My Entire Home Screen Has Disappeared!

ummm.... this is very embarrassing but I don't know. How do I find that for you?

 

Click on Start/All programs/Accessories/system tools/system information .

 

I apologize. I'm all out of time for now. I have to get ready for work.

I will try again later, if someone else doesn't figure this out for you.

 

Thank you SO much for your time and insight!

 

While you are waiting for Kojak, Microsoft has a good FAQ for system restore which should answer all of your questions. Once you locate system restore (See Kojak's Path) you should find it pretty easy to follow.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/System-Restore-frequently-asked-questions

 

I ran the system restore 4 times from 4 different dates (all of which were before this happened) and nothing has changed. I still just have a black screen.

 

It may be time for us to consider malware as a possible cause. I would urge you to read and follow this POST BY STARBUCK and once things get posted we will be on our way to finding out.

 

You're welcome.

I believe it is time for a more in depth look at your system.

To that end, I suggest downloading Belarc Advisor. Which can be found here.

Please install, run and copy/paste results in your next post.

We still need to consider malware as a cause. But this info. should shed some light also.

 

ok, so I ran the malware link from Starbuck and that did come up with 16 files which were then quarantined and deleted. Restarted computer and still have the same black screen. Do you still want me to copy and paste all of the belarc info?

 

Yes, please.

P.S.

There should be a log file for the action you've already taken. That too would be helpful.

 

Removed content at member's request.

 

I feel so exposed!

 

You can, or we can always edit the Belarc info out of your post.

You should have Vista SP2 installed. But that's to be done later.

You should not be running real time protection in Spybot. It will conflict with Norton. I'd disable McAfee too, if active.

You should have only one A/V & A/S app. active on your system.

At this point, we will need to wait on Starbuck to further assist you,

as we're moving beyond my scope of experience, with respect to malware removal.

 

but i already did malware removal this morning. Do it again?

 

Thank you. I'll start working on those things now... :/

 

Some of the nasties we encounter are very good at hiding.

Please follow the link Allheart55 provided.

 

At this stage I am moving this thread to Malware Removal. By all accounts that is where it belongs.