Icons = gone. Active Desktop = gone. Help files = gone.

[CEW]

HELP!!! This is a pretty complicated story, and some of the info may be irrelevant, but I really hope someone can answer this.

Last week I was surfing mtv.com with America Online 7.0, which I had downloaded the previous week. I use Windows 98. A car hit a pole a ways down from my street so the phones were out for about 1/2 hour. I was kicked offline (I use this slow modem). I shut down / restarted the computer, and when I came back on ScanDisk started to run (no idea why), then said an error message about 'cross-linked files'. I exited out of that and when the desktop came up, the background image I had up was gone as well as every icon that had ever been added since I got the computer (more than two years ago - that's a lot of lost icons). Only My Computer, My Documents, Recycle Bin, Network Neighborhood, etc. etc. were left - none of the graphic programs or the games or the AOL icon or ANYTHING. I got another error message, which I still get - " Internet Explorer cannot find the Active Desktop HTML file. The file is needed for your active desktop. Press OK to turn off active desktop. " I thought this was strange so I go to the START > HELP , but it goes "cannot open the file %systemroot%\help\windows.chm." I go to START > PROGRAMS, and EVERYTHING is GONE FROM THAT. It went START > PROGRAMS > StartUp > [empty]. I tried the Microsoft help site, it said to correct the active desktop program find the mshtml.dll file, well I did, but when I tried to do what the help page said to do, "Windows is currently using the Active Desktop HTML File" even though apparently, its turned off and on at the same time. I've been using the My Computer to find stuff, but the weird thing is that EVERY .hlp file does not seem to work for ANY program. I have McAfee (that has been recently updated) on my computer, and it could not find a virus, etc. I also used the online HouseCall virus scanner and it didn't find anything either. This is very frustrating. I contacted Microsoft, they were no help, they told me to contact HP, and they have no idea. HELP !! PLEASE !!

Also, if I try to use recovery, does that mean that every mp3 and work file and graphic files I do for my website will be gone as well as every program I have added in the last two years?

 

[SPYDERIX]

Try this first. When you're in Windows shutdown (but choose to restart in MS-DOS Mode instead of shutdown)

When you're in DOS type cd\ to clear whatever folder it might be in.

Then type CD WINDOWS
Then type CD COMMAND
Then type SCANREG /RESTORE

then choose to back-up a registry before the car crashed, then it will restart and hopefully that might undo whatever has happened.

Keep us posted.
Nate
"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space!"

 

[Purd]

If Nate's suggestion doesn't help and you have a HP Pavilion with a recovery disk then try this!.
Boot up with the rcovery disk in the CD ROM and wait for the recovery programme to start. Hit ok and go to "selective recovery" (I think it is called that.)
Follow instructions eg: want to reinstall all exe files? type C:\windows\*.exe
all .dll files type C:\Windows\system*.dll
all the system files
C:\windows\system\*.* Get the picture? All the files you have on your computer will be saved. They will only written over if you tell the computer to do a full recover.
Trust me I have done this 20 times with a finnicky machine . The worst of it is that you will have to reinstall some drivers (printer) and some minor programmes like Media player. All your documents etc will be safe
Good Luck Purdy
purdbarb@aol.com if you need help

 

[Purd]

SORRY I didn't really finish! You need to decide what you need to restore. There will be better people than me to advise you on that so I leave that open to the magnanimous experts who patrol this site helping the likes of us!! Regards Purdy