XP SP2 causes desktop to crash

[Guest]

When I installed SP2 on my windows XP Pro, it has caused any attempt at
interaction with the desktop to cause an explorer.exe failure. I can still
access anything through the start menu - including my computer which allows
access to the desktop.

I am sure this is probably a dll failure or a registry failure.
Interestingly, I looked at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=883791 (which
admittedly is for SP1) and it sought a change in the registry for a key that
does not exist on my computer at all. When I go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer,
I can make it as far as policies, but there is no explorer. That may be
because it does not exist in SP2, but I found that interesting.

Any help would be most appreciated.

 

[Guest]

To add to this, when I go to Safe Mode, I can log in, but I get a black
screen with no icons or taskbar. Ctrl-alt-del works, but I have no access to
start menu or control panel from there. When I go to run, I can browse which
allows me to pull up all various programs.