Member Avatar for gomochick101

i cant see my desktop everythings black the only thing that i can see is the things i open. i ran a virse scan but nothing showed up its almost like everythings blocked by something. I've restarted my computer and everything can someone please help?

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Dani AI

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Several good suggestions from , and already touch the common causes. The following compact checklist adds deeper, non‑destructive checks that often identify a black desktop where application windows still appear. Steps are ordered from least to more invasive and include safe precautions.

  • Confirm scope (profile vs. system): create a temporary local account (for example net user TempTest /add) and sign in. If the desktop is normal under the test account, the original user profile is corrupted and user data should be migrated to a fresh profile rather than repairing system-wide components.
  • Look for policy/registry hiding the desktop: inspect HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoDesktop and the same path under HKLM. A DWORD of 1 hides desktop elements; backing up the registry and removing or setting it to 0 restores the desktop.
  • Verify shell-related Winlogon values: check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon for unexpected values in Shell and Userinit. Unexpected entries here indicate a shell replacement or malware. Back up the key before any edit.
  • Repair system files: run sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt to detect/repair corrupt OS files that can suppress the desktop shell. Note SFC may report issues that require offline repair if it cannot fix them.
  • Scan for stealth malware offline: use a bootable rescue scanner (rescue USB/CD or well-known offline tools) because some rootkits hide from in‑OS AV. This complements ’s idea of scanning externally but avoids moving drives.
  • Check for third‑party desktop/shell utilities and recent installs or driver rollbacks: remove or roll back recent display or shell‑extension installs using standard uninstall or Autoruns/msconfig inspection.

Always export or image the registry before changes and copy important user files to external media (WinPE or a Linux Live USB works well). If these diagnostic steps isolate profile corruption or persistent system corruption, migrating data and doing an in‑place repair or fresh install will be the safest recovery paths.

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Member Avatar for Suspishio

First thing to try is to RUN EXPLORER.EXE. If it runs (which it might not because that's the first line problem that's happened) then your desktop should appear.

If a re-boot doesn't maintain this improvement then you should go to a system restore point prior to this happening. Or boot with F8 pressed after POST and select last known good configuration.

If you don't have a system restore point or the F8 boot method didn't work, then you should repair your windows systm from by booting from the Vista CD and selecting Repair.

So you've quite a bit to do and keep us posted.

Member Avatar for thepastimer

If last known good configuration doesn't work, try selecting VGA mode, which disables the drivers on your graphics card. If this fixes the problem, get a new graphics card.

Member Avatar for cguan_77

try to plug-in your hdd at another PC and scan through that PC...

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