[shibumi]

Wish I could help, but I just spent 7 Hours trying to install the %#@$!!!*&^?!?#$%@&%! XP Service Pack, and then had to uninstall it!

MAC is looking better all the time!

[HairOfTheDog]

Desktop icons have mysterious glow!

Do they have a ~host~ around them?

[ScottM1968]

Restart your computer and get into safe mode by holding down on F8.

More details are available here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222

Do a virus scan if you can from the safe mode boot. You won't have access to the internet, so you can head to bed.

Finally, drag your pointer to the very bottom of the screen. While pressing the left mouse button, drag your mouse upward. This may fix your "Start" button problem.

[kezekiel]

An incomplete defrag can kill your hard drive. This happened to me a year ago, and I lost everything. Sounds like you aren't in as bad a shape as I was.

Backup your data, reformat your drive, and reinstall XP and your programs. Your system will run a lot better anyway.

[Brett66]

Hmmm, that's odd, almost sounds like a virus. Maybe you could boot with a start up disk and try to fix it through text commands.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Turn your PC off and call this guy.

Good luck.

[HairOfTheDog]

Why do you defrag every week? A bit obsessive isn't it?

[Not A Snowbird]

Try a system restore. It worked for me when my cat turned my display 90 degrees by sitting on my keyboard.

[Covenantor]

I "feel your pain" having just re-installed XP-Pro just a few days ago.

The way you describe the event I wonder if you didn't have a power problem. Do you have your system on a UPS?

[Americanchild]

The disappearing icons in the taskbar is an Explorer crash that happens in XP on ocassion. The programs are still running, but it doesn't reload all the icons when it reboots itself. You can drag the Start button back up like someone suggested or just restart with ctrl + alt+ delete ( twice). Your "glowing" icons sound like a feature of XP has been turned on accidently. Right click the desktop and choose properties to adjust the look.

it wouldn't hurt to do a scandisk next time you restart. You can set it to do this automatically by going into My computer, choose tools, choose scandisk. It will think about it a minute, then tell you it doesn't have the resources right now. You will have the option to run it on restart. Choose yes/ok

[MikefromOhio]

IF you are running XP, it is already NTFS.

What you need to do is reinstall XP. Backup your data when it asks (It should) and reinstall XP.

[Darksheare]

Straneg glow, otherworldly outline?
OOps, that's just me.
Sorry.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

If you can get to a C:\prompt by possibly using a 3 1/2" startup disk (you did make that system disk after buying the PC, right?)...you can run the following command to restore the registry:

scanreg /restore

Select one of the registry cabs that says "started" next to it and give it a shot.