I did a registry scan on Windows XP and all of my desktop icons are messed up where the text was it all in different symbols ie: squares, circles, question marks How can I fix this??

Welcome to FixYa.


Windows XP Languages
Upgrade your Windows XP to Service Pack 3 through Windows Update:

• -Open a browser (IE, Firefox or Chrome)
  
• -Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
  
• -Install all updates
  

Install the Multilingual User Interface (MUI):

• -Go to http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=22108
  
• -Click on DOWNLOAD
  
• -Double click the downloaded file to install if it does not run automatically.
  

Speeding Up your Computer
Clean up temporary files and your Registry:

• -Download EUSING Cleaner from this link http://www.eusing.com/Download/EFSCSetup.exe (This is not commercial software)
  
• -Save the file
  
• -Double click the downloaded file to install if it does not start automatically.
  
• -Run EUSING CLEANER
  
• -Click SKIP if it asks you for a registration code. Don't bother to pay for it as you are alreay paying me.
  

• -Click the CLEANER icon then click the TEST button on the lower right.
  
• -It may take a while to test.
  
• -After the test, click CLEAN.

• -Click the REGISTRY icon then click the SCAN button on the lower right.
• -It may take a while to scan.
• -After the scan, click FIX ERRORS.

• -Click the DEFGRAG ICON then click the ANALYZE REGISTRY button.
  
• -This may take a while.
  
• -After analyzing the registry, it will tell you if it needs defraging.
  
• -If it needs one, click the DEFRAG REGISTRY button.
  

You are done with EUSING.

Lastly, update your anti-virus and do a FULL scan.
You should be able to see or feel the difference after these steps.

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Try to reinstall different version of internet explorer..

Thanks

Here are a couple suggestions. 1.) You can run windows system restore back to a date when you knew your system was running fine.
If that fail to fix your problem than, turn off windows restore. You do not need to enter control panel to do this as long as you have My Computer icon sitting on your desktop. (IF not, right click once on a clear spot on your desktop). From the pop-up window left click once on properties.
Display Properties will open. Click on the Desktop tab. Than click on the Customize Desktop button. Desktop Items will open. Make sure there is a check mark in the box next to, My Computer. That will add the My Computer icon to your desktop.
Right click on it once & from the pop-up window slide to & left click on properties. Click on system restore tab.
Reason for this: if your system has a virus or Trojan it will copy its self into system restore. Turning it off prevents this. 2.) Run your antivirus software & check for issues. 3.) Download the free software named ccleaner; http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/ & install it. Run the standard cleaner. Than click on the registry icon and scan for issues. This will remove double registry keys & corrupt keys. Than restart your system. When windows finishes loading click on update windows from the start button. Check for hardware & software updates & install em'. (If any). When you feel everything is running correctly you can re-enable windows system restore & create a restore point.
If everything above did not fix your problem you may have no choice but to repair windows. Load your windows restore CD into your CD-ROM drive and boot to it. Running Dell's restore should repair windows. Most of your data should be fine. Some programs may need to be reinstalled.

Cheers'
Mike

Hi,
Log in using SAFE MODE. While laptop boots, press F8 and it will prompt for which mode to login. Select 'SAFE MODE'. Once logged in try to restore the OS to a previous good restore point.
If you've a backup of the registry key, it will help better. Just restore the registry from the backup instead of going for an old restore point.
Please come back and rate my solution if this turns to be helpful for you or also if you need more clarification. Thnx

All the answers are assuming that you are able to connect with the internet. So before anything else make sure that your connected and run network diagnostics. You can do by pressing start and then clicking on the control panel then click on network and internet connections, click on network diagnostics left hand side run diagnostics.

If you are connected,try another browser with your computer such as firefox, opera, safari. See how they work and whether they are able to interface with msn.

If you are still experiencing issues a free virus software like advair

Specifically what scan are attempting that I need clarification on before we can go further.

One of two things my friend 1 - a virus or 2 which sounds more likely is a corrupt video driver. Best to look up the correct driver on dells site specific to your PC and reinstall

definately virus not an update issue i would just take the windows disk and restore to an eairler point!

- Select "System" from the control panel list
- Choose the Advanced tab
- Click "Settings" in the "Performance" section
- Check "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop"
- Click OK

I think I experienced the same problem you're describing. After installing the NetGear USB adapter, Windows XP stopped using the "friendly" way of logging on -- where it has a nice icon for each user -- and started using the "ugly" logon. You get a username/password dialog box.

I checked with NetGear tech support, and they sent me the following steps:

1. After installing the new driver/utility for WG111v2, click Start --
Run and type regedit.
2. When the registry editor opens browse to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software /Microsoft/Windows NT/Current Version/WINLOGON.
3. Delete the key named GINAdll.
4. Afterward you may want to go back into the control panel and check
the 'change the way users log on or off' and make sure the welcome
screen and fast user switching are both checked.

They also included the common sense caution that you should not edit your registry unless you know what you're doing. You can screw up your computer by improperly editing your registry. However, the steps are easy enough to follow that you should be safe if you exercise caution.

I would add that this didn't fully solve my problem. Although things work fairly well in most cases, when I wake up my machine after it has gone to sleep (due to a period of inactivity), the screen is messed up. Instead of giving me the normal logon screen, I get a messed up version of my desktop, and I am not able to log on. I have to turn off the computer's power and restart it.

To work around this problem, I try to always shut down completely when I log off instead of allowing the machine to go to sleep.