No Taskbar or Start Button and won't restore or run virus scan.

[Mike Trinder]

My girlfriends laptop has suddenly started behaving very strange.
She is using Windows XP and has 3 user profiles which are all showing the
same symptoms.
Windows starts and then offers you to log on to a profile. When the profile
is loaded, there is no longer any Taskbar or Start Button, therefor no pop
up menu.
I keep getting the message saying there is a problem, I can't remember what
it is now I have got to work!! I think it is a Mcafee window that pops up,
The desktop icons are all there but not all work, Mcaffee Virus Scan is one
such. She is on a standard dial up and there is an icon to connect to the
internet, nothing happens when this is selected also.
Disc cleanup works O.K,
I tried to run system restore, but all I get is a blank page with the system
restore head title.
Could this be a virus or is it something else. Can it be fixed and if so
how?
The answer is very simple I am sure, but not one I know of.
Any help appreciated

 

[Mike Trinder]

The error message I forgot yestersday reads as follows

McAfee VirusScan
An error has occured while initialising Activeshield. Your system may be
running out of resourses or disc space, please close other applications and
try restarting Activeshield.

I assume Activeshield is part of McAfee Virus Scan which is one of the items
that does not work.

Can anyone help me?

 

[Mike Trinder]

This turned out to be the "Blaster" Virus.
Watch out folks because its still out there!!!!!
McAfee failed to stop it which is a bit worrying!!!!