PC Bootup Problem

Hi, I have a Medion PC purchased from Aldi. (Windows XP- Service Pack 3)
I now have a boot-up problem where I switch on the PC, and it starts to boot up. It reaches the Windows screen ok, but when I logon with my password etc it boots up and presents me with a screen that just shows my wallpaper and nothing else!! ie there are no shortcuts showing on the desktop, and there is no toolbar on the bottom so I cannot click on the "Start" button on the bottom left corner. (I wanted to try the "Resore" option)
I have tried booting up in "Safe Mode" but all I get is a black screen with "safe mode" displayed in each corner and Window XP...Service Pack 3 on the top.
Any ideas?
(I have a Medion "Recovery" disk and "Application-Support" disk)
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

 

Many thanks.
I am at work at the moment, but will try this when I get home tonight.

 

If you can get into task manager try new task explorer.exe if explorer starts you should get a start button and hopefully system restore.

 

Thanks Sach2!!
Will try this later and report back, Cheers

 

DumLoc/Sachs2 - Many thanks for your help - which resolved this problem!!
I booted up and was presented with a screen again which just displayed my wallpaper and nothing else. I tried CTL-ALT-DEL which worked, clicked on File/Run and entered "explorer.exe" - which worked!! All shortcuts were then displayed on the desktop, as well as the Windows toolbar on the bottom of the screen.
Thinking that this might have been the result of some malware -I then ran MalwareBytes - which found 2 trojans!!
Just to be on the safe side, I then ran Adware (Lavasoft) and Sybot which also found some Spyware.
I then rebooted my PC which booted up OK, and all seems to be well!!
So, I just wanted to thank you both!! Your efforts and responses are much appreciated!!! Cheers!
By the way, is there a better Malware/Spyware removal tool out there???

 

Thanks for this....sound advice...I'll certainly follow it up!!
Cheers!!!