Computer Issue, no Desktop?

[TheLogman]

So I closed my laptop when I went to bed last night. When I turned it on this morning, there was nothing on the Desktop, no wallpaper, no icons, no start bar, nothing. I was able to use the task manager to open programs, and it's not frozen or anything, my desktop is just gone.

I'm running Windows Vista on a 2009 Toshiba laptop.

Any idea what's wrong? I didn't, to my knowledge, navigate to any sites I don't usually go to, so I don't think its a virus, and I haven't been nosing around in the system files or anything like that. I tried restarting and turning it off, to no avail.

Maybe I could just execute the desktop program? Maybe it got turned off on the run on start up programs or something?

How do I fix this?

[GreyVulpine]

Make sure "explorer.exe" is running in the processes list. If it isn't, run it, that'll usually get your desktop back.

Are you sure nobody else mistakenly screwed with the laptop in any way? "msconfig" is a popular way to turn off services and boot-up applications, speeding up boot time, but can also have grave consequences if one doesn't know what they're doing. Registry editing can do the same thing.

[Kara Kuro]

Vista did the same thing to my laptop. One day just.... poof! My desktop got 'nomed. Granted, I didn't solve my problem in the best way, but I only had to deal with it for a while before my copy of Win7 shipped.

I do feel your pain though. It sucks.

[valadil]

Make sure "explorer.exe" is running in the processes list. If it isn't, run it, that'll usually get your desktop back.


Yup. Although if it is running (or iexplore.exe I think) you may have to kill it and then restart it.

[InaVegt]

Yup. Although if it is running (or iexplore.exe I think) you may have to kill it and then restart it.

IIRC, iexplore.exe is internet explorer

[KuReshtin]

So I closed my laptop when I went to bed last night. When I turned it on this morning, there was nothing on the Desktop, no wallpaper, no icons, no start bar, nothing. I was able to use the task manager to open programs, and it's not frozen or anything, my desktop is just gone.

I'm running Windows Vista on a 2009 Toshiba laptop.

Any idea what's wrong? I didn't, to my knowledge, navigate to any sites I don't usually go to, so I don't think its a virus, and I haven't been nosing around in the system files or anything like that. I tried restarting and turning it off, to no avail.

Maybe I could just execute the desktop program? Maybe it got turned off on the run on start up programs or something?

How do I fix this?

Highlighted a comment in your post.
'Closed' the laptop? As in, just shut the lid, or properly shut the laptop down?

if you just closed the lid, and the laptop went into hibernation mode or sleep mode during the night, it might just be something wrong with the hibernation file or the startup config for the machine when bringing it back up from those modes.

Do you get the same after a complete reboot?
If you're unsure if you've done a complete reboot, shut the ting down as safely as you can, then remove the batery and the power adapter to make sure that it's completely dead. Then start it back up again. The normal boot should kick in again, and unless something's completely pooched on your system, you should be able to get it back up again.

If not, the final solution to your problem might be to run a complete system recovery from your recovery partition (usually acceiible through hitting the F11-key during POST).

[Zovc]

I agree with the above post, but check Task Manager first. Look for explorer.exe in your processes. If you don't see it, that is probably your problem. If you do see it, try ending the process.

If ending explorer.exe doesn't solve the problem, or you don't see it, try restarting windows.

Closing your laptop may or may not shut it down. Hibernation (what likely happens when you close your laptop) often sucks, particularly for batery-operated machines.

[scsimodem]

Disclaimer: I advertise my employment not as an endorsement for my employers but as a qualifier of my advice. Also, I am listing all steps involved in any instructions I give not because I think you're stupid, but because it's typically easier to assume virtually no knowledge of computers than to spend copious amounts of time re-iterating instructions. I know it comes off as condescending and I apologize.

I work for a certain computer help desk within a certain retail store, and I see stuff like this all the time.

First: What is going on is just what the astute man earlier in the thread said, namely, that the GUI (graphical user interface) program in Windows, explorer.exe is not currently running or not running properly. Open up the task manager and click on the processes tab. Click 'image name' to make sure they're in alphabetical order, then look for explorer.exe. If it is there, select it and click 'end task.'

Once that's done (or not done, if explorer.exe was not there), go back to the applications tab and click 'new task.' Type 'explorer.exe' and hit enter. That should fix the problem. Of course, going to the users tab, logging off, then shutting down and restarting should also fix the problem. If this isn't a problem that can't be solved with a simple restart, you've got bigger issues and should take it to your local computer expert, unless he was the one who screwed it up.

Second: Hibernate is the biggest cluster fornication I've seen in all Windows Vista, not counting conflicts with Trend Micro or McAfee virus scanners (don't use them...PLEASE...on the other hand, do use them. It means more money for my employers). The whole feature is buggy as hell and shouldn't be used by anyone. Either always do a full shut down before closing the lid or go to start menu->control panel->hardware and sound->power options. There should be something in there that changes what the computer does when you close the lid. Change it. Disable it. I don't care, just do NOT...EVER put a Vista machine in hibernate...EVER!!!!

[TheLogman]

Ahhh, that worked. As soon as I ran explorer.exe it opened up perfectly, everything is back to normal.

And I'll remember that advice about hibernate.

[Zovc]

And I'll remember that advice about hibernate.

Not trying to be snappy, but it isn't really something to remember. It's more so something to do and then forget about.

If I had access to Vista, I would walk you through the steps, but either have your computer "shut down" or "do nothing" when you close the lid. If anything else in your power settings would cause your computer to "hibernate," change it.