Application Meltdown! Help!

From: Carygee (carygee_at_aol.com)
Date: 06/10/04 

Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 10:42:57 -0400

After over 2 trouble-free years with WindowsXP|Pro I find myself this
morning staring into the abyss, unable to open many of my prime
applications.

It all started when I clicked on CorelDraw 12 (latest version) and saw a
"Windows Install" dialogue box appear. Then other application shortcuts on
the desktop began losing their icons.

Clicking the appropriate shortcut produces the waving searchlite noting the
program executable is missing. A manual search for the program also is
fruitless. The folders don't show up in Explorer!

I tried System Restore and the only dates that were emboldened were June 8,
9 and 10. I chose June 8 thinking the earliest date would be the safest
(BTW, I would have thought even earlier dates might have been available but
aren't) but the System Restore, after much churning etc., said it could not
complete it's task and was returning me to the status quo?!

This must be some very insidious bug. I have run Kaspersky AV on a full scan
and have come up empty-handed.

Wracking my brain, it occured to me that there was an automatic update that
popped up via the taskbar which I blithely accepted yesterday: Security
Update for DirectX 9.0 (KB839643). Could this be the culprit?

Any and all helpful suggestions most appreciated....

HELP!

Relevant Pages

  • Application meltdown! Help!
    ... Then other application shortcuts on ... Clicking the appropriate shortcut produces the waving searchlite noting the ... I tried System Restore and the only dates that were emboldened were June 8, ... it occured to me that there was an automatic update that ...
    (microsoft.public.security.virus)
  • Re: Missing Icons on desktop
    ... Forgot to add that I tried to use "system restore" to go back to a point ... Frequent scans with Spybot, Adaware, CWShredder all negative ... Chet ... > shortcuts to programs but most were shortcuts to folders with multiple ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers)
  • Re: Shortcut problem - Help!
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    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: I think it might be time ...
    ... > VickieHerndonCMT wrote: ... someone here had the same problem with the Microsoft download of a ... >> just go to system restore and choose the date that you wanted it to go ... That did the trick and then I turned off the automatic update ...
    (sci.med.transcription)
  • Re: Win XP2 SP2 uninstalled still having problems
    ... my most recent upgrade and I still get popups from my systray to upgrade to ... I've now used system restore to go back as far as it will go and see ... > Automatic Update enabled and also accepted the EULA: ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)