Desktop Gone!

[Pete Charest]

Hello experts...

A friend at work has lost all the icons, start button, and taskbar
from his desktop.

I have solved this problem before by using a Restore Point from a week
or so earlier.

This time, however, he has Inplace/Repair/Installed the OS over
itself, which didn't solve the problem. In addition, the restore
points are now all gone, so I'm stumped.

Have ended all running instances of explorer in TaskManager, then ran
it...that brings up a semblance of his desktop, but no network or
printer functionality.

Logging on as Admin doesn't help...still no start button, taskbar or
icons...just the darned wallpaper.

First...why is this happening and can it be stopped?

Second...how do I fix it now? hopefully without seeing the word format
anywhere in the answer....grin.

Thanks in advance