I got hit with spyware an hour ago, from a website, screwed things up pretty good. I got Adaware to remove 110 items, cleared the msconfig of foreign objects, restarted into safe mode and ran adaware again, nabbed 10 more items, then restarted one last time. Now my icons on the desktop don't have transparency, they have colored blocks behind them. I browsed the forums, and tried two things that didn't work. 1. Removing all items from the Web tab, under desktop properties. 2. checking, and un-checking the "Lock Desktop Items" under the "arrange icons" shell on the desktop. Athlon XP 3200+ Shuttle AN35N Ultra Geforce 6800GT OC 1GB PC3200 Windows XP Pro SP2

Just got hit with something about the same. I am running 2000 pro because my XP got hit and I am running a virus scan as we speak. If you think you have it all removed you need to click on start/run and then type in sfc /scannow. You will need your XP disk. What this does is reconfigure your system back to install status. BUT!!! The first thing I would do is use system restore to see if that fixes it. Click on start/programs/accessories/system tool/system restore. It has easy to follow instructions from there. Good luck

Stop using ad aware and spybot and other junkware. Use microsofts anti spyware...best freeware ive ever seen. Download it at their website. www.monkonline.tk

"Stop using ad aware and spybot and other junkware" Well these programs have never done me any wrong Shubequential, have you tried a system restore back to a earlier date before all your problems occoured or try this fix for Transparent Icons Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance/Settings/Visual Effects/"Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop" Transparent Text under Icons - ALT+0160 Right click the icon in question, choose Rename, hold down the ALT key and type 0160 from the keypad. To remove the label for second icon, hit Alt+0160 twice (release the Alt key between each time). For the third icon, hit Alt+0160 three times. And so on. This could get a little tedious if you have a lot of icons, and it might be a good idea if you keep a record of the process so that you know how many Alt+0160's are used for each icon. You could do a printscreen of the desktop and pencil in the number of times that you hit Alt+0160 next to each icon. The reason is that the shortcuts are stored in the same folder (usually) and identical filenames can't exist in the same directory. An exception would be if one shortcut was stored in the "All Users" folder and another in a specific user's folder. Open Windows Explorer and look at C:\Documents and settings\All Users\Desktop to see how the files are store and rename them if you wish. Likewise look at C:\Documents and settings\(user name)\Desktop to see files for a specific users desktop icons. " You're only as safe as your last update "

shubequential, Follow the instructions at the link below for your icon issue. Remove icon border shadows on the desktop Tufenuf

shubequential, If after trying the possible solutions for your icon issue offered in the previous replies and nothing works go to the link below and download the transparenticonbox.exe and run it. TransparentIconBox Tufenuf

shubequential, Here's another possible fix if you have Active Desktop enabled.Disable Active Desktop. Open the Control Panel. Open Display Properties. Click the Desktop tab. Click the Customize Desktop button. Click the Web tab in the Desktop Items window. If you wish to enable the Active Desktop, check "My Current Home Page". Add your current home page into your desktop or click New to add another web page and/or other Active Desktop features. To update the content, click the Synchronize button. "If you wish to disable Active Desktop, make sure all checkboxes in this window are un-checked." The instructions in the last sentence above should disable the Active Desktop and then try following the instructions at the link in my Response Number 4 above. Tufenuf