Desktop wallpaper, background color and icon issue

[Sheri99]

Something has happened which corrupts my desktop and icon functionality. If I go into Display Properties-Desktop, I can no longer preview an image centered or tiled. The Preview appears as a white box (no image, no background color). Stretched wallpaper previews properly. On the actual desktop, as long as icons are showing, a centered or tiled image displays properly. But if I right-click on the desktop, select Arrange Icons by, and clear the selection for Show Desktop Icons, the entire display goes white (no wallpaper, background color or icons). The change takes a second or two. If the wallpaper image is stretched (rather than centered or tiled) it takes a second or two before the icons are removed but the stretched image is subsequently redisplayed.

I am not using web content on the desktop.

I created a new user, and these issues do not apply to the new user. (up to date Win XP Pro SP2)

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Sheri

 

[linney]

Sounds a bit like your user profile may be corrupted if it is not happening for the newly created user.

If that is the case then these might help.

811151 - How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

Error Message: Windows Cannot Load Your Profile Because It May Be Corrupted (Q318011)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q318/0/11.asp

You could try System Restore if this has only recently begun happening.

If you want to check if any specific third party program is a cause of the problem try this procedure.

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

 

[Sheri99]

I've identified the problem, I don't know if Microsoft is aware of it. In Internet Explorer's Internet Options I had enabled the Assessibility option to ignore colors on web pages. Once this option is disabled, the Windows desktop functions properly again (although I think it is still taking longer than it used to remove and redisplay icons).

Regards,
Sheri

 

[linney]

What browser version IE6 or IE7?

It was clever of you to discover that solution. I cannot see any articles on the MS Knowledge Base mentioning that possible bug. Conversely there are plenty of posts on Google where it is suggested for one reason or another to select that particular check box.

Perhaps if you have time you might report your findings to Microsoft.

https://support.microsoft.com/commo...url=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx

If the above method doesn't work for you I would forget about telling Microsoft as that can be a frustrating procedure.

You still have the problem of slowness in displaying the Desktop, maybe that will come good after a few reboots, if not you can try some of my earlier suggestions concerning your profile.

It wouldn't hurt to run Disk Cleanup, Defrag, and then run ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking. Select both boxes.

 

[Sheri99]

I'm running IE 7 on XP Pro. I'll have to boot the laptop and see what happens with IE6 and XP Home.

Regards,
Sheri

 

[Sheri99]

On my laptop running XP Home the following crashed Windows Explorer. I allowed the problem to be reported to Microsoft. But then Dr. Watson crashed. I also allowed that to be reported.

1. Started IE 6. Enabled Assessibility option to ignore colors specified on Web pages. Closed IE 6.

2. Ran Display settings to see how preview looked when changing wallpaper (centered or tiled). As in XP Pro with IE 7, the preview window was all white.

3. Started IE 6 and disabled the Assessibility option. Closed IE 6.

4. Toggled off the showing of desktop icons.

5. Toggled on the showing of desktop icons. This is where "Windows Explorer performed an illegal operation..." etc.

Regards,
Sheri

 

[linney]

Is the Desktop Image a .jpg or .bmp, and does that make a difference?

I'll check your steps out (when time permits) and post back any strange happenings.

 

[linney]

I have not been able to crash IE7 while following your directions.

I did see a white blank preview screen before I pressed Apply on the Display Properties to accept my settings. This however was only with a .jpg file, not with a .bmp file. That indicates that there maybe some variance caused by the type of file.

There is some mention in this thread (near the end) of what the difference between using .bmp or .jpg files is.

Wallpaper Problem
thread779-1274805

One other thought are you seeing this behavior from Safe Mode too?