We were hit by the DNS exploiit on a win 2003 (SP2) server. I have corrected that problem with DNS issues (fix). After I have corrected that problem, now I get No desktop icons or taskbar, no noting but a mouse pointer. I ran Sfc.exe, nothing found, I even went as far as renameing the administartors password, still nothing, then checked file permissions, all ok there. Here's the killer. On my other server, I can see the event log on my websserver, NO ERRORS at all. My websites are up and running but I have no desktop. I can only power off (hard reset) "ouch" and restart in safe mode to get a desktop. I even tried to change the color of my background - Nope - nothing there but a pointer. I also renamed my startup folder to something else, nothing. I'm at a loss.. Explorer.exe is 1029KB. version 6.03790.3959 (srv03-sp2-rtm-070216-1710) both in the windows and ...\386 directories. Did not copy from working server to another.- If that matters. I ran regedit to check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon Shell=Explorer.exe Ok there. Need help!! Running blind on a server with no desktop, Just a pointer that I can move around..

What happens if you create a new user account on the machine? Does their desktop show up? If so it's your specific user profile that's probably corrupted. if not, you may have a problem with the All Users profile...