Windows 7 desktop missing. Starting desktop process

The most common reason missing desktop with everyone graphic elements on Windows - malware that entered the system due to user inattention or malfunctioning antivirus software. To fix this problem, you will need to restore the virus-damaged file responsible for the OS graphical shell and scan your computer for viruses.

Ways to revive your desktop

Performance graphical shell desktop in Windows OS is controlled by the explorer.exe application, which is located on system partition V Windows folder. If its properties specified in the registry are changed or damaged executable file virus after booting the computer the screen will be completely clean.

There are several ways to restore your desktop in such cases:

• forced launch of the explorer.exe utility;
• system recovery;
• through the registry;
• replacing the explorer.exe utility.

Force launch explorer.exe

The easiest way to restore a desktop in Windows 7 is manual start executable file explorer.exe.

The procedure will be as follows:

If the executable file is not damaged, then after performing these steps the desktop should be restored. In this case, you must immediately scan the entire system for viruses with a reliable antivirus program. If this does not happen, or when accessing the task manager, a message like “It is impossible to access the Task Manager due to it being blocked by the administrator” pops up, which is also one of the signs virus attack, you can try to restore the desktop using other methods.

Using System Restore

You can run System Restore through Safe Mode or using boot disk With operating system. In the first case you will need:

You can also start the Windows desktop recovery procedure through the installation disk with this OS. However, its assembly should not differ from the one located on the computer.

In this case, you need to do the following:

If this does not help to return the desktop settings, you can try resuscitating from the command line (the Windows DVD must be installed in the drive):

Working with the registry

Performing graphic file runs through a specific branch in the registry. When a PC is infected with a virus, explorer.exe is activated instead of initializing virus program. To restore your desktop using the registry, you must:

Replacing the explorer.exe executable file

All of the above methods for resuscitating the desktop in Windows 7 are suitable when the explorer.exe file itself is not damaged. Otherwise, you will need to change it to a working one, which can be copied from DVD disc with the operating system.

The information required to restore the table is in the image with the .wim extension. To read it, you should download and install the 7-Zip archiver program, which is absolutely free. Downloading this utility, you need to pay attention to its bit depth (32 or 64 bit). It all depends on the bit depth of the system used on your computer.

To restore your desktop, you will need:

1. Install the 7-Zip utility. The installation procedure is the same as in other programs.
2. IN DVD drive Install a disk with Windows 7 OS of the required build, and a USB flash drive into the USB connector.
3. Going to the root directory of the boot disk, go to the sources folder and copy the install.wim file from it to any folder on your computer. For these purposes it is better to make a new folder.
   
4. We turn on the archiver, go to the folder with the file we just copied and start the extraction procedure using the “Extract” button.
   
5. Go to folder 4 (Maximum OS build).
   
6. Go to the Windows folder, select the explorer.exe file and transfer it to the USB flash drive.
   
7. After this, we reboot the PC without removing the disk and flash drive, and we get to the window for selecting OS installation options. Click "System Restore" and open "Command Prompt".
   
8. In the command window, enter notepad, after which a regular notepad opens.
9. Using notepad, go to the flash drive and copy the explorer.exe file.
   
10. Through the same explorer we go to the system disk (in the recovery environment the names of the disks are different).

Sometimes the hardware likes to give the user unpleasant surprises- fact! Today we’ll talk about such a seemingly already covered topic, like the disappearance of the “Desktop” immediately after loading the OS. So!

What to do if your desktop disappears

You started the computer, the boot process is normal, but immediately after “Welcome”, you only see a blank screen: There is no “desktop”, the desktop has disappeared! There is not a single folder, not a tray, with a Start button, not a clock, and nothing. Problem? You reboot the system, but everything repeats again: loading and a blank screen. With all this, the system does not throw out “ Blue screen death”, but simply does not give you the opportunity to begin regular work. And the culmination of the problem is the fact that you can easily and simply call up the “Task Manager”. How is it possible: there is no “Desktop”, but the “Task Manager” is called up?! What are the reasons for this problem?
A banal glitch, a virus, or your excessive curiosity - these are the main reasons. The word “curiosity” means calling the “Task Manager” and disabling some important system process. By the way, have you tried the jawbone up 24 sports bracelet? Before that I had an old and unknown Chinese company, jawbone up 24 after that is just a blast.
A virus can also block the operation of a computer: they are created for all sorts of dirty tricks. However, if you can call the “Task Manager” without any problems, then the problem is clearly not a virus, because the virus would have blocked the “Task Manager” first.
Well, a failure is a failure: you can’t predict where, when and why.

In fact, in this moment it doesn't matter: you need to solve the problem and get the "Desktop" back, right? Let's get started!

Call “Task Manager” (Ctrl+Alt+Del). When it opens, hover over the "File" tab (on the left top corner manager window) and click on it. A menu will appear in which you need to select the line “New task (Run)”. Will open separate window"Create new task", which will contain the "Open" field. Enter the explorer command in this field and click “OK”. Remember: the explorer.exe file is responsible for launching and operating the graphical shell, that is, your “Desktop”. After you manually launch explorer, the “Desktop” will immediately return to its place.
Just in case, there is another option to solve the problem - using “Safe Mode”. After logging into the system in this mode, you can perform the “System Restore” algorithm - this also helps. Although, it often happens that a banal loading of the OS with the latest successful data helps: choose this boot option and the system will boot normally.

Usually the shortcuts appear after a short delay. But sometimes, even after some time, there is nothing on the screen except the splash screen. Why did the Windows 7 desktop disappear? What to do? Let's try to identify and solve the problem.

Icon display disabled

In all new versions of the OS, personalization settings allow you to completely disable the display of shortcuts. If you are not the only one using the computer, there is a chance that someone else did it accidentally. This is the simplest and most harmless reason explaining why the WIndows 7 desktop disappeared. What to do?

Right-click anywhere on the screen. Find in context menu"View" tab. Make sure that the display of shortcuts is turned on - there should be a check mark next to the corresponding item.

Shortcuts have been marked as hidden

It is almost impossible to do this by accident, so in this case Most likely, someone decided to play a joke on you. Icons and folders marked as hidden are still there, but are not displayed by default. If you have lost shortcuts and icons in Windows 7 for this very reason, first of all you need to enable display hidden elements. To do this, go to the "Control Panel" and open "Folder Options". In the list on the "View" tab, you need to scroll through the list of parameters and turn on the display hidden files and folders (there should be a checkmark next to the corresponding item). If the shortcuts appear, all that remains is to remove the “hidden” attribute in the properties.

The system has moved the items to the "Unused Shortcuts" folder

This is another one possible reason, explaining why the desktop disappeared. Windows 7 can produce automatic cleaning desktop and, at certain intervals, remove from the work area those icons that you do not use.

By default, the "Unused Shortcuts" folder should be displayed on the desktop (if not, you can find it through the search). If this is your case, it will be enough to simply move the necessary shortcuts back. After this, you should disable cleaning. To do this, open the screen properties, find the “Desktop” tab and click “Settings…”. You just need to uncheck the box next to “Clean up every 60 days” and save the changes. Although the advice to check the "Trash" may seem stupid to many, we recommend doing so. In practice, it often happens that shortcuts were simply deleted.

The file explorer.exe is missing

Now let's talk about more complex options when it becomes unclear why the Windows 7 desktop disappeared. What to do if the above tips did not help? Most likely, when the system boots, explorer.exe does not start, the process responsible for externally displaying the system. To check this, go to Task Manager > Processes (Ctrl+Shift+Del) and try to find explorer. Sometimes when you try to open the manager, nothing happens. In this case, start Windows in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 button during boot and try again.

In the manager menu, select "File", click "New task" and in the window that appears, enter In the window that opens, you need to enter the path to the file (by default it is in the Windows folder located on the C: drive). If the shortcuts appear after this, it means the file is on the computer and you just need to fix a few registry errors.

What should I do if explorer.exe is missing from my computer and cannot be started? In this case, you will need your Windows installation disk.

1. Open the disk from another PC and find the explorer.ex_ file in the i386 directory.
2. Copy it anywhere and then change the extension to .EXE (to do this you just need to rename it).
3. Write it down ready file to a flash drive and connect it to your computer.
4. Run command cmd line through the "Task Manager".
5. Navigate to the files located on the flash drive. To do this, you need to enter the name of the disk (E:, D: or another).
6. Copy the file to the system folder using the copy explorer.exe C:\\Windows command. If everything is done correctly, a message will appear indicating that the operation was successful.
7. Restart your PC.

If installation disk no, you can copy explorer.exe from another computer to Windows 7.

Explorer.exe has disappeared from the registry

Let's talk in more detail about what to do if the Windows 7 desktop disappears due to registry errors. In this case, when you start the process through the "Task Manager", the shortcuts appear, but after restarting the computer they disappear again. This means that the launch conditions for explorer.exe are incorrectly written in the registry. Launch the Run application and type regedit. The Registry Editor will open. You need to find the following directory:

The Shell line should contain explorer.exe. If some other file is registered instead, or nothing at all, change the value of the parameter. Ready? Go ahead. Now we need to open another folder from the same directory.

If there is an explorer.exe (or iexplorer.exe) entry here, you need to delete it and then restart your PC. If the icons still don't appear, the file is likely corrupted and will need to be replaced.

System settings failed

Sometimes even after adding the file to the registry, the problem persists. This may indicate a glitch in the system settings. Fortunately, the "seven" has special application- "System Restore", which returns the computer to a more advanced state early state. You can run it using the same Run program. To do this, you need to enter the command shown in the screenshot below.

The computer was infected with viruses

A trivial option is when your Windows 7 desktop has disappeared due to malware. You probably know what to do in this case. To open an antivirus, you can enter the full address of its executable file in the Run window (for example, C:\\Programs\Antivirus\antivirus.exe). It is recommended to scan your PC in Safe Mode. After scanning, delete all infected files and restart your computer.

Even if this does not help, the best solution is to simply reinstall Windows. Required files can be copied to a flash drive via the command line (of course, if you can remember their location).

Some users experience all icons disappearing from the computer screen. The “Start” button begins to work not in the usual mode, but to show tiles. Then they often say that the desktop has disappeared in Windows 10. Let's deal with this problem.

Reasons for loss

Most often, screen content disappears in Windows 10 due to system failures. If you install software unlicensed, downloaded from “left” sites, then no one can guarantee the continued functionality of the PC. The changes that such self-written programs make to the system and registry are not traceable, and often not logical.

In addition, they can carry viruses that are copied into your system and begin to take over it. The result is also unpredictable - not only shortcuts, but also folders will disappear.

What is a "Desktop"?

Visually this Windows screen, which we see in front of us after loading. By analogy with a real table, the most important and necessary tools– labels.
In the system, all these resources are located in the user folder, on system disk. And the explorer.exe program manages the directory, creating the interface we are familiar with. A failure in its operation results in the desktop disappearing.

What to do if your desktop disappears

First of all, try rebooting. Perhaps the system just needs to accept new rules after installing the programs. Moreover, everyone notices that rebooting using the power button on the system unit.
If this does not help and everything disappears on the screen, then you should try one of the steps below.

Starting a desktop process

Open task manager ( right button mouse on start or CTRL+ALT+DELETE).

We need to start the explorer.exe process. To do this, in the “File” menu, select creating a new task.


And enter the process name explorer.exe.


If the desktop has disappeared due to a process stop, this will help. If the folder or program has been corrupted by a virus or Windows crash 10, then this will not help.

Restoring the operating system

How to get back the Windows 10 desktop if it disappeared after an update? You must log in in safe mode. For older versions of the OS, up to 8, just press F8 when loading. In Windows 10 or 8, we will use the parameters. The easiest way is to type msconfig in the search.

If the failure also affects the taskbar, then press WIN + R and type in the line.


On the "Boot" tab, select "Safe Mode".


If you need a network, click on the dot next to the appropriate option.


The second way is to reboot through the parameters. Will work if the main menu is not damaged. Click Start and the gear icon, then go to Update & Security.


In the Recovery area, click Restart Now.


Then sequentially select “Diagnostics” - “ Extra options" - "Download options". All this will appear when loading. Finally you will be given a choice.


Click function button F4, F5 or F6 depending on the desired selection.
Restore your system in Safe Mode. To do this, go to the settings again and select “Update and Security”. Next is “Recovery”.


Click the “Start” button.

Attention! It is better to restore the system in safe mode. In this configuration, all executable installed files, startup is cleared and you have a better chance of restoring Windows.

You will be given a choice. Usually the files are saved, but if the system is severely damaged, then choose deletion.


The system will notify you about the applications being removed.


And then the system recovery will follow.

Registry configuration

The register is system storage all Windows connections. When you install the software, new data is written to it. Any failure leads to key violations and we get problems like shortcuts and folders disappearing.
To open the registry, press WIN+R and type regedit.


Follow the path
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/WindowsNT/CurrentVersion/Winlogon
Check the parameters:

• Shell – explorer.exe
• UserInit - C:\WINDOWS\System32\Userinit.exe

If yours is different, install the ones you need and reboot. Screen elements will no longer disappear.

Restoring shortcuts

Sometimes only the shortcuts disappear. This is easy to determine if Start works. Go to the settings and select the section responsible for the system.


In the Tablet Mode area, turn off all the sliders.


Also on the desktop, right-click and move the pointer to the “View” command. Check to see if the icon display option is disabled. If the checkbox is not checked, the shortcuts will disappear.


Also be sure to check your computer for viruses.

Recovering individual items

The entire contents of the desktop does not always disappear completely. Sometimes you may miss a folder or desired shortcut.

Restoring the Start button

What to do if the bottom line and Start suddenly disappear on the desktop? To make it work again, we will re-register. To do this, run a new PowerShell task in Task Manager as an administrator.


In it you need to type the command:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach (Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”)

Press Enter. After the command finishes working, reboot the computer again.

We return the cart if it is lost

This tool allows us to remove unnecessary or restore deleted system elements. Let's figure out how to get the Recycle Bin back if it has disappeared from the Windows 10 desktop. Right-click on free space screen and select Personalize.


Under Themes, find desktop icon options.


Check the box next to the cart.

What to do if the Recycle Bin has disappeared from the Windows XP or Vista desktop and needs to be restored? Use the editor group policy. Go to Start, select Run and type gpedit.msc. Then go to the following path:
User Configuration-Administrative Templates-Desktop
On the right, you will see the option “Remove Trash icon from desktop.”


By right-clicking and opening “Edit”, you should set the “Not specified” option.


Be sure to reboot.

A folder has disappeared from the desktop: how to find and restore it

This can happen due to a change in screen resolution - the folders disappear because they are simply not visible. Select the View command by right-clicking on the work area of ​​the screen and execute the “Arrange icons automatically” command.


Also check which user you are logged in as. Folders are visible only to the person who created them. Click on start and on the top three stripes (menu). Search for the user. Change it if necessary.

The folder may have disappeared because it was deleted. Open the trash and search through it. Restore if necessary.


Also, folders disappear if they are hidden. Open File Explorer and click on View. There, check the box next to hidden elements.

Why does the picture disappear from the desktop?

And finally, we’ll tell you how to deal with the situation when the Windows 10 desktop background has disappeared. The reason is Windows activation. If you have an unlicensed operating system, then during updates an activation key is searched. If this procedure fails, the settings will be reset and screen elements will disappear.

So, if the picture is missing, then follow the path:
Computer Configuration-Administrative Templates-Windows Components-Center Windows updates
Here we need "Settings" automatic update».


Select the "Edit" command again and click on the "Disabled" option.


After this, you will get rid of updates and the desktop background will not disappear. And to be on the safe side, consider purchasing Windows licenses 10.
We told you what to do if your desktop disappears in Windows 10. We hope the information will help you.

Have a great day!

Good afternoon. Another instruction on the topic of eliminating the consequences of a virus attack on your computer. Today we are looking at another problem - the desktop does not start. On modern operating systems, only the desktop image is usually shown; on older operating systems, it may simply be black on the entire screen. I will try to describe all the steps to try to restore the computer. If they do not help, then a system reinstallation is most likely necessary. And yes, before following these instructions, you need to clean your computer from viruses, otherwise all our treatment for the virus will be nullified, constant changes in the direction he wants. For cleaning, you can use one of the LiveCDs: Dr.Web LiveDisk or Kaspersky Rescue Disk. They can be recorded on a flash drive or disk on a work computer and used to treat the computer.

1. We are trying to launch the desktop.

Of course, the first thing we need to do is try to launch your desktop (and in some cases, the real desktop, since a certain category of pests can launch a modified desktop). And for this there are two options:

• The first option is to use the utility " Execute"To do this, press the keys Win+R and enter explorer.exe(you can also try the full path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe) and click OK.
  
• The second option is to use Task Manager. To launch it, you can try using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Esc or use emergency screen pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete and already there selecting “Task Manager”.
  

In the window that opens, click on the “File” tab and select “Run a new task.”

In the window that opens, we also enter explorer.exe or C:\Windows\explorer.exe and click OK.

We look at the result, if the desktop has loaded, we breathe a sigh of relief, there is little work left, go to step 3. If not, then the problem is more complicated, the pest has replaced the desktop executable file with its own and we need to restore it, which means we read on.

2. We are trying to restore the original explorer.exe file

So, how do you restore the executable file? The first thing is to try to restore using the command line and sfc utilities. For this we need command line launched as an administrator, so we use the second method of the first step, but in the task launch window we check the box next to “ Create a task with administrator rights", and enter in the field cmd.

In the window that opens, enter sfc /scannow and press the Enter key.

We wait for the end of the check, restart the computer and look at the result. If the desktop does not start, then you will have to restore the file manually and for this we again need a working computer with the same operating system (bit size and preferably edition (Professional, base, Enterprise) and a flash card. Copy the file C:\Windows\explorer.exe on a clean computer to a flash card and insert it into the infected PC. Next we do a tricky manipulation.

• Launch “Run” or “Task Manager” → open “file” → “Run new task”
• Click on the “Browse” button
• Go to the flash drive and copy the file explorer.exe
• go to C:\Windows and paste it, agreeing to replace the file. (If it writes something about impossibility due to insufficient access rights, open the file properties in the C:\Windows folder, select “Security”, at the bottom click on the “Advanced” button, at the top on the “Owner” line, click “Change”, click “Advanced”, “Search” button, select “Administrator” and click OK until all property windows are closed, then copy the file from the flash drive again and paste it into the system directory)

And now, we try to repeat the first point of the instructions, if the desktop has loaded, go to the third point, if not, we reinstall the system.

3. We work in the registry to restore the original values.

All that remains is to clean the registry; to do this, enter the command in the Run utility or task manager regedit and click OK.

In the window that opens, go to the directory:

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

And we are looking for a parameter Shell, it must have a value exolorer.exe as in the screenshot below, if this is not the case, we correct it. If the parameter does not exist, you can create it (this is a string parameter) through the context menu.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\iexplore.exe

They need to be removed. It is the branches, not the parameters in them. With a high degree of probability, the virus wrote data into them so that your desktop does not start, and the system itself will create new branches upon startup, only with the parameters it needs.

4. Restart

We restart the computer and look at the result if everything went well. The system will start and work as if nothing had happened. If not, then it’s easier to reinstall the system.

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