Basic facts: Windows XP; sometime this morning my wife was playing a game on her user account (limited) and my son managed to turn the computer off; she never logged back on; later that morning I installed critical updates, encounter ZA issues recounted elsewhere, did a system restore and figured out it was the Security UPdate; as per the ZA forum, switched DNS Client Service from Automatic to Manual as a workaround (but left the Security Update uninstalled).

THEN . . .

When my wife logged on to her account, her systray is empty except for volume control, most of her start-up apps do not load (hence the nearly empty systray), I cannot get Zone Alarm to load period, her "most frequently used programs" or whatever you call the left pane in the Start menu is totally empty, her desktop background is gone and cannot be restored, and I can't figure out how to fix it!

I've tried system restore several times (including in safe mode), with no luck. I've set her up as an account administrator, with no change (except that the Windows Security Center pops up). I've checked out the Event Viewer, but the only errors I see are DCOM errors related to services not starting when I was in safe mode. I simply have no clue with my limited knowledge of how to fix this!

If anyone can help in any way, I'd be most appreciative.

The problem is a corrupted user profile. I've copied over the usale profile to a new one. Please close this thread.

Thanks for letting us know the solution.