Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: SPKmes on March 12, 2010, 06:54:56 PM
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My son found something on you tube about changing the start button name. He made the change but didn't like it so he tried to change it again...this is where we run into a problem...
On starting the PC it will run through it's process...he enters his password.....it says it is installing his settings..... his desktop background comes up with nothing else other than the mouse cursor.... Left or right clicking the mouse buttons has no effect...the cursor does move around the screen but nothing else is there and nothing else works...
I have tried defaults in the bios....I have tried safe mode....All I get with safe mode is a black screen with safe mode written in each corner of the screen and the windows build and sp along the top....
Oh I better add it is windows XP Home
Does anybody have any Idea as to what he might have done....or how to fix this....I bought this PC 1 year ago with windows loaded and al other discs I have do not allow me to change with them as his version is newer.....
By the way he is 11 and has no idea what he did so I am totally lost as to what he may have changed.
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Can you do a repair install with one of your other disks? Is it an OEM PC like dell or compaq? There is always the recovery counsel if you have any experience with that.
If the mouse cursor moves around maybe you can get into the task manager ctrl alt del.... and run a system file checker from the run command in there .
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Have you checked to see if "explorer.exe" is listed in the "Processes" tab when you open the Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del)? If not, go to File>New Task (Run). Type in explorer.exe then press OK.
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Can you do a repair install with one of your other disks? Is it an OEM PC like dell or compaq? There is always the recovery counsel if you have any experience with that.
If the mouse cursor moves around maybe you can get into the task manager ctrl alt del.... and run a system file checker from the run command in there .
Have you checked to see if "explorer.exe" is listed in the "Processes" tab when you open the Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del)? If not, go to File>New Task (Run). Type in explorer.exe then press OK.
I can open the task manager...I can't remember if I saw explorer....I will check it out now
cheers guys
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sounds like hes either done 1 of 2 things.... knowing that the way to change the start button name is to edit the explorer.exe file with a hex editor... he has messed up the file that windows is reading
theres obviously a couple of ways he could have went about changing the file....
hopefully at the very least he started with a backup of explorer.exe
the common methods to change the name are either :
create a copy named something like explorer1.exe, etc........ then edit the new file..... then from dos replace the old file with the new one
if this is an NTFS system (cant see files from dos)...... he had to change the registry to point to the new file instead of the original
so how do you fix it........ simple..... if he made a backup of explorer.exe......... boot into dos and replace the file...... should be in C:\windows theres also another copy that must be replaced in C:\windows\system32\dllcache\
if he didnt make a backup....... youre hosed...... reinstall
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Cheers for your help guys...ran the new task ...explore.exe.... and that allowed me access...while looking for a fix I found he had done more than tried to change a name..... he had downloaded some program that allowed access to registry files and also to change them... the idiot had wiped out his windows file contents...I'm not sure what had happened to them but I did a system restore and all seems to be ok....
Cheers guys.. <S>
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Cheers for your help guys...ran the new task ...explore.exe.... and that allowed me access...while looking for a fix I found he had done more than tried to change a name..... he had downloaded some program that allowed access to registry files and also to change them... the idiot had wiped out his windows file contents...I'm not sure what had happened to them but I did a system restore and all seems to be ok....
Cheers guys.. <S>
:rofl :rofl :rofl Glad to see yer up and running.
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Don't you just love those funny little things kids do. :D
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Glad it works. Don't forget, make weekly backups. You never know when you desktop will suddenly disappear. :P