How to Fix Desktop and Toolbar Fail to Load After Windows System Startup

Occasionally you may encounter a situation whereby your desktop icons and toolbar are missing after rebooting your PC system? It could be due to various reasons but don’t be panic as there are few solutions that you can get them fixed as listed below.

1) Delete “explorer.exe” in registry

i) Click Start -> Run, then type regedit and click OK
ii) Locate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options] iii) If there is “exporer.exe” subkey under Image File Execution Options, then right click and choose Delete to delete this subkey.
iv) Restart your PC.

2) Restore missing “USERINIT” registry value

i) Copy below string and paste into notepad

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] “Userinit”=”C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\userinit.exe,”

ii) If your Windows is not installed under C drive, then change C: to your windows drive letter.
iii) Save the file as userinit.reg.
iv) Double click to run the registry file as save at step iii) to restore “USERINIT” value in registry.
v) Restart your PC

3) Restore missing “explorer.exe” in registry

i) Copy below string and save into notepad:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] “Shell”=”explorer.exe”

ii) Save it as RestoreExplorer.reg
iii) Double click to run the registry file to restore “explorer.exe” in registry.
iv) Restart your PC

4) Missing Explorer.exe in C:\Windows

i) Check if explorer.exe is missing from C:\Windows (If windows is installed in other drive, change C: to your windows drive letter)
ii) If confirm is missing, then click Start -> Run, then type sfc /scannow to run System File Checker utility.
iii) Once running is completed, check if explorer.exe is restored under C:\Windows
iv) If it is not restored, then insert Windows installer into CD-ROM and restart your PC.
v) At setup screen, choose “Repair or Recover” by pressing “R”.
vi) At the command prompt, enter below string:

expand D:\i386 /F:EXPLORER.EX_ C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe /y

D: is CD drive letter and C: is Windows drive letter. Change it if your CD and Windows drive is not at this letter.

vii) Type exit to exit Recovery Console.