Last night I turned on my computer and waited for windows XP to boot. Then came that moment where the blank wallpaper appears on screen, followed by a brisk repopulation of the desktop, icons, start menu, and taskbar all appearing for another exciting go in cyperland. Well guess what? That last part didn't happen! My desktop is just a blank wallpaper! It doesn't even respond to right clicking! I was able to use task manager to get at all my programs and files (all of which are intact) but my desktop is castrated! This is without a doubt the most threatening ailment to ever strike my computer! I have tried scanning for viruses, doing a repair installation of windows XP, removing recent programs -- Everything! This problem has not been reported by anyone else save a handful of people on various help forums, who have been met with completely unhelpful responses like "check for viruses" No s--- sherlock! Sorry, but I'm really upset! Also, shortly before this disaster, I started (and still am) getting popup messages titled. "project1" reading "It's time" to which the only option presented is an OK button. This is very creepy and f*cked up. If this is the work of some project1 motherf*cker looking for kicks, I'll kill the b---tard!!!! Can anyone offer advice? Even a referral could lead to the solution ;-(

I don't think I have any help for you.But I am curious if POW can stop that pop-up.Or if you even use pow? Frank ( sorry I can't help tho.)

Get and Run Ad aware.

hey chester i share the same prob! i av nuffin on screen part from walpaper ahhh its so annoyin hey if u find a solution let us no plz and i will do the same p.s i can get my windows task manager up.

i to am suffering from this virus or whatever the f*** it is. I am curious tho has anyone else lost their sound? thats proably one of my computers other problems but.. by the way Ad-Aware dosent find it.

Hey! My wife encountered a similar problem on Nov 30th 2003. I don't know how to fix it yet but I'll tell you something. Go here. This might help you. So far it hasn't helped me. http://techrepublic.com.com/5102-6270-5063671.html Also, I am able to get the desktop icons by booting in safemode. However I don't have any "system devices" listed! I thought safe mode would still list the system devices so you could enable/disable them yourself?? Have you tried running msconfig.exe? Also, the system restore doesn't work even though it's enabled. My wife had just installed audiograbber 1.82 the day this problem occured. I know the system is still intact. It still runs every program I've tried correctly. It's like the desktop is being hidden. I've noticed that sometimes when I shutdown the desktop items appear briefly at shutdown. dunno though.

yeeeeehaw!!! I found the answer. Posting it in case someone else needs it. Actually it was posted by someone else. http://forums.devshed.com/t47484/s950462f263fab9183f67515454ba3ad1.html Cross posting from another discussion: I know it's probably too late to help you, but I'm posting this anyway, in case somebody stumbles upon this thread while looking for a solution to the same problem (like I did, while searching on Google). This problem can occur when you are infected with a virus that seems to be unreported on symantec or any of the other anti-virus resources I've found. If you can get to task manager, go to the Processes tab, and look for a process called 'SYSU.EXE'. If it's running, kill it. Now, if your desktop suddenly returns to normal, then yes, you've got this virus. You're not out of the woods yet. There is probably a folder on your machine called 'C:\Program Files\ddm'. Delete that, of course. You'll probably also want to search your registry for the string 'ddm' and kill most of what you find. In particular the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/ddm, and anything under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run and/or RunOnce that refers to 'ddm' or 'sysu.exe'. As usual, I'll include that this entire procedure is something you should undergo with great care, or leave to a computer guru friend if you're not comfortable with it. I hope this information saves someone out there a few frustrating hours of hair pulling. Your mileage may vary. umdesch4 ---------------- I had this problem earlier this week and made up a list of files and registry settings to delete http://geekatwork.blogspot.com/2003...032650161440135 let me know if there are any I've missed. Have your taskbar and desktop icons disappeared?? At every boot, the desktop is empty ... I noticed this little program box that just said "it's time" with the title "Project 1" and since it was late Friday and I was leaving in a minute I thought I'd track it down on Monday. Big mistake! This trojan/spyware/adware appears to be too new for AV and Spyware/Adware removers to find. After scouring forums here is a list of steps, some or all may apply to your computer. 1) end the following process: sysu.exe, this is what causes the problems and seems to be an error in whoever wrote the program, kinda negates the purpose of it if nothing can be run by the user. 2) uninstall Active Alert 3) delete the following folders: C:\Programs\ddm C:\Programs\pup C:\Program Files\Internet Optimizer in C:\...\system32\ look for .exe files that start with a random 7/12 digit number eg. 37473696.exe, check the properties to see if they were originally named winpup.exe and delete them search for and delete the following: actalert.exe ddm.exe ddm_d.exe msbb.exe optimize.exe pup.exe sysu.exe winpup.exe 4) using Regedit (usual warning about backing up first) delete these keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and/or RunOnce that refers to ddm, *randomnumber*.exe or sysu.exe. HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache delete the keyfile C:\progra~1\ddm\sysu.exe HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\pup.setup delete these folders: HKEY CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{539AFCA0-9542-44F0-A286-9B8857DFD30A} HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{F5192746-22D6-41BD-9D2D-1E75D14FBD3C} HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{2C4AC0A2-7DA0-4061-B57A-C292A8F3B109} HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avenue Media HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\\Dynamic Desktop Media HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ddm HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\pup HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg\Internet Optimizer HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Management\ARPCache\Internet Optimizer HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Internet Optimizer HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Internet Optimizer Active Alert HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Internet Optimizer Software Installer HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\msbb HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\nCase 5) using msconfig: uncheck the entry that corresponds to a file you deleted 6) open IE > Tools Menu > Internet Options > Settings > View Objects locate the installed pesty little ddm and delete it. I may have missed some, let me know and I'll add them Good luck! //Posted by RanK at 1:55 PM | comments (3)