What is this?

[bobsalot]

This 'my computer' banner is stuck on my screen. it doesnt disappear even when i open and close windows on top of it. it is semitransparent, doesnt move and doesnt respond to 'right clicks'. what is it and how do i remove it?

 

[madmatt]

Right click your Desktop
Arrange Icons By
Uncheck "Show Desktop Icons" and see if it goes away

 

[bobsalot]

i tried that, nothing happened. but i logged off and back on and it was gone. dunno what it was.

 

[Not Bman]

scan for a virus, can't think of anything else, unless active desktop some how was enabled.

 

[madmatt]

Active Desktop is always on in Windows XP.

 

[ming]

Active Desktop is always on in Windows XP.

I thought it was a bit weird to see the "Restore Active Desktop" error on one of the display PCs at work last week. Didn't realise XP had this feature.

 

[Not Bman]

Active Desktop is always on in Windows XP.

Well then, could this of been a spyware type attachment, or something?

 

[madmatt]

I believe it was "left over" and if he refreshed the desktop (F5 or Right Click, Refresh) it would have gone away. It's not necessarily something bad such as malware or a virus.

 

[LeeJend]

A program terminated improperly and left that display window in video memory so it kept on displaying. It happens occasionally, not nearly as often as it used to.

Ignore it unless it comes back.

 

[VenomXt]

Reboot and see if it fixes it.

 

[kcnychief]

I believe it was "left over" and if he refreshed the desktop (F5 or Right Click, Refresh) it would have gone away. It's not necessarily something bad such as malware or a virus.

I agree, I have had icons get stuck/hung like that before and performing one of those actions usually fix it. I would say definitely not a virus or malware myself

Reboot and see if it fixes it.

Or you could read above and see that he already fixed it by logging off and back on again