start menu, tool bar, and icons keep disappearing and reappearing??

[gerg_1084]

Hi all, i just started up my computer after being away for the weekend and now i can use programs and the internet, but my start menu, tool bar and icons constantly disappear then reappear like my system is just starting up....any ideas on whats wrong and how i can fix this

thanx greg

[lostcoast]

Start with a full system scan for virus and then run spybot for malware.

Be sure to clear temp files and cookies in IE and or firefox browsers before the scans.

If you need recommendations for antivirus please try Avast or AVG, all of them including Spybot are free.

[patio]

How about let's find out what ver. of Windows what machine and what happened prior to this etc ? ?

[gerg_1084]

windows xp and i was on msn messenger and using a webcam, msn messenger froze i restarted the computer and this is where i am at

[patio]

Machine specs i think i included in my question....

But to save time you can check/do the usual housekeeping.
Disk cleanup
Defrag

Then
List hard drive capacity and free space...
RAM
CPU

[gerg_1084]

the problem is i cant keep the window open long enough, bc every time the icons go away the start menu goes away including the folders that are open ill try to get the info u asked for i have a toshiba would safe mode help me in getting it to work a little better

[patio]

So it's a laptop ? ?

Now we're making progress...

[gerg_1084]

yeah its a laptop, im sorry im not great with computers, i know that if i reformat my comp it will take care of the problem, but i wanna get my photos and such off of here, but everything closes on me before i can get there....i ran the checks and put norton 360 on here still no better

[JJ 3000]

would safe mode help me in getting it to work a little better

only one way to find out.

[gerg_1084]

how do i get into safe mode, im not sure, i was told hit F8, that didnt work and i tried to find it on the F2 and F12 menu and still cant figure it out

[patio]

F8 needs to be tapped repeatedly when powering up and before you see the Windows screen...
Let us know how it runs in safe mode but it's not a cure all for what your issue may be.

[gerg_1084]

going into safe mode did nothing, do you think someone who knows what they are doing would be able to atleast salvage pics, documents, and a few other items off of here before i were to reformat my comp, bc i was told reformating it would fix this for sure

[patio]

If you are going to format and do a clean install then get one of these :

             

2.5" Laptop to IDE adapter...

This will enable you to hook up the laptop HDD to a working desktop machine and retrieve/burn your data.