Thanks again, Gerbil. I was able to delete the 3 files and a new one was created. Everything seems to be working just fine now with one exception:
When I right-click on the Start button (or, to that matter, anywhere on the desktop, the system freezes. I can only release it by either going to Windows Task Manager and stopping/starting Explorer.exe or rebooting. Would you have a solution for this one?
Oded

Groan.... is that a new problem?, one that surfaced since we forced the creation of a new desktop.htt file? If so, by any chance do you know at which stage? I'm sure it would not be due to this though.... If it is, try system restore and then work through again to pinpoint its first occurrence. For your peace of mind you could try resetting that dword from the key above to what it was [0x110], but that should not fix anything.
I have no solution yet, but i suspect an old contextmenuhandler file left over from from IE6 ....
[when you rclick on a file you open a context menu shell extension; the handlers add the various command files that you normally see - eg undo, copy, paste, select, various other contextual commands like scan..]

Hi Gerbil,
I am sorry I didn't explain it better. No, it is not a new problem that ocurred follwong the desktop.htt fix. This was an earlier problem which, during my search for a solution for, I encountered the desktop problem. I don't believe there is a relatioship between the two.

ah... since you're online.. another little thing and it's> ... WHOA!! did you really mean desktop.exe? no spelling error in a previous post, no 9?

I am not sure I understand. I said desktop.htt. And, what does the '9' refers to? Am I missing somrthing?
Thanks, Gerbil!

.. to quote"Hi Gerbil,
I followed your suggestion in the edited version of your reply and found three instances of the file desktop.htt. The search highlighted them in blue and when I tried to delete them, the system froze! I had to go to Windows Task Manager, delete and reinstate Desktop.exe." which is from post #9.
-which is the bit i am wondering about..... So, was it really desktop.exe? Ill assume you meant explorer.exe [desktop.exe is from a nasty trojan...]. But i think i cannot carry through on this problem - someone with more knowledge on shells and contextmenuhandlers etc [if that is the problem] had better pick it up for me.

Oh, I see. Mea culpa! No, I meant 'desktop.htt', not 'desktop.exe'. (Force of habit I guess). Anyway, this problem ocurred prior to any manipulation of the desktop as you recommended so I still wouldn't blame anything on it. Your recommendation worked beautifully and everything (other than the right-click on "Start") is well behaved.
Thanks,
Oded

Hi! I am having this same problem, but when I deleted the desktop.htt files, and edited the registry files as suggested, but no dice. Any other ideas?

In the immortal words of Emily Latella: "Never mind!"

When I remembered to re-start my computer the problem was fixed. Thanks for the advice!

Hello all,
I am new to this but felt I had to reply to this post.
There is a very simple 'cure' for this line 65 non supporting action problem as there is with many of these things. Right click the desktop and select properties, click settings, click identify, a large figure will appear on the screen, simply press ok and your problem has been cured.
Hope this works for you as it did for me.
Dave