blank screen after login

[thewham]

I've got a number of local accounts set up on my machine (running SP1). When I login, windows accepts my password but doesn't load the task bar or desktop. All I get is the standard blue wallpaper. I can hit ctrl-alt-delete to pop up the security box which confirms I'm successfully logged in. But the desktop doesn't load.

I've trawled through the knowledge base but drawn a blank. Would be interested to know if any one else has suffered this and has a solution.

[Qwemliis]

1. Does this happend to all accounts?
2. Does it happend in safe mode?
3. Does it happend without SP1 installed?

If not anyone of those question had a "positive" answer I suggest the following:

Pull out all hardware except VC and HD and then try to login. Does the error still occur?

Post back results.

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AMD650 Mhz, K7V, 128Mgb RAM, Matrox Millenium G400 32Mb, SBLive!, 3Com 3C905C
Windows 98 SE + Windows NT 4.0 Workstation

Visit our webiste! -> N-Show 2000

[thewham]

Thnx for suggestions...

Everything seemed fine before SP1 - as you say, could well be the service pack. Will try your other two ideas and report back....

[kallikru]

When hitting ctrl-alt-del try selecting the task manager, switch to applications and see if anything is "not responding". Try looking at "processes" also, if anything unknown is running.

How long do you wait before you decide the system is not responding? Did you install anything right before this started (SW/HW)?

I've sometimes experienced long waits at this point (3-5 minutes) after an installation - I think W2K is finishing some tasks related to the installation - or doing some kind of housekeeping, Windows is know to do that without asking. Eventually my desktop then finally shows up.

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Karl,
Denmark
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"..and may The Force be with you too..."

[Qwemliis]

Intelligent suggestion kallikru. And you're right, sometimes Windows 2000 wants to stand for a while.

My NT Workstation does that sometimes too, yesterday it stood for three minutes waitin. Guess it was depressed or something I don't know.

------------------
AMD650 Mhz, K7V, 128Mgb RAM, Matrox Millenium G400 32Mb, SBLive!, 3Com 3C905C
Windows 98 SE + Windows NT 4.0 Workstation

Visit our webiste! -> N-Show 2000

[thewham]

Thanks for suggestions... Reporting back on what I've tried out following your responses....

I tried ctrl-alt-delete and then using the new task option in task manager to fire up a couple of programs. Tried command prompt and Office and they seem to run fine. When I exit, though, I still see a blank screen (the usual blue wallpaper) and no icons, start bar, etc, as before. No strange programs or processes running that I could think might be holding up the system.

I've tried leaving the computer alone for a couple of hours after logging in but sadly it doesn't move on.

Also tried uninstalling SP1 but no joy there either. I'm thinking now about re-installing and then restoring step by step to see what might be causing the problem. One thought: I do have Adaptec/Roxio EasyCD creator installed and have read a lot of reports recently that this is causing a few problems. Will try uninstalling this.

To be continued!

[kv]

Your desktop is simply an application that runs on top of the OS Kernel. It can crash just like any other application, but Win2000 will normally automatically restart it when it does.

It sounds like your desktop isn't initalializing. If you can launch an app, try running explorer.exe. With that, you should be able get to your control panel and check your event log. You may have some indication there of why your desktop isn't loading properly.

If that doesn't lead anywhere, you may want to either try repairing your installation, re-installing SP1 or trying the recently-released SP2. It sounds like the rest of your OS is fine, so unless there's something corrupt with your setup that's preventing the desktop from loading, you shouldn't have to do a full re-install.

Hope this helps...

KV

[kallikru]

Yeah, Qwem, at work that means it's time to go out and start some coffee-making...

------------------
Karl,
Denmark
---------
"..and may The Force be with you too..."

[brianskurka]

Reload explore.exe. That should fix you up.

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Brian J Skurka
LAN Administrator

[Qwemliis]

Hmm... it might be so that the registry tells it not to load explorer and systray! Why not!

Run "regedit" wo the acclamation marks. In "Software\Microsoft\WIndows\Current version\Run" and "RunOnce" there should be an entry called SysTray with value Systray.exe. Check iy out.

------------------
AMD650 Mhz, K7V, 128Mgb RAM, Matrox Millenium G400 32Mb, SBLive!, 3Com 3C905C
Windows 98 SE + Windows NT 4.0 Workstation

Visit our webiste! -> N-Show 2000

[thewham]

....Update....

Installed SP2 but sadly problem persists. Am currently trying out the "explorer" and "systray" suggestions...