Desktop not loading properly

When vista loads it loads all the way to the desktop, but what I'm left with is a black screen with a broken, unresponsive taskbar.



Oddly enough, I can still do normal operations such as ctrl+alt+delete



I've tried registry fixes, system restore, virus scan with multiple programs, many things.



Here's the error from the "Problem Reports and Solutions":



Product

Windows Explorer



Problem

Stopped responding and was closed



Date

10/31/2009 2:12 AM



Status

Report Sent



Description

A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.



Problem signature

Problem Event Name: AppHangB1

Application Name: explorer.exe

Application Version: 6.0.6002.18005

Application Timestamp: 49e01da5

Hang Signature: 8154

Hang Type: 4

OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.768.3

Locale ID: 1033

Additional Hang Signature 1: d80356e813bd4ffe22e694152a46cf49

Additional Hang Signature 2: b144

Additional Hang Signature 3: 7ce69e15c1f650ca9baaff3b64f3c2e9

Additional Hang Signature 4: 840e

Additional Hang Signature 5: 6a8108b0e7e51d368b146123940462df

Additional Hang Signature 6: ef0f

Additional Hang Signature 7: 4b9d445ad265f413d05e34952bfa098f



Extra information about the problem

Bucket ID: 618088093



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I have to use safemode otherwise I get the same thing. I've tried resetting explorer.exe over and over, and that sometimes jolts the taskbar to function. But I still have this black screen.



I haven't done anything to this machine that could have caused this.



The only thing I did that fits in the timeframe of the malfunction is copy+pasting a few .txt files to my external harddrive (something I've done zillions of times before)



Re-Installing Vista is out of the question, as I'm sure there is a better solution.



Please, I seriously need assistance or I am going to loose my freaking mind.