Virus? Taskbar/icons disappear, can't access programs (Vista)

[JinaJ]

When i turn on my system everything starts up fine but after couple of minutes taskbar and all desktop icons disappear. I can switch between the program but i cannot access start. I have to force my system to shutdown. I have ran a scan using McAfee, it reported Generic Pup D which it claims to have been removed but my problem is still the same. Is there anything i can try out further to get rid of this issue??

[vshori]

I will suggest you to boot in to safemode and than run a scan, i am not sure if that will make any difference but you should give it a try. If you dont face same issue in safemode than you can compare the programs loaded in safemode and normal mode to track down the culpirt program in normal mode.

[Moe AFG]

I will sugegst yo to download and Install Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and run a complete scan. If there is any kind of malware or virus causing this issue in your case than Malwarebytes will handle it. I have been using it from a long time and i haven't faced any issue since then. It's the best antivirus i have ever come across.