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No desktop after logging on

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by jboyes

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We have are running Windows 2000 Advanced Server. After logging in we do not get a desktop all that shows up is the background. Our users can access the files and programs they need to do their work, and we can bring up the task manager. But when we look at the services that are running explorer.exe is not in there. If we try to start it the hour glass comes up for a few seconds like it is trying but then nothing happens. We have looked on Microsoft's Knowledge base and done everything there that it said to do and still nothing. Does anyone have any suggestions besides reinstalling Windows, because we really don't feel like working all night long setting everything back up. Thanks for your help.

2 replies

by matrixcsl

Hi

Strange one that!!! It sounds to me like one of 3 things:

1. Installation went wrong somewhere - which as you say means that re-installing is the only solution.

2. Virus?

3. This is my MOST likely guess. Are you logging on as administrator? Or does the desktop (or lack of desktop) occur whomever you log on as?

Do you have access to active directory/users?

If so, can you create a new user account? What is the outcome? Perhaps the administrator account is using a strange policy?????

Is the administrator account (if created yourself) actually a member of Administrators group?

Hope this helps. Email me if you like

info@it-heaven.co.uk

by joseph moore

Log into the server not as Administrator, but with another adminstrator-level account (like with a Domain Admins-member account) and see if Explorer.exe runs under that account.
Then that tells you there is something hinky with the HKCurrentUser portion of the Registry for the Adminstrator account on that server.
You could then go into the System applet in Control Panel, choose the user profiles tab (I'm not in front of a Win2K machine, so I'm doing this from memory) and delete the Administrator account profile. This would be either the Domain Administrator profile, or the local machine Administrator profile, depending on which Administrator account you don't get Explorer.exe.
THEN log out, and log back in as the afflicted Adminstrator account. Doing that will create a new profile folder structure for Administrator, and a new HKCU.
THEN see if Explorer.exe runs OK.

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