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Oh, still no desktop!!!

I followed the instructions to run regsvr32 wuaueng.dll. However, when I went to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv location, there was no delete flag that I could see. The windows download yielded the same results as before, just one file was targeted to download. It said in the small print to disable my virus protection. I tried. I can't find the right file to open. I clicked on the one I thought was it, and I got a popup that said I was missing explorer.exe and that was required to open that file. That may be why SP1a isn't downloading as sp1a. Thanks.

I think this is the key we need fixed. I don't know how to tell you to do it using taskmanager.
Maybe if you're in the registry you can type in the "Shell"="Explorer.exe" under that key. It needs to be exactly spelled like it is. Make sure you include the "

Please copy the contents of the following quote box into Notepad:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"Shell"="Explorer.exe"

Save it to your desktop as fixme.reg

Then, locate fixme.reg on your desktop and it.

You will receive a prompt similar to: "Do you wish to merge the information into the registry?".

Answer 'Yes' and wait for a message to appear similar to "Merged Successfully"

Reboot.

What does a "delete flag value" look like? Does it say delete? There were two types of symbols before each registry value in the screen under the HKEY…wuauserv. One was white with 4 little blue shapes in them, the others were white with red letters "ab" in them. I just wondered if I missed something I was supposed to see. Thanks.

ignore that last message from me. I sent it after you sent the other one

I did that (the notepad instructions) When I rebooted, no change in the desktop. I navigated to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] The line for shell has a red "ab" icon in front of it, it says: (name) (type) (Data) Shell REG_SZ Explorer.exe

That looks OK then. Did you find your windows CD?

Yes, I have the CD now. Windows XP Professional

You can use windows sfc (system file checker) You'd need your XP CD to make this work.
Click Start> Run> type sfc /scannow Note the space.
(Note that there is a space between sfc and /scannow)

Hi I ran the scannow, but had to keep pressing "retry" many times during the process. The popup that showed the progress line would come back after I pressed the retry button, and the progress line kept progressing until it finished, then I got no message at the end. I restarted, but no change in the desktop. I repeated it, but the same results. I used the windows xp disc that my daughter got from college. The computer did not come with one when we bought it, it was already installed (HP) I think she may have had it reimaged once at college with this disc, but I'm not sure if they actually reimaged it or not. So, this possibly wasn't the original disk that created the windows operating system. Don't know if that made a difference or not. Thanks

If you right click on the desktop, do you get a sub menu?

No, don't get anything on a right click. If I double left click on the desktop, occasionally the little hour glass pops up for about a second, but that's the only respons

I checked the title of the disc on the drive, and it says HP recovery, so I guess it is the right disc.

Make sure you're using the right click button