No Icons on XP Desktop

No Icons on XP Desktop

If you have a desktop that seems to start up normally in that there are no Trojans or viruses infecting the system after you have just cleaned it using various cleaning programs you can find yourself with an XP desktop with no icons.

Although I have a post of the solution for no icons on XP desktop after cleaning a computer from malware here - Can't find explorer.exe or iexplore.exe when run from task manager. Malware such as Antivirus 2008, Antivirus XP, and others, can leave an Windows XP desktop in a state of cleanliness but those software miscreants but also in a state of no desktop icons.

The reason for this is that the infecting software puts in there hooks in a way that really alters the ways the XP home edition or the XP professional edition computers start up. That's what makes them so difficult to be cleaned. The registry location, which was very difficult to find and not so well known, has an incorrect "image" location for explorer. This registry key is a special key mainly for third party programs and explorer.exe should not be there at all. Just deleting the key makes gets the icons on an XP desktop show again.

Attachment.ashx Message when Opening Attachment in OWA Exchange 2007

Message window hangs when trying to open or save attachment using Outlook Web Access (OWA) with Exchange 2007 on a Vista computer with IE7 (Internet Explorer 7).

Attachment.ashx Error Message when Opening Attachment in OWA 

I recently ran into a situation where all of the users in an Exchange 2007 organization environement were able to open attachemnts using Outlook Web Access (OWA) against Microsoft Exchange 2007 server without a problem except for a few.

One of the users that wasn't able to open, run, or save an attachment using OWA was getting a message that said:

Geting file information: attachment.ashx from mail.{servername}.com

The message included the flying paper from left to right - the usual animation seen when transfering files in explorer or downloading files with Internet Explorer. This message would be displayed but would never go away and of course the user could open, save or viewer the attachment through Outlook Web Access.

Run Attachments from OWA Email

Well, if any of you encounter this problem and think there is something on the Exchange server that could fix the problem don't bother wasting your time or making any settings changes as the solution won't be found there. You've probably already drilled down and found some of the differences with the user's computer that isn't able to open attachments with Outlook Web Access and commonalities with those users that could view, save, or run attachments through OWA. If the trouble computer has another browser on it like FireFox, try that browser and you'll see that FF works and since it works, then the server or the users account in the domain has nothing to do with the problem.

Windows 7 with IE8 

If the problem user ... I mean the problem computer, is Vista with IE7 then the setting that is most likely causing the problem for you is the one located in the Security cetegory under the Advanced tab after clicking Tools > Internet Options from the Internet explorer menu bar.

Do not save encrypted files to disk 

Un-check the box next to the setting 'Do not save encrypted files to disk". Once un-checked and the option is saved, open a new browser window and then try to open or save the attachment in Outlook Web Access again, you'll probably have better results.

If the information contained in this post helped solve your problem, please post a comment saying so or link to this post from your blog or site so more people can find the answer more quickly.

Remote Support Software

For web based remote access and computer remote control for remote support, try remote support software that doesn't cost an arm or leg to purchase and use. The name brands have many bells and whistles but are over priced for basic remote access for desktop remote control on the web. Appliance based online computer remote support software solutions and tools tout lower cost because you own the box but you pay maintenance fees and for support that's almost as expensive as the original purchase.