desktop settings gone

I've encountered a problem with my login and can't seem to figure out what the problem is. I've tried googling it and cant seem to find any answers. I turned on my PC today and logged in to my user account and all of my personal setting have gone.

The desktop background is blue, all the icons have gone and my firefox settings (all the plug-ins, cookies, favorites etc) have gone. XP has also forgotten what programs to use for files (for example i downloaded a torrent and XP didn't know to use uTorrent when before it did)

I've been reading up about similar problems on the 'net but none of the solutions seem to be working for me. The strange thing is that if i look in the Desktop folder in C: Documents and Settings then all of my desktop icons from before are in there but none are showing up on the desktop.

Something seems to have been corrupted but Kaspersky isn't finding any new virus's or anything.

Has anyone had a similar problem and know's how to fix it?
If any more info is needed I will gladly provide it and and help is going to be greatly appreciated


edit: i have also just noticed that if i use the My Documents links from the start menu it goes to C:\Documents and Settings\TEMP\My Documents rather than where my actual My Documents folder :S

 

Hello and welcome to Major Geeks,

Have you tried System Restore? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

Also, I would check your PC if you downloaded anything prior to this happening. Guide to removing any malware here: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

 

Ok well I've did a system restore to a few days ago and my desktop has come back. Thanks

However i now seem to have a new problem. Firefox doesn't seem to want to open. I click on the shortcut on my desktop or start menu for it and it doesn't appear. Having task manager up I can see that the process firefox.exe appears but it instantly dissapears aswell. Also Kaspersky doesn't seem to want to open either.
IE is working fine though :confused

 

Have you tried opening Firefox via the program file? Locate the program under C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox, click the icon for firefox.exe, see if it opens.

Whatever happened corrupted your desktop file and my best guess is that it's malware related since your desktop, IE and your virus software are all involved.

Go do the Read/Run Me http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407 after you post your logs if it's not malware related they will send you back here.

Also, following guides on the net is not a good idea unless you know the poster, hard to know if it was something you changed or malware did.