Virus has disabled everything

Hello,

Thanking you in advance for any help you can give me. I know you ask new posters to try some first steps before posting, but I am not too computer-savvy to begin with, and my problem is that my laptop (Windows XP) has been infected by a virus that will not let me access or run ANYTHING!! My desktop has no icons and I have no start menu. The only thing that appears on start-up is my desktop background picture. I have been able to bring up the Task Manager using Ctrl-Alt-Delete, but when I browse and try to run a new taks, a window with a black background pops us quickly and then disappears. The most frustrating part is that I was running the most up-to-date McAfee virus protections, and was on a reputable web site that I have been on a million times; no porn or p2p sites are accessed on this computer. I am posting this from my old laptop in the hopes that someone can help. I was thinking that maybe I could download some of the recommended programs onto a CD and then try using them on the infected computer, since I cannot access the internet or any other programs, but I don't really know where to start. I am desperate, as times are tough, and really can't afford to pay someone to fix it, and I don't even know if it can be fixed. Please, any help would be so greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you so much for your reply. Unfortunately the recommended did not work either, which I was afraid of. I went ahead and re-installed my operating system with the help of a much more computer-savvy person than myself! I am in the process of following the guidelines to download better virus protection as recommended on your site. Thanks again for your help and hopefully I won't need it in the future!