I have no programs running at start up, just a black (blank) screen and a cursor.
Task manager shows nothing running in applications, but things are running in processes and services.
I can open programs through the task manager as "new tasks" and there does not appear to be any data loss. I just have no desktop, no system tray or start menu!
I wonder whether malware may have deleted or renamed something. AV software says PC is clean.
I've done some checking and the following folders are empty (doesn't seem right):
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
c:\Users\****\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
The first one shows it was modified on the day the problem started.
Is there a way to restore the original programs or is the blank desktop caused by something else?
I've tried system restore and that did not change things. Starting in safe mode is also the same (if no programs are running, there aren't likely to be any extra ones running in safe mode)!
Any ideas?