Lost desktop background

[Misiowiec]

I did a Search & Distroy spyware scan the other day, and one of the suggested "fixes" said something about removing Active Desktop. Like the muppet I am I clicked yes and am now without a desktop background picture.

Does anyone have an idea how to reverse this? If I try to select a picture it's simply not added as a background.

[GSG-9]

Go to Start/Run/MSCONFIG

Once it is started look threw the start up and services, find the one that was added by the program and tell it not to start at startup by unchecking it. It may also be under the add remove programs in control panel, if its adware though I doubt it will be in the control panel.

[Aegis]

Better yet, find the program with Autoruns (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html) and delete the spyware. Then, to re-enable Active Desktop on XP, right-click on desktop, properties, go to the desktop tab, click Customize Desktop..., go to the web tab, and click New. On Windows 2000 and older there should be a menu item after you right-click on the desktop that will re-enable it.

[GSG-9]

Yup, that is a better suggestion.

[Misiowiec]

The thing is I have no spyware; I've done scans with different pieces of software and they all confirm this. The active desktop bit that was removed by Search & Destroy is, I think, a pure Windows thing and I've seen it being listed in Search & Destroy scans on both this and other PCs before.

The thing is that this time I was trying to be clever and pressed "delete" whereas before I just ignored it. I've undone the Active Desktop removal in Search & Destroy and also followed your tips above but it makes no difference - still no desktop background. Any other ideas or do I just wait until the next reformat?

[Aegis]

Check that you have write permission to this folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft

That's where the wallpaper is stored. I know I might be stating the obvious, but you did try to re-enable the wallpaper right?

[Misiowiec]

Yes, I have full permission to all folders (admin rights), and I've also tested this folder specifically.

I've also tried to reenable the wallpaper. I get as far selecting the Desktop tab in the Display settings, then click Browse and select the image I want (have tried different images btw). The problem is that nothing happends - the 'mini monitor' doesn't update and so I can't apply any changes.