All icons, taskbar and startbutton missing SOLVED

Hello,

I had this problem, and this former thread https://ccm.net/forum/affich-26897-all-my-task-bar-and-desktop-icons-missing#5 put me on the right path but didn't solve my problem. I tried everything:

In safe mode the taskbar, startbutton and icons were absent too. Running task manager, stopping and restarting explorer.exe, didn't work. It invariably launched a new explorer window, but it didn't bring the taskbar, startbutton or icons back.

I didn't have a rescue version of Windows 7 installed. So, restoring the system was impossible.

Replacing the explorer.exe file by a new one from a functioning system didn't work because a program called "ThrustedInstall" was the only one authorized to change something to this file, although I was in administrator mode. Since I use Linux on most of my other computers, I booted from a Linux installation disk and renamed the explorer.exe file. It also allowed me to copy a working explorer.exe from another Windows 7 system into the C:/Windows directory. But my problem remained.

I rebooted to launch "startup repair". That took an eternity, but it installed a fresh explorer.exe. But the problem remained.

The solution was to start regedit (as an administrator in safemode) and go to /HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/WindowsNT/CurrentVersion/Winlogon There should be an entry named "Shell". Delete it and create a new one : click right / new / string value / OK. Edit the new "Shell" string by doubleclicking or modifying it, and enter "explorer.exe" into the Value Data. Save, exit and restart.

If the icons, startbutton and taskbar appear again in safemode, restart windows normally. Problem solved.