- Windows desktop disappeared, but appears along with all folders and shortcuts if you boot into Safe Mode. What do you think, admin, what could be wrong? My problems began with an active Saturday surfing the Internet, looking for a disk image from my laptop (I touched mine somewhere). I found the image I needed on one of the sites, but decided to open and look at the screenshot of the disk, located on another site - image hosting. And at that moment, I suddenly got alarmed and issued a warning that there was a virus in the folder C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Temp and cleaning was impossible, then the computer froze, I had to force a reboot. After the reboot, a completely empty Windows desktop awaited me, without folders or shortcuts; instead of my permanent screensaver there was another one, and even with such an image, it’s better not to tell you. I tried to launch the Task Manager using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Del, but after it the screen turns black and so on ad infinitum.
I’ve been reading your articles for a long time, I immediately tried to boot into it and was successful, there is a desktop there along with folders with shortcuts in place. Unfortunately, I can’t use it, it’s disabled for me. I launched and scanned the entire system partition C:, three viruses were found, then I booted into the system and, interestingly, the alien screensaver disappeared, but the desktop was still empty. I also have an antivirus at the ready, so I think it’s useful. I booted from the disk, after a full scan another virus was found, but during normal boot the desktop still did not appear. Are there any other options for me other than ? Sergey.
Windows desktop disappeared
Friends, very often I have had to deal with this problem; at first glance, readers asked me two identical questions, but they are solved differently. Let's look at the first case first, since it is much more serious, because it concerns Windows infection by a virus.First of all, in order to successfully deal with this problem, you need to know which system file the virus modifies and which registry settings it changes, then it will not be difficult for you to quickly fix everything. I suggest you take everything apart possible ways solutions to this problem and let's start with the simplest and fastest ones.
- If all else fails, be sure to try the most last method in this article, it is called that If all else fails, it often helps me when my desktop disappears.
- Of course, you need to use anti-virus treatment utilities, then fix the registry and (we'll sort it all out), but you can solve the problem and more in a simple way. I'm sure that if our first reader had System Restore enabled, which can be applied perfectly in Safe Mode, the problem would have been solved in five minutes. First of all, in such cases, you need to remember about recovery; it was invented for a reason.
So, if when we boot Windows the desktop is as empty as a wallet before payday, we try to immediately (without restarting the computer) type keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Del, Task Manager should open, then File -> New task,
We enter explorer in the input field and OK, the desktop should appear with all the shortcuts and folders.
It is the Explorer.exe file that is responsible for launching the Windows graphical shell,
which consists of the desktop, start menu, toolbars and explorer. If the system file Explorer.exe does not start along with the operating system, then the desktop will not start. The explorer.exe file is located in the C:\Windows folder.
You may ask me: - Why didn’t the Explorer.exe file start on its own and you need to force it to start. You can answer this way: - We are lucky, friends, yes, yes, we are lucky - malware I just changed some important registry settings that are responsible for launching the Explorer.exe file (but did not change the file itself). Instead of the Explorer.exe file and the desktop, a malicious application was launched, the process of which can be seen in the Task Manager. How can I fix a damaged registry and make Explorer.exe start on its own? Of course, apply system restore, this is the easiest method. Apply system restore.
Important Note: Friends, sometimes a malicious program modifies or deletes the Explorer.exe file itself. If this article does not help you, read another one, it describes a method for extracting the explorer.exe file from Windows distribution 7 and replacing the faulty file with it.
In exactly half of the cases the problem will be solved and the next time you boot you will see your desktop, then you can check the system for viruses. By the way, you can immediately call system recovery in the Task Manager - File -> New task, enter rstrui.exe in the input field, but this is in Windows 7 and 8. In Windows XP you need to type %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
In most cases, you will see your desktop. Apply system restore and roll back a day.
If in safe mode there is also an empty desktop, but you have system recovery enabled, then you can type Ctrl+Alt+Del, the Task Manager will open, then File -> New task, enter explorer.exe in the input field, the desktop will appear or enter immediately command rstrui.exe, system recovery will start, roll back and check the computer for viruses. It is also advisable to carry out restoration system files Windows.
Safe Mode with Command Line Support
In safe mode with command line support, type explorer.exe in the command line, the desktop opens, then run system restore, edit the registry, and so on.
We can immediately start system recovery with the command rstrui.exe 
In Windows XP, type %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
System restore does not work for some reason
If in all modes system recovery does not work and does not solve the problem, and the desktop is still empty during normal boot, then we go to the registry and manually correct the parameters changed by the virus.
The Explorer.exe application deserves special mention in our entire story, as I already said, it is responsible for launching the Windows graphical shell, which consists of the desktop, start menu, toolbars and explorer.
It is the Explorer.exe file that in our case is attacked by viruses and, if successful, they modify it, as a result of this modification - the Explorer.exe file infected with a virus and a lifeless Windows desktop. But in some cases, viruses do not touch the Explorer.exe file, but change some registry settings. As a result, when the operating system boots, it does NOT refer to the Explorer.exe file, but to a completely different virus file. As a result, the Windows graphical shell again does not load. How to fix the registry if system restore did not work for us?
IN safe mode, launch the registry - Start -> Run and type regedit in the input field,
The registry will open. If in safe mode you also have an empty desktop, then try the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Del, the Task Manager will open, then File -> New task, enter regedit in the input field.
First of all, you need to look at the problem in the registry branch:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon look at the line “shell” it should have the value “explorer.exe”. And in our case, instead of explorer.exe there is the value c:\users\Your username\appdata\local\temp\2lfg38m0.exe 
If at this time we manage to launch the task manager, then instead of the system process Explorer.exe we will see some malicious process, in our case 2lfg38m0.exe.
In the same thread, look at another line “Userinit” It should have the value “C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe”, there should be nothing after the comma. In our case, again the value is c:\users\Username\appdata\local\temp\2lfg38m0.exe
All this needs to be removed and the registry restored to normal. We correct both values in the registry.
Let's look at another registry branch
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer, if there is a parameter: NoDesktop, then its value should be 0, but in no case 1. In general, the NoDesktop parameter can be deleted.
Using the name of the virus 2lfg38m0.exe, I search the registry and find another modified value. Branch
c:\users\Username\appdata\local\temp\2lfg38m0.exe, delete all this, there should be nothing here at all.
Shell parameter must be empty
Explorer.exe file
All this is good, but we have considered the solution to the problem from one side, that is, the Explorer.exe file is not infected, but the virus has made malicious changes in the registry. We performed a system restore, scanned our Windows with anti-virus utilities and removed viruses, then fixed the registry, that’s basically it, the problem is solved and after booting into normal mode we have a desktop.
But the problem may be different, the Explorer.exe file may be infected or deleted altogether, and even if we want to, even with a normal registry, we will not be able to load the Windows desktop. Therefore, if you have when loading operating system it turns out - explorer.exe error or explorer.exe application error and sometimes it's just a black screen.
This means you need to enter Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Command Prompt support and perform system file recovery. How to do it?
Select safe mode with command line support.
Type sfc /scannow on the command line.
System systems are checked and restored Windows files, sometimes the system may ask you to insert a Windows installation disk into the drive. Our file - Explorer.exe will be restored.
AVZ utility
At the end of the answer to the first letter, I would like to give an example of the well-known AVZ utility. If everything said above does not help, you can use this utility.
Let's go to the website of the utility developer - Oleg Zaitsev.
http://z-oleg.com/secur/avz/download.php
Download the utility
Please note here that many users make a mistake when launching the utility. Press CRTL+ALT+DEL, the task manager appears, click File->New task, in the field that opens, enter the full path to the avz.exe file. For example, my file avz.exe is located in the folder C:\Users\Username\Desktop\avz4\avz.exe
So we type C:\Users\Your Username\Desktop\avz4\avz.exe
The main program window opens
We update the AVZ utility. File –> database update
File->System Restore
Check the boxes on item 9. Removing debuggers system processes" and 16. Recovering the Explorer launch key, then click "Perform the marked operations."
Reply to the second letter
Quite recently I had a similar case. One of my friends found in the screen settings, in addition to the main Samsung monitor still unknown to him Display device: VGA. He became interested and made it the main screen, then clicked Apply.
After this, the monitor screen turned black, restarting the computer did not help, the combination Ctrl keys+Alt+Del too - the task manager did not appear. What helped was this: when you booted the computer, you had to press F-8, the troubleshooting menu would open, in which you need to select Loading Last Known Good Configuration that's all. You could also enter safe mode and apply system restore.
Another time there was a completely funny incident. The security guards in our organization decided at night to connect to one system unit two monitors and they were doing something there, probably playing. In the morning we turned off the computer and disconnected the second monitor, then turned on the computer, and there was an empty desktop. I was the first to come to work, they run to me, they say help me, otherwise everything on the computer is gone, and soon the bosses will come.
I go to help and think what’s missing there after all. I sit down at the computer and say - what’s missing? And they show me at the monitor with their hands - look, there is nothing.
I tried Ctrl+Alt+Del, the task manager did not appear, I looked, but the mouse pointer was on the desktop, then I right-clicked on the desktop without much hope and a menu appeared, selected Screen Resolution, I see two monitors in the Screen settings, made it the main one the monitor is active and Apply, the desktop appears.
If all else fails
There is another little-known way to restore Windows 7 boot after a failure, and I’ll tell you about it. At first glance, it may seem difficult to many, but nevertheless it often helps me out.
The fact is, friends, that a very large part of the problems due to which you cannot boot Windows 7 lie in registry errors. And Windows 7 would not be Windows 7 if it did not have a mechanism that protects registry files. Such a mechanism exists and creates backup copies of the registry in the RegBack folder every 10 days, regardless of whether you have system recovery enabled or not.
If you can't solve problems with loading Windows 7 you should try replacing the existing (and apparently damaged) registry files from the Config folder archive files from the RegBack folder. To do this we will have to boot the computer from installation disk Windows 7 or disk Windows recovery 7.
Boot into the recovery environment, select command line
and type in it – notepad , we get into Notepad, then File and Open.
We go into the real explorer, click My Computer. Now we need system disk C:, attention, the drive letters here may be mixed up, but the system drive C: I think you can recognize it by the ones inside system folders Windows and Program Files.
We go to the folder C:\Windows\System32\Config, here are the active registry files, specify the File Type - All files and see our registry files, we also see the RegBack folder, in which every 10 days the Task Scheduler makes a backup copy of the registry keys.
So, we will replace the existing registry files from the Config folder backup files registry from the RegBack folder.
So, first of all, let’s delete from the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder the files SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, DEFAULT, SYSTEM, which are responsible for all registry hives,
and in their place we will copy and paste files with the same names, but from backup copy, that is, from the RegBack folder.
Usually the shortcuts appear after a short delay. But sometimes, even after some time, there is nothing on the screen except the splash screen. Why did the Windows 7 desktop disappear? What to do? Let's try to identify and solve the problem.
Icon display disabled
In all new versions of the OS, personalization settings allow you to completely disable the display of shortcuts. If you are not the only one using the computer, there is a chance that someone else did it accidentally. This is the simplest and most harmless reason explaining why the WIndows 7 desktop disappeared. What to do?
Click right click anywhere on the screen. Find the "View" tab in the context menu. Make sure that the display of shortcuts is turned on - there should be a check mark next to the corresponding item.
Shortcuts have been marked as hidden
It is almost impossible to do this by accident, so in this case, most likely, someone decided to play a joke on you. Icons and folders marked as hidden are still there, but are not displayed by default. If you have lost shortcuts and icons in Windows 7 for this very reason, first of all you need to enable the display of hidden elements. To do this, go to the "Control Panel" and open "Folder Options". In the list on the "View" tab, you need to scroll through the list of parameters and turn on the display hidden files and folders (there should be a checkmark next to the corresponding item). If the shortcuts appear, all that remains is to remove the “hidden” attribute in the properties.
The system has moved the items to the "Unused Shortcuts" folder
This is another one possible reason, explaining why the desktop disappeared. Windows 7 can automatically clean the desktop and, at certain intervals, remove from the workspace those icons that you do not use.
By default, the "Unused Shortcuts" folder should be displayed on the desktop (if not, you can find it through the search). If this is your case, it will be enough to simply move the necessary shortcuts back. After this, you should disable cleaning. To do this, open the screen properties, find the “Desktop” tab and click “Settings…”. You just need to uncheck the box next to “Clean up every 60 days” and save the changes. Although the advice to check the "Trash" may seem stupid to many, we recommend doing so. In practice, it often happens that shortcuts were simply deleted.
The file explorer.exe is missing
Now let's talk about more complex options when it becomes unclear why the Windows 7 desktop disappeared. What to do if the above tips did not help? Most likely, when the system boots, explorer.exe does not start, the process responsible for externally displaying the system. To check this, go to Task Manager > Processes (Ctrl+Shift+Del) and try to find explorer. Sometimes when you try to open the manager, nothing happens. In this case, start Windows in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 button during boot and try again.
In the manager menu, select "File", click "New task" and in the window that appears, enter In the window that opens, you need to enter the path to the file (by default it is in Windows folder, located on drive C:). If the shortcuts appear after this, it means the file is on the computer and you just need to fix a few registry errors.
What should I do if explorer.exe is missing from my computer and cannot be started? In this case, you will need your Windows installation disk.
- Open the disk from another PC and find the explorer.ex_ file in the i386 directory.
- Copy it anywhere and then change the extension to .EXE (to do this you just need to rename it).
- Write the finished file to a USB flash drive and connect it to your computer.
- Run command cmd line through the "Task Manager".
- Navigate to the files located on the flash drive. To do this, you need to enter the name of the disk (E:, D: or another).
- Copy the file to the system folder using the copy explorer.exe C:\\Windows command. If everything is done correctly, a message will appear indicating that the operation was successful.
- Restart your PC.
If you don't have an installation disk, you can copy explorer.exe from another computer to Windows 7.
Explorer.exe has disappeared from the registry
Let's talk in more detail about what to do if the Windows 7 desktop disappears due to registry errors. In this case, when you start the process through the "Task Manager", the shortcuts appear, but after restarting the computer they disappear again. This means that the launch conditions for explorer.exe are incorrectly written in the registry. Launch the Run application and type regedit. The Registry Editor will open. You need to find the following directory:
The Shell line should contain explorer.exe. If some other file is registered instead, or nothing at all, change the value of the parameter. Ready? Go ahead. Now we need to open another folder from the same directory.
If there is an explorer.exe (or iexplorer.exe) entry here, you need to delete it and then restart your PC. If the icons still don't appear, the file is likely corrupted and will need to be replaced.
System settings failed
Sometimes even after adding the file to the registry, the problem persists. This may indicate a glitch in the system settings. Fortunately, the "seven" has a special application - "System Restore", which returns the computer to an earlier state. You can run it using the same Run program. To do this, you need to enter the command shown in the screenshot below.
The computer was infected with viruses
A trivial option is when your Windows 7 desktop has disappeared due to malware. You probably know what to do in this case. To open an antivirus, you can enter the full address of its executable file in the Run window (for example, C:\\Programs\Antivirus\antivirus.exe). It is recommended to scan your PC in Safe Mode. After scanning, delete all infected files and restart your computer.
Even if this does not help, the best solution is to simply reinstall Windows. Required files can be copied to a flash drive via the command line (of course, if you can remember their location).
Today we’ll look at what to do if shortcuts have disappeared from your Windows 7 desktop. Let us touch upon two cases:
- the shortcuts themselves are missing, “Start” and “Taskbar” are functioning;
- Everything has disappeared from the desktop except the background image, and sometimes even that is missing.
You should not go to extremes and think about reinstalling the operating system: almost all icons can be quickly returned. How to do this, read our guide for beginners.
Activating the icon display function
A beginner may not even suspect that all the elements from the desktop on his computer have disappeared because someone inadvertently activated the option to hide icons. Let's turn it off.
- Opening context menu desktop.
- Select the last item in the drop-down list.
- Type “explorer.exe” and press Enter.
After this, the icons on the desktop and the “Start” with the “Taskbar” should appear.
System icons disappear
If any system icon (“Trash”, “My Computer”) is missing, you can create a shortcut for them, for example, by dragging the desired icon from “Start”. But in this case, an arrow typical for such elements will appear near the element. The best way to restore the desired icon is as follows.
- Using the desktop context menu, call up “Personalization”.
- Click “Change desktop icons.”
- Select the checkboxes for the icons that you want to restore and click “OK.”
- Here you can change the icon of any object: click on it, then click on “Change icon...”.
- Select an image from the library or specify the path to your own icon or their library and save the changes.
Problem appears after reboot
If the desktop becomes empty after restarting the computer, you will have to dig into the system registry keys.
- Press Win + R.
- Type “regedit” and click “OK” to execute the command.
- Expand the “HKLM” hive, and in it go to the “Software” folder.
- Open the section shown in the screenshot.
- If it contains a subsection “explorer.exe”, delete it through the context menu.
- We go to the next section along the path shown in the screenshot.
- We look at the value of the “Shell” parameter. If it says “explorer.exe”, then everything is fine. Otherwise, indicate the correct value.
The changes will take effect after you restart your computer.
Disabling the service tool
This tool checks each desktop shortcut for functionality. If there is a shortcut, but there is no file (referring to an inaccessible location or deleted file), the program will delete such an object. If the desktop contains links to removable drives or network directories that sometimes become inaccessible and are defined as non-working, their number must be reduced to a maximum of 4 pieces. Create a separate directory for such objects or pin them to the “Taskbar”.
Also, so that not a single such icon disappears, you can disable the system maintenance tool.
- It is launched through the “Control Panel” - open it.
- Click on the “System and Security” element.
- Through search bar(top right) find the “Troubleshooting” object and click on it.
Problems with loading the desktop in Windows occur when the operating system starts or when exiting sleep mode. This problem can be easily resolved using one of the methods below. Any user can personally follow all the instructions and restore the desktop. To do this, you do not need to have additional knowledge or skills. Let's look at each method in detail.
The process is responsible for loading the desktop explorer.exe. If this task does not work correctly or does not start, the problem in question occurs. It can be solved by manually starting the process or changing registry settings. Before performing all manipulations, you should make sure that the display of shortcuts is turned on. You just need to right-click on a free area of the desktop and select the tab "View" and put a tick next to "Show desktop icons".
Method 1: Manually start the explorer.exe process
Sometimes problems arise in the operation of the OS that lead to Explorer stopping responding, being stopped, or not loading at all. In certain cases, Windows itself restores its activity, but it happens that you will need to start it manually. This is done very simply:
Thanks to this manipulation, the Explorer will be open. In cases where this does not happen, you should check the correctness of the registry settings and try to start the process again.
Method 2: Changing Registry Settings
If launching Explorer was unsuccessful or the desktop disappeared again after rebooting the system, you will need to edit the registry settings, since very often the problem lies precisely in file configuration failures. Follow the instructions below and you will be able to do everything right:
Method 3: Virus cleaning
Windows system crashes are often caused by infection with malicious files. This may also apply to desktop operation. If the above methods did not bring any results, scan and remove the detected threats on your computer using any in a convenient way. Read about the fight against viruses in our article at the link below. In it you will find the necessary instructions.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated about restoring a desktop. We have described in detail three ways in which this task is accomplished. The user just needs to follow the recommendations and everything will definitely work out. It is only important to carefully perform each action.
How to restore the desktop on Windows 7 yourself, without resorting to the help of a computer wizard, when, after turning on your device again, you see a blank blue screen.
This problem can happen to anyone who neglects to install a reliable antivirus program or forgets to check for updates. We present to users quite effective options that will help restore damaged graphic file and remove detected viruses to quarantine.
Having decided to use this option, the user must take into account that the graphical component, which is also responsible for the desktop, operates using explorer software. exe located in the Windows 7 system database. Its damage by a virus causes the problem of the so-called “ Blue screen", which appears after the device starts. The simplest and effective method resuscitation - launch explorer. exe yourself in manual mode. The procedure is not complicated and looks like this:
- Connect a computer and open the task manager section by simultaneously pressing the key combination (Ctrl + Alt + Del).
- In the item that opens, launch “New task”.
- Enter explorer in the search box. exe and start execution.
The desktop will open if the malicious program has not yet begun to cause irreversible damage. In order to fully restore functionality, you need to update your existing anti-virus program and run a full scan.
System Restore feature
If the above method did not lead to the desired result and it was not possible to restore the OS, you need to use a boot disk or use safe mode Windows startup 7.
Boot disk
The main condition for the procedure is that the programs on the disk must match those previously installed on the PC. To install, you must complete the following steps:
- Activate the drive and restart the device.
- On the page that opens, select “Recovery”.
- Run the scan and if the OS matches, click the “Next” button.
- Select the appropriate section for the restoration procedure in automatic mode.
After the device restarts, the desktop will begin to display again. If this does not happen, you must select “Safe Mode” and manually enter the command “Sfc /scannow”. The system will automatically search and do everything necessary to restore damaged files and restore the operation of the device.
Safe mode
When restarting the device, you must press F8, bringing up the parameter correction window in which you need to make special teams:
- Activate the “Safe Mode” section.
- Using the "Start" button, enter "System Restore".
After restarting the computer, the system should restore the graphic file and the desktop should be displayed on the monitor screen again. Full check The OS is checked for the presence of virus programs and their removal is mandatory.
Using the Registry
IN this option The specifics of launching a computer graphic file through a given branch of its registry are taken into account. If there is malware present, it will block explorer from launching. exe, destroying it more and more after each attempt to launch it. You can use the registry for recovery as follows:
- Through the “Task Manager” menu, open the registry, to do this, manually insert “regedit” into the search column.
- In the registry itself, you need to go to the Winlogon directory and set the Shell property to explorer. exe, the value written there is a malicious program, its name must be copied before replacing.
- Search for a virus by simultaneously pressing the Ctr+F keys and pasting the previously copied name of the virus into the “Find” item.
After successful search and removal virus program(may take some time due to the fact that they have learned to hide well), be sure to reboot the device. If the graphic file is activated, then the procedure was completed successfully.
Choose the most convenient option for restoring your computer if problems arise with graphic editor, and at the same time, without delay, check the functionality of the installed antivirus program, update it to the latest value and spend full scan your computer equipment. The sooner malware is detected, the less harm it will have time to cause to your PC.
In contact with
Loading...
