Computer boots but can't launch any programs

My brother's computer, which is running Windows 10, has got major problems. It boots up okay but he can't launch any programs after the boot cycle is finished. When he tries to launch an app from his desktop, nothing happens. He can right-click and see Task Manager but it won't launch. He can right-click on the Windows icon and get the context menu but he can't get the Windows menu to come up.

He installed a hidden objects game a day or two back. He said it worked but it wasn't very good. The problem began shortly after that. I'm guessing he picked up some kind of malware in that download. The computer - it's an Acer desktop - came with Windows pre-installed. He has no Windows media and is not in the habit of taking a regular backup.

How can we fix this problem? I was going to run a thorough anti-virus scan, probably MalwareBytes, but I'm not sure how to do that when we can't install anything. I would have uninstalled his hidden objects game if I could have gotten to Control Panel but I'm not sure how to do that either since we can't get to Control Panel in the normal way.

I'm hoping there's something we can do short of sending it out to the local computer store....

Dalchina and Caledon Ken,

We managed to get my brother's computer working to the extent that we could launch programs again. I was trying to figure out how to boot into Safe Mode with Networking and goofed it up but when we got to the desktop, we found that the Windows Icon would accept a (double-)click and we could even launch Task Manager and other programs via double-clicks. (He can't remember if he normally needs single- or double-clicks.)

Task Manager showed no obvious issues. I downloaded Malware Bytes and got a 14 day trial of the Premium version; we ran that and it showed only 3 P.U.P.s which I quarantined. My brother buys System Mechanic Pro every year so we ran its quick scan and found nothing of any obvious significance. The full anti-virus scan is running now. (Do you have any thoughts on the quality/value of System Mechanic? Wouldn't he do just as well with a free antivirus like Avast?)

I was going to uninstall the new game he'd put on but it doesn't have a normal uninstall technique. It was part of "Free Ride" - he has lots of their other games - and all that appears in Programs and Features is "Free Ride Player"; removing that would presumably mean losing ALL of their games and he doesn't want to do that. But he found a way to remove it from their interface so I *think* it is gone now.

I realize he should probably have a backup-recovery plan in place involving recovery points and regular backups so I will given him "the talk". If I know him, he will choose not to spend money - or significant time - on it but maybe I'm wrong.

Is there anything else we should do *now* to make sure the machine is free of malware?

RhinoCan said:

My brother's computer, which is running Windows 10, has got major problems. It boots up okay but he can't launch any programs after the boot cycle is finished. When he tries to launch an app from his desktop, nothing happens. He can right-click and see Task Manager but it won't launch. He can right-click on the Windows icon and get the context menu but he can't get the Windows menu to come up.

He installed a hidden objects game a day or two back. He said it worked but it wasn't very good. The problem began shortly after that. I'm guessing he picked up some kind of malware in that download. The computer - it's an Acer desktop - came with Windows pre-installed. He has no Windows media and is not in the habit of taking a regular backup.

How can we fix this problem? I was going to run a thorough anti-virus scan, probably MalwareBytes, but I'm not sure how to do that when we can't install anything. I would have uninstalled his hidden objects game if I could have gotten to Control Panel but I'm not sure how to do that either since we can't get to Control Panel in the normal way.

I'm hoping there's something we can do short of sending it out to the local computer store....

I had exactly the same fault before Easter. A black screen with all my icons on it (which I could move around) and the Taskbar fully populated but everything was unresponsive. I was up and running again in about 15 minutes after using my Macrium Rescue Media dvd to boot and then copy a 15-hour old daily Macrium image from my ext. USB HDD to the C: drive. Sorted.

ADDED: Of course, my problem was clearly not caused by a virus etc. which might have been alive in the backup image. In that case, I would use on of my backups of C: (an SSD) made every day for a week.