No icons on desktop, can’t right click [FIX]
October 14, 2011 – 10:21 amAfter being infected with malware (Windows XP Pro SP3), I scanned this hard drive from another computer, cleaned the MBR trojan with TDSSKiller, but there were no icons on the Desktop anymore and I couldn’t right-click on the Desktop, although the Start Menu works just fine.
Here is what I found:
Click Start > Run > regedit to get here. Then go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Notice the key “NoDesktop” set to 1. Right-click on “NoDesktop” and delete it and restart. There may be other keys in the “Policies” section that you should review, also.
[UPDATE 2/15/12 : Here is a support page from ESET that has a utility that might fix this easily. If you try it, please comment.]
12 Responses to “No icons on desktop, can’t right click [FIX]”
Many thanks Brian, this happened to one of my clients, and was only restricted to one profile. Your fix worked perfectly!
By Mikacom on Oct 20, 2011
Been dealing with this problem for several months – opened up regedit, and sure enough there was a NoDesktop registry entry.
Thank you so much!
By Smartin on Dec 31, 2011
Well, this fix brought a satisfying close to two days of malware cleanup. Now I can return a fully-functional laptop to the CFO*. Thanks for finding and posting this.
* And no, he’s not your typical PHB – he actually knows his way around a keyboard and is one of the “good guys”.
By KirkW on Jan 25, 2012
Many thanks! I just spent an hour getting rid of System Check, but the stupid desktop would not cooperate! Glad I found this!
By happy user! on Feb 15, 2012
Thanks for posting this.. was driving me nuts!
By GaryK on Feb 16, 2012
Delete or simply set to zero and restart.
By Jindo on Mar 1, 2012
Brilliant!!! Thank you sir! worked awesome for me!! MANY thanks! saved me from having to rebuild a Senior VP’s laptop overnight!!!
By Ted on Mar 13, 2012
Thanks for this! In my case malware also changed some other keys. I used information from your site in combination with this site:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/263643-45-cannot-click-desktop-virus
to fix. Here’s the relevant info:
“There are keys in the registry that can hide the desktop and disable right-clicking. In my case, the keys the virus used to do that were HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu And also NewStartPanel just below it. I also found these same keys under HKLM\software. (Just go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE instead of HKEY_CURRENT_USER).
The values were set to 1; you need to set them to 0. When the computer was rebooted all was Ok. “
By scotru on Apr 3, 2012
Thanks, it was very helpful.
By Anoop on Apr 21, 2012
thank you so much you solve my problem.
By Joel on Apr 29, 2012
Couldn’t do the registry edit due to the fact that my Run option was not available in the Start menu or in the customization of the Start menu. Windows-R didn’t work either.
The Hidden Remover Tool did the trick perfectly. desktop is now showing icons and can right-click and my Windows-R works as well as showing in the start menu now. Thanks!
By Steven on Sep 1, 2012
I was working on a computer for a friend. This took care of problem with no trouble.
Thanks for the help!
By John on Nov 8, 2012