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Taskbar and icons dissapear

Started by Jonathan, August 14, 2008, 11:37:41 AM

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Jonathan

When I logon to my PC about 5 minutes later the desktop icons and taskbar dissapear, so I go into task manager, and the explorer.exe process has been ended. So I type it into rn and the taskbar and icons appear and then about 2-3 minutes later they dissapear again. So I run explorer.exe again they reappear and then 2-3 minutes later it does it all over again. Once I opened the task manager I found a process called something like dskcleanup.0001, but I'm not sure because I ended it immediately as it didn't sound "good". This has only started since I installed Norton 360v2( I installed norton 360 on Tuesday but this only started today.). Since then I have downloaded some 3ds models and textures and thats about it. So far Norton hasn't picked anything up. I would really like to get this sorted as not only is it annoying but worrying that I have a virus or similar.

Thanks, Jonathan

catty

I was running Norton 360v1 till last week when I installed v2, I've had a few similar problems and also unable to exit out of programs like BSC Cleanitol TM as well which is annoying, I've done quite a few virus scans and nothing comes up, so I'm thinking its the Norton program itself thats causing the problems.  &mmm
I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?" DEATH thought about it. "CATS," he said eventually, "CATS ARE NICE.

Jonathan

#2
I've just noticed that the free space on my HDD is gradually getting bigger. I'm doing a back up but its taking a while, I don't know if that means its deleting my files or what. I'm really getting worried/annoyed, I just want this thing to work.




Since I posted, every time explorer has ended a another proccess has poped up called COM surrogate (dllhost.exe)
I dont know if thats a coincidence.

EDIT: Also if I open up an explorer window (Computer, Control panel, Hard Drive,etc) it seems to end the explorer process faster. I don't know if there is something that will tell you what is ending the process?

catty

I using Windows XP Professional, but my understanding is that a COM Surrogate error is a Vista problem which is caused by video codec that is not Vista compatible and when Vista tries to bring up the first frame of the video file it causes the Com Surrogate .dll extension to shut down, as I say I don't used Vista so can't help you with an answer.
I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?" DEATH thought about it. "CATS," he said eventually, "CATS ARE NICE.

girlfromverona

#4
A few things you could try:


  • Run Windows in Safe Mode (hold F8 key down while PC is booting up). That way only essential processes will load, and you will be able to tell if Windows is causing the problem or if it's another program you've installed.
  • Shut down Norton altogether (install a free anti-virus program first, such as AVG), to see if it is causing the problem. Make sure your virus definitions are up-to-date, then run a full system scan. (I used to use Norton 360, but gave it up recently as it is a real system hog. AVG works fine for me.)
  • Check you have the latest driver installed for your graphics card.
  • Download and run CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com). It's a free program that will clean up any unnecessary files on your PC and check for errors in the registry.

Hope this helps somehow.  :)

Shadow Assassin

Hard drive space's gradually getting larger?

Something's deleting your files.


Incidentally, get a better anti-virus program. Norton is, to put it bluntly, crap.
New Horizons Productions
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Shadow Assassin ♦ Tarkus ♦ wouanagaine
See my uploads on the LEX!

Jonathan

#6
Thanks for the replies, I went back to 360v1 but that didn't solve anything. I ran CCleaner an it deleted somefiles but that didn't solve anything either. I'll now go and run in Safemode and check the graphics card.

Thanks, Jonathan

EDIT: I downloaded the trial version of AVG and did a scan it found 15 trojans and other malicous stuff, it removed them but still explorer closes. I've noticed now that it only ends after I have an explorer window open, so like now when I only have firefox open there is no obvious trouble but if I open Computer it dissapears.

EDIT2: I ran safe mode and it works normally I have had Computer open for around 5 minutes and explorer hasn't closed. I don't really know what this means,but I guess it means that I haven't got something in the Windows files?

girlfromverona

#7
Yep, I think it's a good sign that it's ok in Safe Mode. Did you try turning off Norton completely? Another thing, are you running XP or Vista? If you've got Vista, try turning off the Sidebar and see if that makes any difference.

I recently had problems with Skype shutting down Explorer occasionally. I updated to the newest version and it's now fine. So it really could be any program that you have installed. Make sure you have the latest version of everything. Vista is fairly new, so there are probably some programs that are still in the process of becoming compatible.

Other than that, I'd suggest a process of elimination - stop all non-essential processes from running on startup and gradually add them back to try to determine which one is causing the problem.

Jonathan

I think I found the problem a file called mpt.exe. This site says that it can close other processes. I also found kek.exe that is notvery nice either.
I only found it because I saw it when disabling startup processess, it was in the system32 folder but the publisher wasn't microsoft.

Thanks very much Girlfromverona, if you hadn't suggested turning off startup processes I wouldn't've found the problem. :thumbsup:

Jonathan

Shadow Assassin

Just a note: you can find many suspicious trojans and whatnot simply by looking through your Startup processes. Keep in mind, though, some viruses won't show up at all in the Processes window of Task Manager, which is where your anti-virus comes in.
New Horizons Productions
Berethor ♦ beskhu3epnm ♦ blade2k5 ♦ dedgren ♦ dmscopio ♦ Ennedi
emilin ♦ Heblem ♦ jplumbley ♦ moganite ♦ M4346 ♦ papab2000
Shadow Assassin ♦ Tarkus ♦ wouanagaine
See my uploads on the LEX!

girlfromverona

Glad to hear you found the problem, Jonathan.  ;D

pilotdaryl

So this is a computer virus, I hear?  I recently recovered from one; I might be able to help.  You may have disabled it, but you must also delete it right away.  If it comes back, then you have a persisting virus.  That's one of the problems I had to face.  From the description in the article, MPT.EXE is probably a remote-access trojan, which means somebody may be in your computer.  I suggest turning to experts, and getting help from someone you trust.  And of course, you'll want to back up any files (which I luckily did).