No start menu bar / really small fonts

[Mudism]

Ugh, this is nasty.

So, like a dumbass, I opened a sketchy exe file and am now paying for it. It unleashed some bad stuff on my computer. So, I run Windows Defender, Ad-Aware, and Spyware Doctor, and after everything is finished scanning, I get that happy little error message saying that explorer.exe has encountered an error and needs to shut down. Then the computer restarts automatically, and when it comes back up, there's no start menu, no desktop icons, and I can't right-click the desktop. I bring up the ctrl+alt+del menu, and all the fonts are so small they're practically invisible (the File, Edit, etc stuff).

Is there anything I can do short of reinstalling Windows at this point? I feel like a giant moron because of that *censored* exe file.

UPDATE: I went into Safe Mode, ran Ad-Aware again (only thing I could run) and restarted. The Start Menu doth returneth, as do the icons and stuff.

The font is still SUPER tiny, though (only for the File Edit View Help etc and for right-click menus). Any help on this part?

[unlovedwarrior]

hello and welcome  
  
hi  
  
first im guessing your os is xp home.. if so is it fully updated??  
  
  
go here  
  
http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1134123580  
  
  
dl    
ewido(avg anti-spyware)
  
AVG Free(if you dont already have an antivirus)

stinger(good for catching certain infections, but its updated daily so you need to redl it each time you want to use it )

adaware  
  
spybot  
  
Ccleaner  
  
windows defender  
  
update them    
  
use Ccleaner to empty your junk from temp files just open and run scan, also run the issues scan it cleans your register up a bit. make sure to back up when it asks you to
  
then do full scans with ewido adaware spybot windows defender and your antivirus  in safe mode (rapidly tap f8 before windows loads go to safe mode the very top one) and with system restore turned off ( right click my computer go to properties click system restore tab check box that says turn off system restore)  
  
then reboot back into normal and report back  
  
if you dont have a firewall already then dl zonalarm free from the site i gave  
  
if your having pop up problems and this might be good to dl and install anyway  
  
(for the pop up problem go here  
http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1147665297 )  
  
 and dl host secure  
  
 
 check this out to http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1133772430

and for the font right click the desktop properties and click the appearance tab


unlovedwarrior

[Spectre787]

My advice would be to run a bootable AV like Panda and scan the disc before Windows boots up. Another thing would be to install the HD on a second pc as slave and scan it with an updated AV. If that doesn't work try repairing Windows or simply re-instaling.

[Raptor]

What happens when you load safe mode? You might simply need to reset some of the font size settings in Windows from the Advanced menu located in your desktop monitor setting configuration menu.

I know that's not properly translated.