Close browsers before scanning
Scan for tracking cookies
Terminate memory threats before quarantining

[Mrplumberman]

Sorry but I only just found the xp police stuff after I got my desktop back, also my add or remove programs button is not working. Application error rundll32.exe

could they be linked?

Edited February 21, 2009 by Mrplumberman

[BeeCeeBee]

So it would seem. Please run the malware removal program that I gave you. It should get you to a point where the PC is clean and then we can search for remnants of the XP police.

[BeeCeeBee]

XP Police has been know to block users from running antimalwarebytes if that should happen to you go to where you saved the file and rename it to anything else that will allow you to remember it. That should fool the xp police and allow it to load and run. Do not forget to upgrade.