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Desktop magically deleted
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Posted by: Golden213
My sister has been having a problem on her home computer that runs win XP home. This is now the second time that everything on her desktop (minus recycle, my comp, etc) has been deleted when she logs onto her profile. They arent hidden, or just in the recycle bin, everything is completely gone. It isnt someone else on the computer doing it, and she says she wasnt doing anything potentially dangerous before it happened, just using IE, etc. I know this problem could have tons of possible problems, i just figured i'd post here as this is now the second time that it has happened. When it does happen, the other user profiles on the computer are not affected, just hers. Anyone heard of this before or know a common problem that would cause it? Thanks a lot.
Posted by: uh...ok
Well, one way to make sure (or rather, be as sure as you can be) that nobody is messing around with her computer from outside, she should probably do a bunch of diagnostics as well as installing some kind of firewall (try googling for ZoneAlarm or Outpost Firewall or AVG or something). The "diagnostics" include:
- a full virus scan on everything
- spyware/adware/malware detection and cleanup using as many different programs as possible (i.e. AdAware, SpyBot Search and Destroy, a bunch of other ones)
- (possibly) a full Windows registry scan and repair if necessary - using a program like Registry Healer, Registry Mechanic, or anything else that does the job
You should probably take the computer offline before running a lot of these (i.e. download, install, and update the necessary tools and software, disconnect from the network, reboot if necessary, and then run all the scans)
She knows how to restore desktop items properly, though, I assume?
Posted by: deshana
Golden213,
She might be running the desktop cleanup wizards by mistake.
Posted by: uh...ok
 Quote:
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Originally Posted by deshana
Golden213,
She might be running the desktop cleanup wizards by mistake.
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It's doubtful that the cleanup wizards would remove her My Computer or Recycle Bin icons.
Posted by: Golden213
nah, those 2 are still there. its my computer, recycle bin, and maybe network places. the program icons arent a big problem, but she keeps her personal folder with gigs of papers, music, and the like on her desktop and this is the second time shes lost all of that. it sounds a lot like this thread, but unfortunately no one has a solution there either. http://www.opentechsupport.net/foru...ead.php?t=14465. i just dont understand why if its a virus it only happened on her profile and if its an outside attack why its happened twice in the exact same manner. and if its something other than those, im even more confused.  thanks for the help so far though.
Posted by: FadedMaster
Well, it could always be a trojan backdoor and someone messing with her. If I were her I would try keeping my files elsewhere than on the desktop. Is there anything else that has gone missing?
Like suggested, do some virus scans, like Trend Micro and such. I would also check the startup items (Start->Run->type "msconfig"). And remove anything suspicious.
The hard drive could be failing too. Which I'm sure was mentioned in the other topic.
Posted by: matt.modica
Disconnect your computer from the internet and see if it still happens.
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