so i have just finished using avg to remove malware from my computer and i get a notification that i need to restart my labtop in order for the scan to finish. when i rebooted my labtop the system tray is suddenly missing and so are all my desktop icons. nothing is showing up and i cant open any program because nothing is there, only the wallpaper is showing! my labtop runs on windows xp and i am completely clueless. any help would be GREATLY appreciated! (fyi i dont know much about computers). thanks.

Welcome to PC Help Forum.

Do you know how to get into Safe Mode (with command prompt)? As you start your PC, tap the F8 key until you see a menu. From the menu, select Safe Mode (with command prompt). When you have logged into the PC via this method, go to Start > accessories > system tools > System Restore. Select the closest restor point to yesterday and finish the process with a re-boot.

Let the PC start up normally and let us know what happens.

it must have been one of those viruses that infect every .exe file. AVG never disinfects them, it just deletes or quarantines them.