No Start Bar - Copy and Paste not working

[grandpapasmurf]

There is something extremely wrong with my computer.

1. The Start bar at the bottom of the screen is gone

2. I can copy items and files, but not PASTE

3. I cannot drag or drop any files, when I click and hold, nothing happens

4. Internet is not working at all

Please help, I honestly think I have a corrupted windows file or .dll

[grandpapasmurf]

Can anyone please help me with this?

[rjfvillarosa]

Smurf, can you give us a little background information about your machine?
1. what OS are you using?
2. what antivirus are you using?
3. what if any spyware detectors are you using?

[grandpapasmurf]

I am using Windows XP Home

No antivirus or spyware detector.

[rjfvillarosa]

Smurf before you do anything I strongly suggest you attempt a few antivirus scans and spyware detection.
www.trendmicro.com this site will do a free online antivirus scan called "housecall"
www.grisoft.com you can get a free version of AVG antivirus software here after registering an email address with them, the email address is required to send you a link to the download site and subsequently an unlock key for the installation software.
www.lavasoft.com you can get a free copy of adaware personal 1.05 here, (personal opinion) one of the best spyware and anti advertising scanners around.

[grandpapasmurf]

I cannot go online on that computer OR transfer any files to it, because drag and drop doesn't work, as well as copy and paste.

[Panama Red]

I'm thinking this is virus related. I would try removing the hard drive and installing it in the slave position of another XP machine that does have an updated Antivirus program. Then run a scan on that hard drive. If no AV is available, go to www.trendmicro.com and use the free scan there. Here's some other tips that may help. Hopefully, you have an XP cd so you can do a repair/install if necessary.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;318027

[normajm]

I support the idea it could be virus or spyware as your computer is not protected, but it may also be a be a failed SP2 install, see my post in XP SP2 Success or Failure. If you have access to a friend's computer who has access to the Internet, print out the data found in the following link: http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;888162.

The reason I mentioned this is twofold. If a System Restore is attempted without cleaning out a failed SP2 install, the System Restore may not work. It pays to check if it was installed, the link will provide the steps to do this. If it was not installed, System Restore to a time when the computer was running properly would be a good step to try.

When your computer is back to running condition, it is essential that an antivirus program is installed, activated and updated on a regular basis.

[rjfvillarosa]

As you are unable to go online with that machine Red's idea of slaving the hard drive to another machine is probably going to be your best option. It is not difficult and if you need any help or advice on how to do it, we are here to help you.

[grandpapasmurf]

System restore does not work either, everytime i try it tells me to restart the computer. I may have to try to slave the hard drive on my other PC and backup everything and reformat.

[rjfvillarosa]

Before you backup and format the hard drive, try as we have suggested, update all the antivirus and spyware programs on your other machine then install your troublesome hard drive as a slave, then run all the scans on it. With it slaved the antivirus and spyware scanners will have no problem with access denial by windows to the system files, as the OS on the slave drive will not be running.

[grandpapasmurf]

ok Im going to do this now.

Thanks