# Mysterious problem.



## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

So I've been on dozens of sites looking for a solution to this problem and now it's time to bring this bad boy here.

So my aunts computer (hp pavillion a430n running XP sp2) has a blank desktop with only the backround in regular and safe mode. Now I keep seeing people saying press ctrl+alt+del but when I do nothing happens. When I saw people say they couldn't bring up task manager no one responded as if there's no other way to solve this problem other then through task manager. So lets see if anyone can help me solve this problem.


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## WarMocK (Nov 15, 2009)

Shift + Ctrl + Esc?
Did you try that as well?


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## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

WarMocK said:


> Shift + Ctrl + Esc?
> Did you try that as well?



Yep. Nothing happens on the desktop period. I can't get to the command prompt through safe or regular mode either. Going through f8 on boot didn't help much either. 

Also: My aunt has no recovery disks so please don't suggest that. XD


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## ArielMT (Nov 15, 2009)

Completely blank, as in no taskbar or start button either?

Also, you should still have "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" as one of the F8 start-up options.


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## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

ArielMT said:


> Completely blank, as in no taskbar or start button either?
> 
> Also, you should still have "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" as one of the F8 start-up options.



Completely blank except for the current backround.

And yes, I tried that and it came up blank with no command prompt.


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## ArielMT (Nov 15, 2009)

If this behavior was sudden and didn't follow something known, such as updates installing, then I would proceed under the assumption that a malware incident messed up while trying to sneak into the PC.

The first step is to get it booting to a desktop again, which can now only be done through either the Recovery Console or via Repair Install, both of which require a Windows XP install CD of the correct edition (Home, Pro, or MCE).  If nothing else, the COA sticker should say which edition it is.  Do you have that CD?


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## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

ArielMT said:


> If this behavior was sudden and didn't follow something known, such as updates installing, then I would proceed under the assumption that a malware incident messed up while trying to sneak into the PC.
> 
> The first step is to get it booting to a desktop again, which can now only be done through either the Recovery Console or via Repair Install, both of which require a Windows XP install CD of the correct edition (Home, Pro, or MCE).  If nothing else, the COA sticker should say which edition it is.  Do you have that CD?



Nope. I saw that on other sites and forums but wanted to see if there was another way to fix the issue. I heard a bunch of things that cause windows to do this from explorer.exe not functioning properly to some vundo trojen. I guess my aunts shit out of luck on this one. I've tried everything I could but it seems without the CD it's unfixable. If anybody else can think of anything post it here but if the problem can't be solved thanks for trying anyway.


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## ArielMT (Nov 15, 2009)

If you find a solution that involves the Recovery Console, any edition of XP on CD, and any service pack level, should work.

The correct edition is only needed for a repair install, and if the CD is SP1 instead of SP2, then all that needs to be done first is to uninstall IE7/8 and XPSP2 via the Recovery Console.


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## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

ArielMT said:


> If you find a solution that involves the Recovery Console, any edition of XP on CD, and any service pack level, should work.
> 
> The correct edition is only needed for a repair install, and if the CD is SP1 instead of SP2, then all that needs to be done first is to uninstall IE7/8 and XPSP2 via the Recovery Console.



Well I could ask around and see if anyone I know has a CD but I doubt anybody I know would. It's not even my computer so I'm not gonna go too out of my way to try and fix it. My aunt bought a new computer already anyways. This problem intrigues me though.


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## ToeClaws (Nov 15, 2009)

Perfect opportunity to put a better OS on it?


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## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

ToeClaws said:


> Perfect opportunity to put a better OS on it?



Well she wanted the stuff on it that's why she asked me and my dad to try and fix it but it's a well functioning machine so all I need is wipe the drive and install something else. If she tells me I can I finally got my own tower. =D

Also, my dad is trying to use PC doctor on it now. lol


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## SnowFox (Nov 15, 2009)

pheonix said:


> Well she wanted the stuff on it



You can easily get her stuff off it without needing a working copy of windows



pheonix said:


> Well she wanted the stuff on it that's why she asked me and my dad to try and fix it but it's a well functioning machine so all I need is wipe the drive and install something else. If she tells me I can I finally got my own tower. =D
> 
> Also, my dad is trying to use PC doctor on it now. lol



You might be able to download an iso for a windows disk to use the recovery console. I don't think it's illegal as long as it's not a cracked copy and you have your own product key if you were to use it to reinstall. Not positive on that though.


EDIT: if you right click do you get the context menu or is explorer totally gone? I thought you could still ctrl+alt+del to get task manager even without explorer


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## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

SnowFox said:


> You can easily get her stuff off it without needing a working copy of windows
> 
> 
> 
> You might be able to download an iso for a windows disk to use the recovery console. I don't think it's illegal as long as it's not a cracked copy and you have your own product key if you were to use it to reinstall. Not positive on that though.



The way this is working it's not. When you go into certain areas it blue screens with a fatal error. I just wanted to see if there was a positive solution to the problem other then the windows CD or wiping and reinstalling.

I don't have my own product key and I wouldn't care if it was illegal or not. Wouldn't be the first time I illegally downloaded/used something.

EDIT: Doesn't work and apparently you can't. *shrugs* Might not be explorer.exe I might have a completely different issue here. It's confusing and frustrating.


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## SnowFox (Nov 15, 2009)

pheonix said:


> The way this is working it's not. *When you go into certain areas* it blue screens with a fatal error. I just wanted to see if there was a positive solution to the problem other then the windows CD or wiping and reinstalling.



Is the blank screen just in safe mode? If so does that mean it's semi-functioning in normal mode?

If you have explorer in normal mode try typing taskmgr in the run box or see if taskmgr.exe even exists in C:\Windows\System32

I've seen viruses disable task manager along with other things to make it more difficult for you to get rid of it.



pheonix said:


> I don't have my own product key and I wouldn't care if it was illegal or not. Wouldn't be the first time I illegally downloaded/used something.



The key is normally on a little sticker somewhere on the PC


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## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

SnowFox said:


> Is the blank screen just in safe mode? If so does that mean it's semi-functioning in normal mode?
> 
> If you have explorer in normal mode try typing taskmgr in the run box or see if taskmgr.exe even exists in C:\Windows\System32
> 
> ...



Regular and safe modes don't function at all they have no icons or taskbar but only have a backround. c+a+d Does not work at all. There's no way to get to the task manager cause I can't get to the command prompt either.

Well I'll look around for it later when my dad stops fucking with it and getting no where. lol


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## SnowFox (Nov 15, 2009)

pheonix said:


> Regular and safe modes don't function at all they have no icons or taskbar but only have a backround. c+a+d Does not work at all. There's no way to get to the task manager cause I can't get to the command prompt either.
> 
> Well I'll look around for it later when my dad stops fucking with it and getting no where. lol



Oh, you confused me saying things like "When you go into certain areas it blue screens with a fatal error" and that your dad was doing stuff with it. I got the impression it was partly functional if you're able to do anything with it other than stare at a blank background.

Another thing that occurred to me. Are you sure your aunt didn't install a windows 7 beta but without the picture of hitler?


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## Runefox (Nov 15, 2009)

Sounds like something's screwed up in the Winlogon (either that or somehow your monitor got set as the secondary and the reason you're not seeing anything is because it's on the "other display", but that'd be silly. ... If you wanna give it a shot, boot up the PC, press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC once the hard drive stops grinding, wait a second, then press ALT+Space and then hit M. Hit an arrow key, and move the mouse. If you have Task Manager attached to your cursor, you can be pretty sure that's what's going on. Unlikely, though).

Frankly if you can't access anything at all, I'd recommend doing a repair install of Windows; It'll keep your files and settings, but restore the core OS files and registry entries. The only problem is that you need an XP disc (Windows XP Home OEM SP2 is what you need) handy. Once you've got that, though, you can do it by going through the motions to install Windows - When it comes time to select which partition to install Windows to, setup should detect the previous install and offer to repair it. From there, it's identical to a regular install, except you (usually) don't need to reinstall anything or install drivers.

EDIT: Just saw this:



> When you go into certain areas it blue screens with a fatal error.



Sounds a lot like failing hardware or a serious infection. Highly recommend doing a CHKDSK from the recovery console and/or running a Memtest86+ pass to make sure the hard drive/RAM are OK. You can also open up the case and take a look around for blown capacitors. Without knowing any more about the bluescreens, those are the most accurate recommendations I can give you (even reinstalling Windows won't help if you have hardware problems).


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## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

SnowFox said:


> Oh, you confused me saying things like "When you go into certain areas it blue screens with a fatal error" and that your dad was doing stuff with it. I got the impression it was partly functional if you're able to do anything with it other than stare at a blank background.
> 
> Another thing that occurred to me. Are you sure your aunt didn't install a windows 7 beta but without the picture of hitler?




Well we can mess around in dos but that doesn't help, we can go through some things on recovery console but what we can access doesn't help and what we can't give the blue screens.

And that makes me laugh every time. lol



Runefox said:


> Sounds like something's screwed up in the Winlogon (either that or somehow your monitor got set as the secondary and the reason you're not seeing anything is because it's on the "other display", but that'd be silly. ... If you wanna give it a shot, boot up the PC, press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC once the hard drive stops grinding, wait a second, then press ALT+Space and then hit M. Hit an arrow key, and move the mouse. If you have Task Manager attached to your cursor, you can be pretty sure that's what's going on. Unlikely, though).
> 
> Frankly if you can't access anything at all, I'd recommend doing a repair install of Windows; It'll keep your files and settings, but restore the core OS files and registry entries. The only problem is that you need an XP disc (Windows XP Home OEM SP2 is what you need) handy. Once you've got that, though, you can do it by going through the motions to install Windows - When it comes time to select which partition to install Windows to, setup should detect the previous install and offer to repair it. From there, it's identical to a regular install, except you (usually) don't need to reinstall anything or install drivers.
> 
> ...



ctrl+shift+esc blue screened it. XD The second time it brought up "please select boot device"

When we try to CHKDSK from RC it doesn't work. Says something like it can't be found or is an invalid entry.

The capacitors are fine, just looked at them. The memtest86+ thing sounds like it would work except I'm not sure if it would load from a CD if I burnt it to one. I might try this as well when my dad gets off of it.


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## Runefox (Nov 15, 2009)

> "please select boot device"


That definitely sounds like a dead/dying hard drive to me.

On that note, Memtest would work if you burned it to a CD; Just remember that you need to use a program like Nero to burn the image - You can't just put the ISO file on a disc! So many people waste CD's that way.


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## pheonix (Nov 15, 2009)

Runefox said:


> That definitely sounds like a dead/dying hard drive to me.
> 
> On that note, Memtest would work if you burned it to a CD; Just remember that you need to use a program like Nero to burn the image - You can't just put the ISO file on a disc! So many people waste CD's that way.



So get the program nero and use it to burn memtest to a disk. I like how everybody from all over the internet think it's something different and have different solutions to it. This is the most retarded problem ever. I'm ready to just wipe it out or get a new drive for it if the current one is bad. It'll take awhile to get one but oh well. Thanks for all of this guys, if it works I'll come back all happy and shit but if it doesn't then whatever. lol


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## ToeClaws (Nov 15, 2009)

The problem with Windows issues is that there are so many potential causes that getting a ton of different answers is pretty normal.

If you just want to get her data off, you can remove the hard drive from the laptop and put it in a portable drive case then just copy off what you need.  I would definitely give the drive a thorough scan with some anti-malware tools first though, just in case that's the issue.  Then repartition and format it, and put something new on it.


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## ArielMT (Nov 15, 2009)

Scan the hard drive for its integrity before scanning it for malware.

So many different solutions are recommended for problems because tech support is an evolving process throughout the problem's resolution.  Recommendations change as more information about the problem and its symptoms are revealed.


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## pheonix (Nov 17, 2009)

Update: The drive is good and there was no malware or anything. I just said fuck it and wiped the drive and it's currently being formatted. I got an XP disk from a friend so I can install windows and have another working computer in the house. :3 Thanks again guys for all the help.


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## Aurali (Nov 17, 2009)

pheonix said:


> Update: The drive is good and there was no malware or anything. I just said fuck it and wiped the drive and it's currently being formatted. I got an XP disk from a friend so I can install windows and have another working computer in the house. :3 Thanks again guys for all the help.



:/ if you wiped it.. then how are you sure it wasn't malware?


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## ArielMT (Nov 17, 2009)

Glad to hear it.

If it's an edition you have the key for, then the only thing you'll be missing are the drivers, which you can still get from HP's support site.  Also, burn a copy of that disk, burn the drivers you download to disk, and keep them with the PC as an emergency recovery set.  It wouldn't hurt to burn whatever service pack you're missing to the driver disk, too, if you're going to install it.


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## Armaetus (Nov 17, 2009)

You should tell your aunt to stop opening spam mail and clicking on those stupid popups promising X and Y...also forcing to use Firefox by default is a good start to keep many of the crapware infections off the machine if you combine it with the use of SpywareBlaster.


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## pheonix (Nov 17, 2009)

ArielMT said:


> Glad to hear it.
> 
> If it's an edition you have the key for, then the only thing you'll be missing are the drivers, which you can still get from HP's support site.  Also, burn a copy of that disk, burn the drivers you download to disk, and keep them with the PC as an emergency recovery set.  It wouldn't hurt to burn whatever service pack you're missing to the driver disk, too, if you're going to install it.



The Floppy I have inside the floppy drive will replace all the missing drivers that the wipe took out too make my life a million times easier. =3

But seeing as my aunt didn't make recovery disks that's the first thing I'll be doing. Why someone wouldn't do that is beyond me.



Glaice said:


> You should tell your aunt to stop opening spam mail and clicking on those stupid popups promising X and Y...also forcing to use Firefox by default is a good start to keep many of the crapware infections off the machine if you combine it with the use of SpywareBlaster.



Nah. If she messes up her new one I'll get another free computer so no point in letting her know how to be PC smart. 

EDIT: Well this sucks. Since no trace of windows can't be found I have to get a Win NT 3.51 WS, Win NT 4.0 WS, Win 2000 pro, Win 95, 98, or Win Millennium CD to verify that I qualify for this upgrade.


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## SnowFox (Nov 18, 2009)

I'm probably a bit late, but you might want to have a look at nLite. If the disk is pre-SP3 you can use it to create an up to date disk, tweak a whole load of stuff however you want, integrate driver files, pre-enter the product key, add any user accounts you want, etc.

I've used this several times to make a folder containing copies of all my drivers before wiping (just make sure you download the english version).


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## pheonix (Nov 18, 2009)

SnowFox said:


> I'm probably a bit late, but you might want to have a look at nLite. If the disk is pre-SP3 you can use it to create an up to date disk, tweak a whole load of stuff however you want, integrate driver files, pre-enter the product key, add any user accounts you want, etc.
> 
> I've used this several times to make a folder containing copies of all my drivers before wiping (just make sure you download the english version).



I have all the the drivers. Only one was missing and it was the Ethernet controller and I've since got it. I'm currently looking for a usable product key cause the one with the disk and the one on the computer don't work. Other then that it's a working system from 2003. XD If you can provide a product key that I can activate windows with I'd love you forever. :3


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## ArielMT (Nov 18, 2009)

I've had some luck getting Microsoft to issue me replacement keys for repair jobs, but one of the steps Microsoft take is invalidating the key stuck to the case.  But it's such a labyrinth of time and patience tests that I'd sooner recommend slaying 100 ninjas with a spork than recommending any end-user customer calling Microsoft directly for technical support.


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## pheonix (Nov 18, 2009)

ArielMT said:


> I've had some luck getting Microsoft to issue me replacement keys for repair jobs, but one of the steps Microsoft take is invalidating the key stuck to the case.  But it's such a labyrinth of time and patience tests that I'd sooner recommend slaying 100 ninjas with a spork than recommending any end-user customer calling Microsoft directly for technical support.



Well I know someone with other product keys it's just 1. idk if any of them will work. and 2. I have to wait till tomorrow to get them cause the lazy fuckers sleeping. I just thought I might get lucky and some hero would come along and drop a working product key in my lap if I asked here. XD


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## ArielMT (Nov 18, 2009)

pheonix said:


> Well I know someone with other product keys it's just 1. idk if any of them will work. and 2. I have to wait till tomorrow to get them cause the lazy fuckers sleeping. I just thought I might get lucky and some hero would come along and drop a working product key in my lap if I asked here. XD



Forum rules prohibit such a thing, much as I'd love to hoist the Calico Jack.  Also any keys you come across in searches are almost certainly invalidated as pirate keys, and Microsoft are known for sneaking the WGA Validation Tool into Automatic Updates bundled with WGA Notifications quite frequently.


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## pheonix (Nov 18, 2009)

ArielMT said:


> Forum rules prohibit such a thing, much as I'd love to hoist the Calico Jack.  Also any keys you come across in searches are almost certainly invalidated as pirate keys, and Microsoft are known for sneaking the WGA Validation Tool into Automatic Updates bundled with WGA Notifications quite frequently.



 I know about the search thing, that's why I haven't even thought of attempting that.  And no one would've known about the pk someone would give me cause I'm sure they'd give it too me by other means seeing as they are sure to know the rules. But I should stop talking now. XD I appreciate all the help you guys provided though some came a little late. lol I can't wait to get windows activated so I can end this madness once and for all. >.<


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## Hottigress (Nov 26, 2009)

It will never be fixed, trust me.


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