vista update broke my desktop?

[derrydvd]

just updated vista through auto update and when i restarted as asked, it boots up with no desktop, just a black background with a single window open, the window is user docs? i have managed to open ie from the folder list on the left,,,,desktop,,,,ie but for the life of me i cant get my desktop back, i have uninstalled todays updates but onewont uninstall, does this even make sense?

any ideas anyone???

Derry

[derrydvd]

even system restore didnt work

[Van Nugent]

Can you get to the Control Panel? If you can:

Control Panel => Ease of Access => Ease of Access Center => Make the computer easier to use => then make sure Remove background images is unchecked.

[derrydvd]

thanks but i found and tried the following before you posted, it worked. if it wasnt for places like this id have been royaly fuked! even windows updates arent safe now wtf?

cheers

Derry


The shell entry may be damaged in the registry. From Task Manager, click
'new task' on the applications tab. Type regedit and click ok. Agree to the
UAC prompt, then expand the branches to reach this one:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Click on the Winlogon key, then on the right find the "shell" string. Double
click it, change the value data to read "explorer.exe" (without the quotes)
and click ok. Then close the registry editor and restart the system by
entering another new task as 'shutdown /r'.


what an arse about elbow way to start your system after an update!

[Van Nugent]

Thanks for the good info. It will be very useful for other people.