Like the subject says, I just can't get my desktop to show up when I load Windows...this began abruptly. I can only load files by opening Task Manager and going to File --> New Task (run). Hitting the 'start' button on my keyboard won't make the start menu pop up; nothing will. Any ideas? My HijackThis log below:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 10:29:41 PM, on 6/6/2005
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Running processes:
D:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
D:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
D:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
D:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
D:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
D:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
D:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
D:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
D:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\AOL\ACS\AOLacsd.exe
D:\WINDOWS\System32\inetsrv\inetinfo.exe
D:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7Debug\mdm.exe
D:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~4\MSSQL\binn\sqlservr.exe
D:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
D:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\AdvTools\NPROTECT.EXE
D:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
D:\WINDOWS\wanmpsvc.exe
D:\WINDOWS\System32\mqsvc.exe
D:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\Security Center\SymWSC.exe
D:\WINDOWS\System32\mqtgsvc.exe
D:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
D:\WINDOWS\system32\taskmgr.exe
D:\Documents and Settings\Jeremy Goldman\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = about:j
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page_bak = http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/20740
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = Microsoft Internet Explorer provided by Comcast
N3 - Netscape 7: user_pref("browser.search.defaultengine", "engine://D%3A%5CProgram%20Files%5CNetscape%5CNetscape%5Csea rchplugins%5CSBWeb_01.src"); (D:\Documents and Settings\Jeremy Goldman\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\default\4jzfsn07.slt\prefs.j s)
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - D:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: PnIEBrowserHelperObj Class - {4B5F2E08-6F39-479a-B547-B2026E4C7EDF} - D:\Program Files\EarthLink TotalAccess\PnEL.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - D:\Program Files\Spybot\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: WsftpBrowserHelper Class - {601ED020-FB6C-11D3-87D8-0050DA59922B} - D:\Program Files\WS_FTP Pro\wsbho2k0.dll
O2 - BHO: AcroIEToolbarHelper Class - {AE7CD045-E861-484f-8273-0445EE161910} - D:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O2 - BHO: CNavExtBho Class - {BDF3E430-B101-42AD-A544-FADC6B084872} - D:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {E085F915-6280-797A-8B5C-38E6758B5ABD} - D:\WINDOWS\system32\cem.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Pop-Up Blocker - {D7F30B62-8269-41AF-9539-B2697FA7D77E} - D:\Program Files\EarthLink TotalAccess\PnEL.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Norton AntiVirus - {42CDD1BF-3FFB-4238-8AD1-7859DF00B1D6} - D:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Adobe PDF - {47833539-D0C5-4125-9FA8-0819E2EAAC93} - D:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MsmqIntCert] regsvr32 /s mqrt.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccApp] "D:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccRegVfy] "D:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccRegVfy.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Advanced Tools Check] D:\PROGRA~1\NORTON~1\AdvTools\ADVCHK.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Symantec NetDriver Monitor] D:\PROGRA~1\SYMNET~1\SNDMon.exe /Consumer
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NDPS] D:\WINDOWS\system32\dpmw32.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NWTRAY] NWTRAY.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DeadAIM] rundll32.exe "D:\Program Files\AIM\\DeadAIM.ocm",ExportedCheckODLs
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinampAgent] D:\Program Files\Winamp\winampa.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [AIM] D:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe -cnetwait.odl
O4 - Global Startup: Service Manager.lnk = D:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\80\Tools\Binn\sqlmangr.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://D:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - D:\Program Files\Java\j2re1.4.2_04\bin\npjpi142_04.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - D:\Program Files\Java\j2re1.4.2_04\bin\npjpi142_04.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - D:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - D:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe
O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - D:\WINDOWS\System32\Shdocvw.dll
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - D:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - D:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {17492023-C23A-453E-A040-C7C580BBF700} (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool) - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?link...67&clcid=0x409
O16 - DPF: {3BFFE033-BF43-11D5-A271-00A024A51325} (iNotes6 Class) - http://mail2.rhsmith.umd.edu/iNotes6.cab
O18 - Protocol: ms-help - {314111C7-A502-11D2-BBCA-00C04F8EC294} - D:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Help\hxds.dll
O23 - Service: AOL Connectivity Service (AOL ACS) - America Online, Inc. - D:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\AOL\ACS\AOLacsd.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Event Manager (ccEvtMgr) - Symantec Corporation - D:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Password Validation Service (ccPwdSvc) - Symantec Corporation - D:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccPwdSvc.exe
O23 - Service: Client Update Service for Novell (cusrvc) - Novell, Inc. - D:\WINDOWS\system32\cusrvc.exe
O23 - Service: IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service (ImapiService) - Roxio Inc. - D:\WINDOWS\System32\ImapiRox.exe
O23 - Service: Macromedia Licensing Service - Unknown owner - D:\Program Files\Common Files\Macromedia Shared\Service\Macromedia Licensing.exe
O23 - Service: Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect Service (navapsvc) - Symantec Corporation - D:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\navapsvc.exe
O23 - Service: Norton Unerase Protection (NProtectService) - Symantec Corporation - D:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\AdvTools\NPROTECT.EXE
O23 - Service: Pml Driver HPZ12 - HP - D:\WINDOWS\system32\HPZipm12.exe
O23 - Service: ScriptBlocking Service (SBService) - Symantec Corporation - D:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\SYMANT~1\SCRIPT~1\SBServ.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Network Drivers Service (SNDSrvc) - Symantec Corporation - D:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SNDSrvc.exe
O23 - Service: SymWMI Service (SymWSC) - Symantec Corporation - D:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\Security Center\SymWSC.exe
O23 - Service: WAN Miniport (ATW) Service (WANMiniportService) - America Online, Inc. - D:\WINDOWS\wanmpsvc.exe

Try Starting your PC is safemode, and do a quick restor to an earlier date (the day prior it happend or closest to). The restart and do a normal boot. Tell my how that works out.

Your log file looks clear to me, try what eloplayspolo said and get back to us.? :|

Thanks everyone - but unfortunately there appear to be no system restore points available (had to disable them recently b/c of something else). Is there some other type of fix for this kind of problem?

Could you run these programs just incase it is virus related:

http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.mspx

If you can click on Start - RUN and type MSCONFIG and press enter.

Check in the startup tab to see if there are any programs that shouldn't be there.

The other option would be to do a reinstall.

explorer.exe isn't running (at least from what I can see in the HJT log), it is what powers the taskbar and desktop icons.