On startup i can only see a blank screen and no taskbar t even any icons. all that happens is that my documents appears in a window. this allows me to access all of my files. i have tried a system restore but my last system restore is after the problem occured. please help me fix this. thanks

Hold down the Windows Key and hit R to get a run window. Then type EXPLORER.exe and tell me what happens. It sounds like you either have a corrupted Explorer.exe or a Rootkit Virus. What was the last thing you installed just before the problem?

i tried to get up the run box but it hasn't worked, i tried holding the windows button (in which i am guessing is the one with the windows symbol) and R and it hasn't worked. the last thing i downloaded was sadly a exe file, my little brother was trying to download a application where you could find out sony erricsson pin unlock codes.

Oh My Gosh, i loked around my computer and ctrl, alt, del, then click star new task, then typed in explorer.exe and a error message came up saying system restore was imcomplete and to my surprise my desop and taskbar reappeared. i think this has sovled my problem. thank you very much. i thought it was a lost cause :D cheers ace

wow talk about jumping to conclusions, one last question how do i make it stay that way. when i turned my computer off and back on, i had to redo the explore.exe run thing.

I don't think this has fixed your problem though. This just got explorer working so that you can run an anti virus program on it. Chances are you have a rootkit which is a type of virus which hyjacs windows system files like EXPLORER.exe. I highly recommend you run a rootkit finder or some antivirus.

can you recommend a free one?