Disappeared desktop/metro

easyq

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Hi
I resized the main partition of the c drive and after the reboot something strange happened.
I do have a mouse cursor but the screen is black. No metro, no regular desktop, nothing there. When I do control alt delete I get into task stuff and from there I can logon or log off users but all have the same result, a Black screen with only a mouse c cursor.

No hardware changes done. Tried to do an auto repair but no result. Anybody have any ideas?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
Some photos of the situation
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
For some reason, the file:
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\appsFolder.itemdata-ms is corrupted.
This file is a binary file and it contains the layout of your Start Screen so when you boot into Windows, this file get opened by explorer.exe and display the Start Screen.

If you could open the Elevated Command Prompt, change the path to:
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows.

There should be 2 files:

  1. appsFolder.itemdata-ms
  2. appsFolder.itemdata-ms.bak
Copy appsFolder.itemdata-ms.bak to appsFolder.itemdata-ms then run: tskill explorer to restart explorer.
If it does not fix your problem then delete these 2 files and re-run tskill explorer, explorer will then create a brand new default appsFolder.itemdata-ms, you should get the default Start Screen as when you first install Windows.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
just out of mild curiosity, are you running some sort of system cleaner or optimizer application?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Tansformer Book Flip TP500LN
    CPU
    Intel i5-4210U
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GT 840M
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" Touchscreen
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    1TB Hybrid
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000
I will check threat outtonight. Not using system optimizers of any kind.
EDIT
here it is tonight and what have i done so far to get this fixed?
I will re-describe the issue, windows seem to boot normal, after it's fully started i have a black screen with only the mouse cursor.
Nothing else.
But if i press control-alt-delete i get the menu to shut-down change user, logoff etc
From there i can get into system bar to see all processess running etc.
By, file, new i can start the elevated dos box and through some good old dos commands i can even start some applications such as firefox. However they will start but without bookmarks.
I have tried the trick with the 2 files as described earlier but unfortunately no result.
I think because explorer cannot be found, so something is wrong there.

Furthermore i have started easeus partition master to see if i could restore or check the partition but no effect here.
I started chkdsk but,although it seemed promising when it told me it was repairing the drive, the result remained the same.
I downloaded and was able to install and run ccleaner, hoping this was all just a buggy register issue. It fixed a lot (so it told me) but no result upon a restart.

I have also booted from the windows 8 dvd and tried every option (repair, refresh) but no result either. It tells it cannot be done.

So now i am stuck with a workaround dos PC without a properly running OS. I downloaded the windows 8 pro as i purchased it online and the code is my e-mail which i cannot access. Stupid me of course never printed it out on paper just in case. So i do have the windows 8 pro disc but i am unable to install because i don't have access to the code. Sometimes i could just bang my head against a brick wall for being so "smart":(.

Anyway, i will keep on searching for a solution as reinstalling is not something i look forward too and i feel it must be something relatively simple. (actually it should read i hope) but in the meantime i could use any ideas.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
Thanks for the help, but unfortunately deleting the 2 mentioned files as the copy option did not work. I ran tskill explorer but no effect, unfortunately.
I do have a nice empty desktop now but nothing works, no appearing menu when moving to the topright of the screen, nothing in the taskbar. Also no apps screen appears as it would normally do.
So via the elevated dosbox i verified if there is a new appsFolder.itemdata-ms but nothing there.
TSkill explorer works but restarting explorer gives an error : interface not supported however the desktop remains the standard explorer screen (with the flower).
Tested if i could add something but new shortcut gives an error : cannot create shortcut
New folders give no error but nothing seems to happen.

Any other tips/issues/hints???
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
This is very strange. It must be something wrong with Windows Explorer.
Did you run sfc /scannow ? if not, open elevated command prompt and run: sfc /scannow.
Also if you have any anti virus software running, temporarily disable it.
Below is the Video I made on how to reset the Start Screen, explorer should create a default Start Screen in:
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows =====> (User) is your user name.

[video=youtube;bOHFTxp-z68]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOHFTxp-z68[/video]
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Sfc scan is now running, well post results later.
EDIT
scan is finished, a lot of error and fixes in the logfile, see attached.
It is quite a lot of info but maybe somebody can help me out.
 

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  • cbs.txt
    689.9 KB · Views: 254
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
This is very strange. It must be something wrong with Windows Explorer.
Did you run sfc /scannow ? if not, open elevated command prompt and run: sfc /scannow.
Also if you have any anti virus software running, temporarily disable it.
Below is the Video I made on how to reset the Start Screen, explorer should create a default Start Screen in:
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows =====> (User) is your user name.
Very cool video. Way to go.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
Attached the ntbtlog.txt file, maybe this is of some help:cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:
 

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  • ntbtlog.txt
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
This is very strange. It must be something wrong with Windows Explorer.
Did you run sfc /scannow ? if not, open elevated command prompt and run: sfc /scannow.
Also if you have any anti virus software running, temporarily disable it.
Below is the Video I made on how to reset the Start Screen, explorer should create a default Start Screen in:
C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows =====> (User) is your user name.
Great work on the vid, unfortunately didnot work for me, but definately great work:cool:!!!!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
Sometimes you need to run sfc /scannow quite a few times for it to fix all the errors.
in addition, can you run: msconfig->Boot, check Safe boot then restart the PC
Also, I noticed in the log file, the video is not loaded. Can we also try to re-install the driver ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
This is from a safe boot, that's why the video is not loaded
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
This is from a safe boot, that's why the video is not loaded

OK, you did not mention anything about safe boot so I thought we could try that.
But did sfc /scannow fix any corrupted system files ? as I said, sometimes you have to run it several times to fix the corrupted files.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Ok I have to go to work now but I will try to run some more scans tonight, hopefully it helps.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
Ok i ran like 10 times scf /scannow and each time it tells me it fixed stuff. Gonna reboot now, chkdsk / /r will kick in and i switched off safe mode, fingers crossed.......
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
Chkdsk is now repairing and stuck at 28% for half an hour.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
Pc is fully rebooted but still no regular desktop. Only a black screen and a mouse cursor. Y trying to run some scans but now it tells me windows resource protection cannot start the repair service.
It is getting do frustrating, I want to empty a gun on the PC by now..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
I noticed that the 2 files from the video and the post earlier about them were still not recreated. I browsed the windows.old folder and found they were there as well so I copied them from there. Let's hope that will solve this friggin issue. I'll keep you guys updated.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
Ok I an now so fed up with this, I will put my outlook local files on a laptop, find my windows code and.just reinstall.
Nothing to do with you guys but its taking me too long to fix this.
At leats, that was my plan, but i cannot find my roaming profile files anywhere on the pc where they should be. Without these it is impossible to backup my e-mail files on another machine using outlook. And consequently retreiving my code so i can start to reinstall.
I found a solution te retreive my code from the registry but it requires a downloaded file (belarc registry finder) and despite severla downloads, the downloaded file seem to disappear in the digital void somewhere in my PC case where a lot of things seem to disappear lately.

at this point i am getting utterly mad, my eyes are red, my brain boils and the family hides because of my anger rages towards everybody and everything. I lost my hair in the last 2 hours............................in short, guys i need help here, this is getting to much for me.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 955 BE
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
    Memory
    4GB geil
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI HD5770
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG flattron L225WS
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 1TB
    Samsung 1 TB
    Case
    Collermaster HAF
    Cooling
    XTREME Frezer II
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Microtools WMX810
    Internet Speed
    cable
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