Fixing The Bootmgr Error In Windows

Fixing the Bootmgr error in Windows

How many of you have faced the alarming bootmgr is missing message when trying to boot a Windows system? This is hard to stomach, especially when there’s serious work you want to do on the machine. There’s no way you can bypass the problem without finding the missing file. So how to how to fix bootmgr is missing when you see it?

First of all stay your hand if you get thoughts about punching through the monitor, like in one of those videos. This is something you can likely get past, as long as you keep a cool head and follow the instruction outline here. Understand that bootmgr being absent doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve lost data; maybe it simply got moved to another location. The first order of business is to check that no peripherals are connected to the computer; and yes, that includes your iPod. Unplug everything you don’t absolutely need, and then proceed as follows.

Repair Boot Records

The first thing you should try is the repair your computer option, which will probably come up before the OS loads. Keep your Windows DVD at hand, but if you can’t find this it can be done without.

· Press and hold F8 when the machine powers up, to get to the startup options. Hit Repair your computer.

· Take a look at the list of OSs you have in the computer. Choose the one that you want to boot into.

· Hit Next and at the following screen you’ll see a list of System Recovery options.

Using Command Prompt

· Choose Command Prompt, which will be the one at the bottom of the list.

· When the command screen comes up, and if you’re in the System32 directory, simply type in C: and hit Enter. If this doesn’t work, type in chkdsk c: /f /r, and that will repair the partition.

· After that, run these commands in succession: /fixboot, and /fixmbr.

Using Startup Repair

This is the option in Windows 7 where the OS automatically figures out what’s wrong with the booting, and fixes this for you. Your system is checked for common errors, and if the bootmgr file is broken, that gets fixed as well.

That was on how to fix bootmgr is missing errors in a Windows PC. The easiest way is to use the System Repair, but that needs to have been set up beforehand.

What Exactly Is Slowing Down Your Windows 7 PC

What Exactly Is Slowing Down Your Windows 7 PC

Windows 7 is a pretty fast OS, if you are not using up too much of the RAM. But, computer running slow Windows 7 errors are also common because of a number of reasons. You need to figure out what is causing these errors, if you want to fix them and bring the computer back to its original performance speed. There are many suspects when it comes to the reasons for the PC slowdown.

Virus infections

Virus infections are the most likely culprits, if the decrease in the OS speed was sudden. You need to identify this and get rid of the virus from the system to fix the issue, and the OS will start functioning smoothly once again.

Antivirus programs are the best solution here. But, you might need to pair it up with an anti-malware tool as well, just to make sure that you got rid of all the virus applications and malicious leftovers from the system. Also, keep in mind that a boot-scan is a much more effective option than a full system scan.

Scan your system for viruses at least twice after updating the virus definitions in your antivirus program. This should fix the computer running slow Windows 7 errors in most cases.

Disabling start-up programs

Now, there might be some start-up programs running in your OS, which are launched in the background as soon as you switch the system on. Some of them might be necessary, while others might be useless until you need them for something. You need to check the list the start-up programs in the OS and disable all of them if possible. If not, at least keep the number of start-up programs to minimum of two or three to reduce the burden they are putting on the system RAM, causing the computer slow down issue.

Too many security programs

This is another problem that is found in some computers. Remember that your system RAM memory is limited. So, running too many applications in the background, be it security software applications, will only lead to your system slowing down. It is better to keep just one good antivirus application and remove all other antivirus or antimalware applications from the system. This will free up some memory.

These are some of the common problems responsible for slowing down the system performance. Check these segments and make your computer system fast as new.

Reset Windows Password

Forgot your administrator password? Don't panic, it happens to some other people too, and you have found the solution! The following instructions will show you step-by-step how to reset your local Windows password. This only works for local user accounts, however, not domain accounts.The password recovery tool from this page is written by Petter Nordahl-Hagen, and the original information, as well as the downloadable tool, can be found from his website. According to the author, this tool should work for Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista.

WARNING! Users who have EFS encrypted files on the Windows XP or Vista computers will loose access to the EFS encrypted files after recovery of your password!

Use this trick at your own risks

I. Download the bootdisk:

Download the bootdisk, which includes the password recovery tool here. The file contains the ISO CD image.
Unzip (extract) the ISO file and burn it to a CD. Note that this is an ISO file, you must burn it to CD as an ISO image, not as a "data" file. If you're not sure how, see this article. Also, the image is bootable, you need to burn the image to a CD using the image burning feature; do not extract the contents of the ISO and burn them to the CD, you'll end up with a CD that can't boot!

II. Understanding the process:

You'll use the bootdisk created from the above steps to bootup your computer, which you want to reset your administrator password.
You'll be asked for things like: which drive is the boot drive, which path to the SAM file, etc.. but don't worry, details will be provided.
Once you have selected an account to reset the password, you'll need to type in a new password; however, it is highly recommended to use a BLANK password at this point, then you can change your password later in Windows.
Follow the prompts to the end. You'll need to save the changes at the end!

III. OK! Enough talking. Here are the steps:

Startup your computer with the bootdisk created above. You should see a welcome screen following with a prompt:
```
 boot:
```

Just wait, the bootup process will continute automatically. Then you should see a screen similar to this:

 =========================================================
 . Step ONE: Select disk where the Windows installation is
 =========================================================
 ....
 NT partitions found:
  1 :   /dev/sda1    4001MB  Boot
  2 :   /dev/sda5    2148MB
 
 Please select partition by number or
 a = show all partitions, d = automatically load new disk drivers
 m = manually load new disk drivers
 l = relist NTFS/FAT partitions, q = quit
 Select: [1]

Notice the last line "Select: [1]" which shows the [1] as default selection because the tool detected the bootup partition is [1]. This might be different on your own machine, so you should review the list shown under "NT partitions found:". The partition with the word "Boot" should be selected.

Hit Enter once you confirm the selection. You should see a similar screen as follows:

 =========================================================
 . Step TWO: Select PATH and registry files
 =========================================================
 ....
 What is the path to the registry directory? (relative to windows disk)
 [windows/system32/config] :

Notice the last line "[windows/system32/config]" which shows the default path. This was also detected by the tool. If the path is correct, hit Enter, or if you wish to enter a different path, enter it now then hit Enter.
Here are the paths for different versions of Windows:
- Windows NT 3.51: winnt35/system32/config
- Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000: winnt/system32/config
- Windows XP/2003 (and often Windows 2000 upgraded from Windows 98 or earlier): windows/system32/config

Once you hit "Enter", you should see the next screen similar to the following:

 -r--------    1 0        0          262144 Jan 12 18:01 SAM
 -r--------    1 0        0          262144 Jan 12 18:01 SECURITY
 -r--------    1 0        0          262144 Jan 12 18:01 default
 -r--------    1 0        0         8912896 Jan 12 18:01 software
 -r--------    1 0        0         2359296 Jan 12 18:01 system
 dr-x------    1 0        0            4096 Sep  8 11:37 systemprofile
 -r--------    1 0        0          262144 Sep  8 11:53 userdiff

 Select which part of registry to load, use predefined choices
 or list the files with space as delimiter
 1 - Password reset [sam system security]
 2 - RecoveryConsole parameters [software]
 q - quit - return to previous
 [1]

Hit "Enter" with the default option selected "[1]". Then ...:

 =========================================================
 . Step THREE: Password or registry edit
 =========================================================
 Loaded hives:   

   1 - Edit user data and passwords
   2 - Syskey status & change
   3 - RecoveryConsole settings
    - - -
   9 - Registry editor, now with full write support!
   q - Quit (you will be asked if there is something to save)

 What to do? [1] -> 1

Hit "Enter" with the default option selected "[1]". Then ...:

 ===== chntpw Edit User Info & Passwords ====

 RID: 01f4, Username: <Administrator>
 RID: 01f5, Username: <Guest>, *disabled or locked*
 RID: 03e8, Username: <HelpAssistant>, *disabled or locked*
 RID: 03eb, Username: <pnh>, *disabled or locked*
 RID: 03ea, Username: <SUPPORT_388945a0>, *disabled or locked*

 Select: ! - quit, . - list users, 0x<RID> - User with RID (hex)
 or simply enter the username to change: [Administrator]

Hit "Enter" with the default option selected "[Administrator]", or select another user account. Here you can enter the full user account surrounded by < and >, CASE-SENSITIVE, or enter the RID number (i.e. 0x1f4). Assuming you select the Administrator account, you should see the following screen:

 RID     : 0500 [01f4]
 Username: Administrator
 fullname: 
 comment : Built-in account for administering the computer/domain
 homedir : 

 Account bits: 0x0210 =
 [ ] Disabled        | [ ] Homedir req.    | [ ] Passwd not req. | 
 [ ] Temp. duplicate | [X] Normal account  | [ ] NMS account     | 
 [ ] Domain trust ac | [ ] Wks trust act.  | [ ] Srv trust act   | 
 [X] Pwd don't expir | [ ] Auto lockout    | [ ] (unknown 0x08)  | 
 [ ] (unknown 0x10)  | [ ] (unknown 0x20)  | [ ] (unknown 0x40)  | 

 Failed login count: 0, while max tries is: 0
 Total  login count: 3

 * = blank the password (This may work better than setting a new password!)
 Enter nothing to leave it unchanged
 Please enter new password: *

At the prompt "Please enter new password", Enter the * for a blank password (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!) then press Enter
```
 Please enter new password: *
 Blanking password!

 Do you really wish to change it? (y/n) [n] y
```

At the prompt, type in "y", then press Enter. Note that the default option is "n".

 Do you really wish to change it? (y/n) [n] y
 Changed!

 Select: ! - quit, . - list users, 0x - User with RID (hex)
 or simply enter the username to change: [Administrator] !

Enter the "!" to go back to the main menu. Then select "q" at the following menu to quit:

 <>========<> chntpw Main Interactive Menu <>========<>

 Loaded hives:   

   1 - Edit user data and passwords
   2 - Syskey status & change
   3 - RecoveryConsole settings
    - - -
   9 - Registry editor, now with full write support!
   q - Quit (you will be asked if there is something to save)

 What to do? [1] -> q

A prompt to save changes displays, enter "y" to save:

 =========================================================
 . Step FOUR: Writing back changes
 =========================================================
 About to write file(s) back! Do it? [n] : y

The changes are saved! You should see the following screen, press Enter, and reboot your computer.

 Writing  sam

 ***** EDIT COMPLETE *****

 You can try again if it somehow failed, or you selected wrong
 New run? [n] : n

Increase any PC's performance with these 10 steps

There's so much information out there about PC performance (especially on Windows machines), it's difficult to be sure what's right and what's not so helpful. Here are 10 proven performance enhancements you can make to your computer, many of which are free.

1: Get rid of malware

New machines shouldn't have malware on them. But one of the most common causes of the "my PC used to be fast, and now it isn't!" complaint is actually the presence of malware. Malware can sneak onto a computer in a zillion different ways and quite often it sits in the background slowing your machine as it sends out spam emails, searches for other computers to infect, works on cracking cryptography, or performs any number of the other nefarious tasks that hackers like to use their botnet slaves for. There's a good chance that the malware brought even more friends with it (that's often how you see computers with thousands of viruses on them not long after the initial infection), and the infection may be bad enough to justify a wipe and reload. My first step in investigating a slow system is usually a virus scan.

2: Upgrade to a better video card

For typical business productivity tasks, a video card probably isn't an upgrade that will have a lot of value. But for gamers and other similar uses, a video card is a slam-dunk upgrade. If your current card and motherboard support SLI or CrossFireX, adding a second card and bridging them will be a good option as well. In some scenarios, better video cards can be a huge benefit even without heavy onscreen video work, because certain applications can leverage the GPUs for calculations.

3: Get a faster drive

Many times, the real performance issue is the speed of disks. Look at numbers like the RPMs, cache size, seek speed, and transfer rate to justify buying a faster drive. Often, a good drive will seem slow because the computer's power settings are allowing it to spin down. You may want to consider changing these settings to make sure that the disk is more likely to be ready to work when you need it to. While the SSD vs. hard disk debate is still continuing, SSDs usually seem to feel faster to users. Boot times are usually cut for sure. But something about an SSD makes a system feel more responsive or "snappy" to use, and for day-to-day work, that's a great feeling.

4: Address hardware and driver issues

All too often, system slowness is actually a sign of hardware problems. For example, if your CPU isn't being properly cooled, it will often have its speed reduced in an effort to keep it from overheating. Recoverable errors with disk access can kill your throughput while not showing up as a dead drive. And bad hardware drivers can often make the whole system slow, especially video drivers. Using utilities to check your CPU speed and various temperatures, scanning for hard drive errors, and updating your drivers is a good start to investigating performance problems. Often, problems caused by hardware or drivers are not just poor speeds, but system flakiness too.

5: Use a RAID

Using a RAID can dramatically lower the read and write speeds of your disks, depending on the RAID level you choose. You will want to do some research to see what RAID level fits your needs the best. Personally, I am a fan of RAID 1, 6, and 10 because I feel that they offer appropriate levels of data protection along with a good measure of speed improvements.

6: Try a different browser

It's no secret: Different browsers perform differently, and most people spend a lot of time in their Web browser. Benchmarks really muddy the browser speed conversation. Some browsers perform well on some but do poorly on others, even when they are supposed to test the same thing. The problem with the benchmarks is that what they usually test is notreal work performance! While JavaScript is an important part of the modern Web, few Web applications beat on the JavaScript engine hard enough to produce a noticeable impact on performance. That said, it's been my experience that the Chrome browser is the fastest for actual work. If you want to have your Web browser feel more responsive and lively, consider a switch to Chrome.

7: Remove junk

It's easy to have a computer get loaded up with junk that slows it down. The worst part is, we invite this garbage into our lives by installing "helpful" utilities, toolbars, and other add-ons. I could easily write a list of 10 kinds of computer-stalling junk. Here are some of the things you'll want to seek out and remove for best performance:

Automatic update systems for various applications (but be careful: some apps, like Flash, Acrobat, QuickTime, and Web browsers are prime malware targets and you will want to keep these up-to-date)
Things that run on startup
Windows services you don't really need
Crapware from the PC maker
Toolbars
Browser plug-ins (the Skype browser plug-in is an especially bad offender, I've found)
P2P applications
Web servers and database servers that were installed by since-removed applications, but left behind

8: Add a faster DNS lookup server

Most ISPs love to brag about how much bandwidth they are giving you. But they don't mind letting the rest of their infrastructure slowly get overwhelmed or deteriorate. Among the biggest offenders are the DNS servers our ISPs use. If you want to know why things seem to take forever to start loading, slow DNS servers are often the cause. Consider adding a fast DNS server as your primary DNS server in your TCP/IP settings. Google's Public DNS server is a great option.

9: Defrag

Defragging your hard drives is a great way to get some more performance. While modern Windows systems automatically defrag on a regular basis, I've found that the Windows defragging is fairly unaggressive. We've reviewed a lot of different defrag apps here at TechRepublic. I suggest that you check out your alternatives and find one that does a better job for you.

10: Check network connectivity

Time and time again, "system slowness" actually is caused by networking issues. Our computers do so much on the Internet that slowness there can affect just about everything you do on a regular basis. While there isn't enough space to write an exhausting troubleshooting list here, some of the things you should try (or investigate) are:

Replacing the network cables, switches, routers, WiFi access points, etc.
Calling the ISP and checking the distance from the CO (for DSL) or the local segment's current load (for cable); the ISP may need to rewire or rework its connectivity. Satellite customers will want to double-check their dish installation and ensure that it is tightly locked down and pointed in the right direction.
Malware scanning on all PCs to see if malware is burdening the network
Inspecting the wiring of the phone lines (for DSL) or coax (cable customers) to look for loose connections, corrosion, or flaky wires
For cable customers, finding out how many splitters are between the line from the pole and their modem. If it is more than one (and preferably only a two-way splitter), they should rewire so that they have only a single two-way splitter between the pole and the modem to ensure the cleanest signal possible.

A Comprehensive Guide to Speeding Up Computer Performance

Trying to gauge whether your computer is running as fast as it could be is usually like trying to tell how much your kids have grown. Usually speed losses are incremental and not noticed individually - but going through a checklist for speeding up your computer can make an amazing difference to your experience. Here are some simple steps to speed up computer performance that everyone can use.

Free up disk space

1. Remove junk files

You don't even have to click a "Save" button once while using your computer to accumulate junk files. Simply checking emails, setting your computer to hibernate or surfing the web will build up junk files on your computer. One way to clean them up and speed up your computer is to run the Windows inbuilt "Disk Cleanup" utility. To do that go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup. You can also get third party programs that can find and delete even more junk files. These include:

Auslogics BoostSpeed
Wise Disk Cleaner Pro

2. Remove duplicate files
You may not realize how many duplicate files you have accumulated on your system! Even people who do relatively little file management and movement can still accumulate duplicate files. It is a painfully time consuming task to try to remove all of them manually. Use a third party application like:

Auslogics BoostSpeed
Auslogics Duplicate File Finder
Easy Duplicate Finder
Duplicate Finder

3. Uninstall unnecessary applications
Here is another tip on how to speed up your computer. It only takes a couple of months of computer use for unneeded programs to start stacking up. To check over your list of installed programs and remove the ones you don't need, do the following:

In Windows XP, go to Start -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs
In Windows 7 and Vista, go to Start -> Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features

Check through the list and consider uninstalling applications you don’t use frequently. Make sure you have a backup copy of any program you have paid for!

Defragmenting your hard drive

Defragmentation should be performed regularly to help speed up your computer. The defrag process unites scattered pieces of files to help you access them faster.

Heavy users should defragment weekly
Moderate users should defragment fortnightly
Light users should defragment monthly

You can use a Windows inbuilt utility as well as third-party applications for defragmenting disks. Third party applications are often faster and more user-friendly. If you find the inbuilt tool frustrating to use, give one of these apps a shot:

Auslogics BoostSpeed
Auslogics Disk Defrag
Defraggler
MyDefrag

Repairing registry problems

It is possible to repair registry errors yourself if you are a very experienced computer user or have a know the exact origin of your problem and step-by-step instructions to fix it.

For most of us, though, a registry repair program that scans for problems and automatically fixes them is the best option to speed up your computer. Run these programs once a week, fortnight or month, just before you defrag your computer. Here are some popular ones:

Auslogics BoostSpeed
Registry Mechanic

Defragmenting the registry

There aren't any inbuilt Windows tools that defragment the registry - you'll need to use a third-part utility. Some programs (like Auslogics BoostSpeed) that offer registry repair will also defrag the registry, which will help speed up your computer.

Disabling auto-start applications

Many programs will set themselves to auto-start when you boot your computer, even though you might only use them once a month. These background applications can take up a lot of RAM. That's why disabling the auto-start option for programs you don’t need can do a lot to speed up your computer.

To check for unnecessary auto-start programs:

Click Start. If you use XP, go to Run and typemsconfig, if you use Vista simply type it in the search box in the Start menu.
Go to the Startup tab.
Uncheck any boxes for programs you don't use regularly. Note that you can still open these programs on request - they just won't auto-load on boot up.

If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can also go to the Startup folder under All Programs in the Start menu. If you see any programs in the list that you don’t need, simply right-click on them and choose to delete them from the list. Don't worry, they won't be uninstalled from your computer.

Here are some popular programs for helping speed up the process of disabling auto-start applications - it can be a bit intimidating:

Auslogics BoostSpeed
System Explorer
Startup Select

Now you know one more answer to the question "how to make my computer faster".

Removing malware

Malware can also slow down your computer, running in the background and taking up system resources. To speed up your computer, install a good anti-malware product and set it to auto-update and run scheduled scans.

There are literally hundreds of good anti-malware programs available, however several stand out:

Auslogics Antivirus
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
Spyware Doctor

ALWAYS use a trusted name when it comes to anti-malware software. There are hundreds of rogue anti-malware programs that will actually install malware on your computer.

Using ReadyBoost

In Windows Vista and Windows 7, there is an inbuilt utility to speed up your computer that allows you to use a USB flash drive or a memory card as additional computer memory.

In Windows Vista, if the device is fast enough to work with the ReadyBoost feature, you will be asked when it loads if you want to use it for ReadyBoost. Tell the computer Yes, and the wizard will walk you through the process.
In Windows 7, you can go to Start -> Computer and right-click on the drive you want to use for ReadyBoost. Click Properties, and go to the ReadyBoosttab. Here you can choose to allocate either the entire device, or part of the device for ReadyBoost, depending on what you need it for.

How To Stop Automatic Updates On Windows 8

Windows 8 is a start to a new era in desktop computing, bringing in new features like the Charms Bar, App bar and switch list included to it. It has some of the best and latest features that people can make use of. The metro GUI is one among them, which is developed especially for touch sensitive personal computers. Developers are trying their best to make this OS user-friendly, by bringing in new features and updates every passing day.

Windows 8 is an emerging operating system for which developers are still dishing out updates on security and software. However, people complain about one of the Windows 8 problems, namely the automation of OS updates they can’t seem to do anything about. The computer notifies the user about an available update through a pop-up window, go ahead and download it, and then automatically restart. This is especially frustrating while working on something important.

There is a way to get rid of this; you can change few settings in the Control Panel and disable the feature of automatic updates, or change just a few settings, according to your preference.

Instructions

· Press the Windows Key on the keyboard to get to the Start Screen. Here you would find all the tiles, from which you will have to select the tile that says Control Panel.

· The Control Panel Windows opens, with many icons in it.

· Click on the Windows Updates options from the list.

· Click on the Change Settings tab to the left hand side of the menu.

· Under the Important Updates section, click on the drop down menu.

· Select the option that says Never Check For Updates (Not Recommended) from the drop down menu.

A Warning

If you disable the Windows Update all together, then you might not receive any important updates, and the computer becomes vulnerable to software bugs or security breaches. The best option to choose is Download Updates But Let Me Choose Whether To Install Them, or the option Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them, instead of Never check for updates.

When you change the setting appropriately, you will no longer face the menace of automatic updates followed by the restart.

That’s one of the Windows 8 problems taken care of. If you face any other, give our tech support a call.

How To Boost Computer Startup Speed

How to boost computer startup speed

The computer startup speed is one of the main concerns among users these days. People are looking for more ways to get the OS to boot faster, and to open applications or files for the best effect. It’s well known that good accord between the hardware and the software is what makes the computer run fast and smooth. This is the one thing that keeps it performing satisfactorily after long hours of use. But after a definite amount of time, every machine starts slowing down, especially if it’s running on Windows. Here’s how to increase computer speed using a few effective tweaks.

How to increase PC speed

One of the useful disk management utilities in Windows is Disk Cleanup. Run this. You can call up the program from the start menu, by typing in Disk Cleanup in the search bar. When the program comes up, hit the Drives list and choose the hard drive that you wish to scan. Check the boxes for the files you wish to delete. The useless stuff you probably should do away with are Temporary Internet files, recycle bin files, and Temp files. Hit OK when you’re done selecting, and the utility will take care of the rest.

Get rid of useless programs

This is exactly as it sounds. If you don’t use it at all, then you don’t need it in the system, and that applies for programs as well. So go the Control Panel applet and see if there’s anything listed there that you haven’t used for some time now. And if you don’t see yourself using it in the foreseeable future, then it’s time to delete it. Hit the Uninstall button next to the listed entry, and follow the instructions when the wizard comes up.

Defragment the PC

This is another often overlooked matter though the effects of it can fast add up to a slow PC. Type in Disk Defragmenter in the search box and run the first result. When the program comes up, the select the hard drive to check, and hit the Analyze disk button. Then hit Defragment if you think that’s needed.

That was on how to increase computer speed using a few effective methods. Almost all of these are guaranteed to have visible results on the average PC, because upkeep isn’t something most users are worried about. That said, there’s still enough interest that people do try it out once in a while.

Desktop Icons Missing or Disappeared

Have you ever been working in Windows and ended up with a program freezing and causing the all your desktop icons to disappear? In most cases everything disappears, including the Start button and taskbar.

Normally in order to get out of this situation, you have to restart your computer and hope that whatever caused Windows to crash goes away. The icons can be missing from your desktop for two reasons: either something has gone wrong with the explorer.exe process, which handles the desktop, or the icons are simply hidden.

Usually it’s an explorer.exe problem if the entire taskbar disappears also. In this article, I’ll mention a couple of ways you can fix either of these issues.

Note: If you are simply trying to get the Computer, Control Panel, Recycle Bin, Network or User’s Files icons back, then you just need to right-click on the desktop, click Personalize, click Change desktop icons on the left hand menu and then check the icons you want on the desktop.

Show Desktop Icons

The latter method is easier to fix. In Windows XP, right-click on the desktop and choose Arrange Icons By. Next check the Show Desktop Icons item.

In Windows 7 and higher, you right-click on the desktop and choose View and then make sure Show desktop icons is checked.

Pretty simple! But as mentioned earlier, that’s normally not the reason why your desktop icons are missing. The second method involves restarting the explorer process without having to restart Windows.

Restart Explorer.exe

Press CTRL + ALT + DEL and click on Task Manager. In Windows 7 and higher, you click on the Start task manager link at the bottom.

Now in the Task Manager, you want to click on File and then New Task (Run). Make sure you are on theProcesses tab.

In the Open box, go ahead and type in explorer.exe and click OK.

That’s it! This will cause the Explorer process to be restarted and hopefully you will get your desktop icons, taskbar, and Start button back! Note that if the explorer.exe process is already running, then running this task will just open a new Explorer window on your desktop.

Run System File Checker

If the two methods above did not work, there may be some system files that have become corrupt and the problem won’t go away until the files are repaired. The best way to do this is to run System File Checker, which will check for missing and damaged Windows system files and repair them. You can run it by going toStart, Run, typing CMD and then typing sfc /scannow.

You’ll need to make sure you run the command prompt as an Administrator. When you type in Run after clicking on Start, right-click on cmd and choose Run as Administrator.

Disable Sleep Mode

Another more rare reason your desktop icons might disappear is because of the monitor. If you have noticed that this issue occurs after your monitor goes to sleep, you should change the settings so that the monitor does not go to sleep.

I’ve seen this issue happen on several full HD monitors and I’m not 100% sure what the issue is. Manually turning on and off the monitor seems to make the issue go away, but it’s more on an inconvenience. Your best bet is to update the graphics card driver and install the latest Windows updates.

You can get to the display setting by going to Power Options from the Control Panel and then clicking onChange plan settings.

Rebuild Icon Cache

Windows keeps an icon cache and if this file becomes corrupt for some reason, some or all of the shortcuts on your desktop may disappear. You can delete this file and then restart the computer to rebuild the cache and hopefully get all your icons and shortcuts back.

To do this, open Explorer, click on Organize and then click on Folder and search options.

Click on the View tab and then select the radio button that says Show hidden files, folders and drives.

Now navigate to the following directory in Explorer:

C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Local

You should see a file called IconCache.db inside that folder. Go ahead and right-click on it and chooseDelete.

Go ahead and restart the computer and see if that fixes your problem. The cache will be rebuilt when the computer restarts. You can also go back and check that the size of the file is smaller after the restart. If not, restart a couple of more times until you see the size is smaller.