Screen goes black at startup but with a catch

Hello,

My computer stopped working about 3 years ago. I actually stopped using it since I got a laptop.

But now I actually want to start using it again, since it's a good, custom made, computer.
I installed windows 7 on it, and that seemed to fix the existing problem (I can't remember what it was)
But now, when it says resuming windows, I get a black screen with my cursor being the only thing available. I tried the task manager, new task thing but it didn't work. instead, if I try opening task manager nothing really happens, the screen remains black. BUT, if I press ESC (to close task manager) the black screen goes away. Instead, I can just see my wallpaper with no taskbar or icons. I tried opening task manager from there, but I get a black screen whenever I try opening it. I do find however, that everything works if I start the computer in safe mode. I can have access to the internet, task manager, taskbar, everything. Also, when I try to open something, it doesn't actually open. I'm pretty sure It's a problem with my explorer.exe that could be solved if I had access to the task manager (which I don't)

I tried many things, including restoring to the computer to a previous working point which resulted in nothing, because I reformatted the computer. Please help, this would be a life saver for me.

remember, it's a custom made computer so I can't tell you any brand with a 3.06 processor and 1 GB RAM. It runs on Windows 7. (came with windows xp a long time ago, but I lost the cd.)
Thanks!