Windows Explorer

[Magicb6076]

Have a bit of a problem. My friend has been trying to turn on his computer and load his desktop with all the icons and everything....the usual start-up. However, the bottom task bar just flashes for a brief moment and then all that's on the desktop is his background image. I instructed him to go through task manager and start the explorer.exe. After doing this the desktop task bar flashes for a second and then goes away. Explorer.exe also does not show up in the task manager. I then told him to go through safe mode and see if explorer runs. Again, it did not, and he also could not force it by starting the explorer.exe process in safe mode. He has an up-to-date anti virus and there are no unusual processes running in the task manager. Any suggestions on what to do? Thanks

[EzyStvy]

What changes did he make to the pc prior to this issue starting?
Did he install any type of Windows Themes??

[Magicb6076]

Thanks for your quick reply...however, he did a system restore and it seemed to solve the problem. I'll post if anything else ends up being messed up.