Win XP icons "disappeared"

[Clive Long]

Weird behaviour today on my XP machine.

Roday I started up my slow but steady Win XP Pro SP2 laptop

All the application launch icons on my task bar have disappeared.

A config file I had recently created for an application has "disappeared".

The Internet Explorer short-cut has disappeared.

All (most?) applications still seem to be there.

I didn't delete anything in a drunken stupor. There were no error messages, as I recall, when I started the machine telling me that the XP had reverted to some previous configuration.

Any idea what has happened?

Clive

[Lee Bartholomew]

To state the ob first, have you tried restarting it?

Next, has it gone in to safe mode (you norm get that message if it has)?

Are there more than one account on the machine?

[Clive Long]

Originally Posted by woodface

To state the ob first, have you tried restarting it?

Yes

Next, has it gone in to safe mode (you norm get that message if it has)?

No

Are there more than one account on the machine?

No

[WittyBird]

Sounds like the profile might be corrupt. Simpliest fix is a new Windows profile. Reboot the machine and then login as another user with administrator rights. Create a new temporary account if you cannot recall what the administrator account password is.
Once the machine has been logged in as another user, rename the folder in C:\Documents and Settings\ that matches your user name. Simply put 001 or something on the end. Then reboot the machine again. Login as yourself once more and you will have a clean profile. Copy across the contents of "My Documents" and other data files from the old profile location to the new one. DO NOT copy the entire profile folder as that could bring corruption across as well.

HTH

[StokeBloke]

Originally Posted by Clive Long

All the application launch icons on my task bar have disappeared.

Any idea what has happened?

Try, right mouse clicking on your Task Bar (anywhere it's blank) from the pop up menu select [Toolbars] and make sure that there is a check mark next to Quick Launch. If there isn't click it to select it to its 'on' status.

HTH

[WittyBird]

Originally Posted by StokeBloke

Try, right mouse clicking on your Task Bar (anywhere it's blank) from the pop up menu select [Toolbars] and make sure that there is a check mark next to Quick Launch. If there isn't click it to select it to its 'on' status.

Might be it.

Doubt it though it just doesn't disappear like that, it depends what else is missing

[StokeBloke]

Originally Posted by WittyBird

Might be it.

Doubt it though it just doesn't disappear like that, it depends what else is missing

When problem solving I always try the most simple solution (like is it plugged in) before getting into the complex stuff. It's a policy that has served me well in the past

[frodo]

Originally Posted by Clive Long

Any idea what has happened?

If you haven't checked it so far, the event log often holds clues as to what went wrong.

[Clive Long]

Originally Posted by StokeBloke

Try, right mouse clicking on your Task Bar (anywhere it's blank) from the pop up menu select [Toolbars] and make sure that there is a check mark next to Quick Launch. If there isn't click it to select it to its 'on' status.

HTH

Yes!

That was it.

I certainly didn't disable it though.

The QuickLaunch icons came back large so I have reset them to small.

That config file still vaporised - but I can recreate it.

Can you tell me where to access the log file? Neither Accessories > System Tools nor Control Panel give me access.

Thanks

Clive

[frodo]

Originally Posted by Clive Long

Can you tell me where to access the log file?

It should be under "Control Panel"-"Performance and Maintenance"/"Administrative Tools" - Event Viewer.

Alternatively right click on "My Computer", select "Manage" - the event viewer will be shown as one item in the tree.

The "System" then the "Application" logs are most likely to hold any relevant events.