It sounds like Explorer (the Windows shell) is failing to start properly.
There are a number of potential causes for this. See:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q318027
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"michael" <miczap.RemoveThis@mail.com> wrote in message
news:009d01c36990$dd6bc320$a101280a@phx.gbl...
> my computer boots normally but I have no taskbar or icons
> on my desktop. All that shows is my wallpaper image.
> Everything appears to run normally, but I have to start
> everything with the task manager, and shut down the same
> way. Anybody know how I can get my taskbar back?