Desktop icons missing or showing partially

[PvtMatter]

I have seen many "solutions" on this forum and on the web purporting to answer the question, why the desktop icons are missing or showing only a portion of the icon. None have given me any hint as to what is causing the problem.

I have done the DEL icon cache.db/a thing, which re-adds the Explorer.Exe entry back into the registry, tried downloading new icons, reverted to an earlier edition of my system through the "Restore" function and even imported an older Registry restore but nothing seems to work. What is strange is up until a few weeks ago, the icons appeared normally and could be adjusted in size using the "Personalize" function.

Now for my system.....I have a clean Win7 installation with the latest nVidia280 drivers. My system has a 2.6Mz Intel dual processor and I can't recall any recent software changes that would cause this problem. All Win7 fixes are set to download automatically. Sometimes, but not all the time, I can restore the icon images using the personalize function and changing the "Set the custom text size" function with and without checking "Use Windows XP style DPI scaling. When I can change it so the icons appear normally, I do a "Create restore point" hoping the problem is solved. However, the next time I boot up, there the icons are.....looking like a pie with a 25% slice taken out.

Any ideas would be gratefully appreciated. This problem is driving me nuts!

 

[Saltgrass]

Sorry I don't have an answer, but what type of display are you using? A TV with HDMI input or a normal monitor with VGA or DVI input.

Have you run sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt?

Does anything else on your system show any type of problem? Does the Event Viewer show any type of warnings or errors?

 

[PvtMatter]

icons disappearing

No change in any of my hardware. I have a 24" Samsung LCD monitor with DVI input. Answers to your other questions are yes I have looked and no nothing unusual.

 

[richc46]

Welcome,

I think that it is always wise to assume the worst when there is an enexplained change, regardless of how small.

Make a through anti virus scan and then download and scan with this
Malwarebytes.org

If you come up clean, at least we know that the problem is limited.

 

[PvtMatter]

I was in error about having run sfc/scannow from the run line. The file is not on my system apparently. I do have sfc.exe but when I select it, nothing happens.

I use MS Security essentials and I have conducted a complete system scan. I have also installed Malwarebytes's program and performed a full scan with it. I have Glary utilities installed and have performed a registry scan with it...all to no improvement.

To reiterate, on observation, if I change the display custom text size, log off and log on again, my icons are normal but rearranged on my desktop. However, if I reboot again, the corrupted icons reappear and my icons are rearranged on the desktop.

 

[Tews]

a repair install may help...

 

[PvtMatter]

Windows icons disappearing

I have enclosed the event viewer in .zip format. Maybe that will provide some insight.

 

[Saltgrass]

You have a lot of nvraid error messages. Are you running an nvidia chipset and have you updated the drivers for it?

During installs I have seen several folks having problems installing with that chipset. They had to load special drivers to complete the install.

To run the system file checker you have to type the command from an administrative command prompt. To get that, type cmd in the start menu search box and hit CTRL+Shift Enter. You will get a UAC permission box then the window will open with Administrator on the top.

 

[PvtMatter]

My computer is an Alienware and I don't know if they use the nVidia chip set.

I have RAID 0 and am running dual G280 video cards in the SLI mode with the latest drivers.


Another update...
I purchased Reg Booster and ran it...showed I had a host of errors. Restarted Windows, icons were OK. To test, I re sized icons in display using test size, logged off and back on....icons were missing. Ran reg booster again, rebooted icons were Ok. Re sized again, logged off, icons missing again EXCEPT trash icon has always reappeared. All the others are missing except for the text. Is a repair in order?

 

[Saltgrass]

Run the SFC check first, maybe it will find some things.

I would then try to update the chipset and RAID drivers. I am not sure if updating the RAID drivers will effect its operation, I have never run one.

If nothing else seems to work, doing a repair install will probably help. But if your problem is some type of corruption in your system, it might come back.

Do you know what registry entries were being repaired?

 

[PvtMatter]

Desktop icons disappearing

Thanks Saltgrass.....took your advice and did a windows reinstall and Volia!....Icons again!. Now if I can just get WMP to work and MS Essentials to upgrade and can open up the system icons in the notifications area (when I click on the up arrow the icons appear but when I try to move the cursor up, they go away), I will have my system up again. Oh well, MS!

 

[Saltgrass]

I was going to ask you about your power supply. I am sure you know, but running two 280s takes a lot of power. Do you feel you have enough over the requirement for two of those cards to keep your system power stable?

 

[PvtMatter]

Thanks to all who suggested I do a re-install. After all other suggestions failed, I tried that suggestion and it brought my icons back. It must have been something in the registry that no other registry or scan repair program (or even Restore) could correct. Now if I could just work around some of the problems the re-install caused..............

 

[PvtMatter]

Yes Saltgrass....I have a 1100 watter PS.

 

[PvtMatter]

Problem solved by running reinstall. Thanks all for suggestions.