Computer death?

[StarlightAngel]

Ok, so my computer was working completely fine last night. But now, this morning, it's not. It boots up, I put in my password, it takes a while to load, and then all I get is the desktop image; nothing else. I wait for a while. The little Microsoft tune plays. All that's up is still the desktop, with no start bar or icons or anything.

I'd really like not to have to make my family pay money, but I honestly have no idea what to do.

EDIT: It's up, but this little error thing keeps popping up every few seconds saying my Norton is trying to run in strange ways. I'm scanning the computer for viruses now. It also seems to be reluctant to connect to the Internet.

[Fatal Impurity]

ive had this problem twice a while back......i cant for the life of me remember how i fixed it though......i do know though that you can continue using your computer and its programs through the task manager (by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL going into file and clicking on new task) until you find the solution......

[o_O]

It sounds like your Explorer shell is not loading up. Try pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete, and then on File > Run (or New Task) and type "explorer.exe" in the box. That may start your shell.

Also, you'll want to try booting without Norton getting in the way.
Again, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and click File > Run.
This time, type in "msconfig" in the box and press enter. Then go to the startup tab, and untick anything in the box that looks like it has something to do with Norton.
A good way to check if it is a Norton application is to look in the "Command" column and find out what program it is executing.
Anything that has "Symantec", "Norton" or "LiveUpdate" will be something you need to disable. Then reboot your computer and see if that makes a difference.

[StarlightAngel]

Thing is, it just doesn't connect with the Internet. We have broadband, so usually it just starts up automatically, but for some odd reason it won't connect. It continues to load concerningly slowly when I boot it up.

EDIT: grrr... the box is now talking about some Runtime thing and how it's trying to run in strange ways.

[o_O]

When I say "explorer.exe", I mean Windows Explorer, not Internet Explorer.
Windows Explorer is what makes Windows look like Windows. It's a graphical way to browse the contents of your computer.

The only reason you'd need the internet for the above instructions is to read the instructions.

[StarlightAngel]

When I say "explorer.exe", I mean Windows Explorer, not Internet Explorer.
Windows Explorer is what makes Windows look like Windows. It's a graphical way to browse the contents of your computer.

The only reason you'd need the internet for the above instructions is to read the instructions.

Ah. I totally missed that. Sorry >.<' this is just really getting my nerves.

[o_O]

No problem.

Did it even help? It's quite a broad problem, so it could be pretty much anything.