After I turn on, it all settles down, then at various points, usually either when I turn on Explorer or Messenger, I loose the taskbar, desktop and start menu and cant get them back. Sometimes though it happens almost as soon as everything first appears but I have found that the longer I dont do any actions, the longer it lasts when I start using it. Im about to throw the computer out the window, but im not technically minded so maybe its something simple. I also signed up with Norton not long before this trouble all happened but this was after some virus that has been removed got in through messenger - could this be related?
This has now happened to me twice, and it's pretty annoying. All the shortcut items in the root of the Start menu have disappeared. That is all the default Vista apps like Movie Maker, Picture Viewer, Mail etc, plus a few other things I've installed that place icons in the root list PhotoShop CS3. The sub folders are still there fine. The applications whose shortcuts are missing are also still there, it is just the Start menu shortcuts that have gone. I've looked in the C: drive where the Start Menu folders are (C:Users and C:ProgramData) and the shortcuts are indeed gone. Previous Versions doesn't show anything up either, so they're completely gone. After the first time this happened I copied the entries from my Laptop, and all has been fine for a few weeks, but they're gone again.AVG Free 8 reports no viruses, and both SpyBot and AdAware report nothing of any significance.
I have added some desktop icons for programs I frequently use. However, My Computer (now called Computer) and My Documents (now called Documents) would be very useful desktop icons. I know how to locate these topics from the Start menu, but how do I create desktop icons for them?
So basically, a few weeks after i got Vista i tried to install Stellarium (freeware astronomy program), which crashed my computer. I restarted, and after typing in my password I get "My Documents" open on a black screen, nothing else, no taskbar or desktop icons or anything. When i try to open the "taskbar and start menu" icon in Control Panel, nothing happens. Also, when I Ctrl-Alt-Del the usual screen comes up, but the task manager is no longer an option, and i can't think of how to access it or my taskbar. I've installed all the servfice packs and they haven't helped.
It had Vista Home Premium installed on it. She has been using the computer to store school-related documents; class notes, chapter reviews, etc. She turned the computer on this morning, and all of her desktop folders with the school-related documents were gone. I searched for the files and found them in her C drive, under her username and AppData. No matter what I do, I can't seem to pull those files out or view them. I tried ShadowExplorer and that did not
What I think happened is that in switching between two networks (one at home and one at school) her desktop files were relocated from her C drive to the school network. I don't know how that happened or if that is even possible. She often does not shutdown her computer when she leaves school. So, as I have seen in the past, her Dell cannot connect to the school network, but no errors come up as she edits documents and saves those changes. Is there anything I'm missing here? Could there be a simpler solution? Could some files have been corrupted and are those files lost for good?
when i start my computer i get nothing no icons start menu or anything but i do get a my documents window and from there i have to ctrl alt delete then go to file run and run explorer does anyone know how to make it to where i dont have to do all that stuff to run explorer basically does anyone know how to make it where when i start my computer it is normal with explorer running?
This is driving me nuts and was wondering if anyone else has encountered this. When passing over any other item the item information is displayed right away with no problems. But, when I pass the mouse pointer over a particular item, in the start menu the system hangs and the 'highlight' stops over particular item without displaying item information. (in MS Access it's referred top as the Control Tip Text). After about 20 seconds the item info gets displayed and things go back to normal..........
When I click on Help and Support in the start menu, Help is started, but I get a message like this: The topic you are looking for is not available in this version of Windows.
i installed vista a few weeks ago...being the economical person i am, i decided to go thru all my extraneous directories that windows installs and delete a few things i know i'd never use...mostly public junk, etc etc...i also understand that vista is smart, actually modifying what it shows you depending on the things you use most, bla bla bla.. i'm the only one using my puter and i've set the account up with admin priviledges..
just recently, i've noticed that my name is no longer displayed in the start menu just above the "documents" button & underneath my display picture, and i'm concerned about it...i'm thinking maybe it had something to do with those directories i've deleted in the public area...OR maybe vista just realised that by now i'm the only one who ever touches my puter and has chosen to assume it's always me and not show my name anymore.. i don't know but i'd like to know why this is happening, and if i choose to, how i can restore it? i've tried in the policy manager but none of those settings seem to make a difference...
I just installed SP 1 and now the Start Menu and Task Bar are gone. It was a lot of work to install. I'd hate to have to take it back out again. Task Bar wasn't locked but wasn't set to hide either.
I stumbled upon vistax64 while researching superfetch in vista and honestly out of all the sites I have been to this one is the most informative and up to date. I found the tutorials section to be a real big help in fact I almost have vista setup just the way I want it because of the guides. I do have a quick question I miss the way XP did its start menu as in hover over a item to go to its menu, vista you have to actually click the menu, anyway to return that to the way it used to be while still keeping the default vista look?
This applies to XP as well as Vista, the solution (if there is one) may also work for both, that's why I decided to crosspost instead of posting a separate question for each OS. Has someone found a way to add new top-level menus to the start menu, the way you could in Win2000, and still can in XP and Vista if you switch to the "classic" start menu?
I have 2 Hard Drives - 1 for OS the other for Data. Since all my data is on disk D I wanted to change the Documents, Music, and Pictires links on the rhs of the start pane to point to the new location. i did that OK by using properties, move location.however I stuffed it up by changing where "Videos" points. "videos is a link under the users on c:. Anyway, I sent it to the wrong place. When I tried to fix it my documents, pictures and music links were all lost. Somehow i've managed to re-establish the Documents link to point to the correct place (on the Data HDD) but I can't change Music or Pictures. They are just empty and do nothing. If I point to them and right click and select properties there is no "Location" tab, and in fact there is nothing at all.The links are OK in "Favourite Links" when Computer window is open, but they are dead on my start panel right hand side. All the other items in that panel are OK. How can I reset those links to point where I want.
I can't seem to find Newsgroups for Windows 7, so I'm hoping to find an answer for my question here! I've installed Win7 on my laptop and want to customize the Start Menu's All Programs windows. I normally consolidate like programs/folders into one common folder to minimize the number of items on the All Program window (i.e. all Microsoft related items in one folder called something like Microsoft Programs). I can't seem to figure out how to do that in Windows 7.
I am the only user on my Vista Home Premium system. When I click Documents in the Start Menu, there are two Desktops - one at the top of folders and one under my Username. I am trying to figure out why there are 2 Desktops.
Recently most of the programs in my Start Menu disappeared. Almost everything that disappeared is Microsoft related, like Office. When I rebooted it said that explorer.exe and sprtcmd.exe in the C:ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuPrograms directory is corrupt and I should run chkdsk. However, chkdsk won't run. I set it to run on reboot but it never does. Then I tried using sfc /scannow but it only got to 71% before saying it can't continue. I tried going into the Programs folder but it says the directory is corrupt or unreadable. I've got Vista Home Premium, and my computer is a Dell XPS M1530.
I am using Vista Home Basic x32 sp2. When I pass the mouse pointer over a particular item on the start menu Vista freezes. It always happens when the pointer passes over the same item. It also occurs sometimes when I try to drag an item to a different location on the start menu.
I cannot seem to access my start menu and I cannot seem to see my programs when minimized to the taskbar.It has not been resized, just it has just disappeared as I was surfing the web.
Just noticed that there are no programs listed when I press the Start Button, they only show up when I click on All Programs. It was fine earlier.Havent installed anything.
Not all programs listed in the pinned area and recently run area of the Start Menu will run when you click on them.This is true particularly of MS Office programs.Some programs will run when clicked on, but not others.With those that won't run, you have to go to "All Programs" and select them from there.This is very annoying, because you never know which programs will run.In Windows XP, you never had this problem.I was hoping that SP-1 would fix this, but it didn't.Do others have this problem? Can it be fixed?
I recently changed the resolution of my screen from 1024x768 to 1440x900 and the start menu is cut off a little, where the arrow is cut off As you can see, next to the lock the arrow is not there, it is cut off and when I change it to other resolutions it is the same thing.
Every Windows power user knows the command line is “the place” to get serious work done. The new Start Menu search box in Windows Vista opens the door to a whole new level of command line possibilities. One utility called Start++ extends the Start Menu search box to add even more features allowing you to use shortcuts to launch web sites and processes.
Would you like to search Google from your start menu search box? Just type g followed by your query such as “g tweak vista”. How about doing a quick search on Wikipedia? Type w and your query in the search box. The possibilities are endless because you can create custom shortcuts just like the examples above.
On top of web shortcuts, you can also create application links that will launch an app and open a file. Almost anything is possible with a little customization of the Start++ utility shown below....
In XP I could use Classic menus and put the programs I wanted into my start menu and launch them by pressing the Start Key and then the first letter of the program. If I do that now, it seems to do a search of my HD for items with that letter in it. Can someone tell me how to get this function in Win 7.
My computer locked and i had to push the on/off button to release. I did a restart which took a long time. Everything is working ok now, but the 'volume, power, and network' icons on the bottom right of my screen have disappeared and will not turn back on. I go to properties (right click on the lower bar) and pull up 'task bar and start menu properties.' The 3 icons i want on are listed but greyed out on the 'notification' area of that window and will not click on.
