Things gone awry!! Locked out of Active Desktop

[Guest]

Maybe I got over my head, but I was trying to streamline some things on my computer. I'm running Windows ME. I added some info to my MSDOS.SYS file.

Doublebuffer=1
Dblspace=0
Drvspace=0
Logo=0
Bootdelay=0

(these are now gone, by the way).

Then I downloaded tweakUI and made some recommended changes. This was when everything went haywire. Upon reboot, html file I had on my desktop was gone. When I try to re-select, I get a message "Do you want to enable Active Desktop?" I select yes, but nothing happens and active desktop is still not activated (still in 'classic' version).

Next in tweakUI I selected "restore defaults', but still nothing changed. Next I tried system restore function, it locked up several times using several different dates. Also was unable to connect to internet, had to delete and reinstall my ethernet protocol. Lastly, (at least to the extent of what I've found) everytime I reboot I get a message that Norton antivirus can't find the database files!!

Oh yeah, now TweakUI has been deleted for some reason.

I'm very frustrated, any help would be greatly appreciated, especially if anyone knows what I did to screw this up!!!

 

[Toejam31]

I'd uninstall Norton, and reinstall the operating system. Then reinstall Norton, and update the program before running it.

If that didn't work, I'd back up my files, format the drive, and reinstall the operating system on a clean partition. If the system restore function doesn't work, this might be your best option. It sounds like there are several files in the system that are corrupted, including those related to Norton, possibly some Windows system files, and there may even be damaged or missing Registry keys.

You could also have accidentally downloaded a virus when you installed TweakUI. It happens.

Note: Active Desktop is a memory hog, and can sometimes cause system instability. I'd give some due consideration to whether or not it's really needed, since it's primarily just for "looks". A nice wallpaper, that's "easy" on the file size is less of a drain on your system resources. If you are looking for better system performance ... turn it off.

Toejam31

<font color=red>My Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847" target="_new">http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847</A>
______________________________________________________________

<font color=purple>"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."</font color=purple>