Task bar disappears at Start up- Vista- Not Sleep Mode

I apologize if this was already discussed somewhere on here, but I looked around and couldnt find a solution to my specific problem. I found similar issues, but my problem has one key aspect that doesn't allow me to us the other solutions, which I will describe below. If it helps, I have a Dell Inspiron desktop with Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit. I restarted my computer yesterday. Everything seemed normal, got my normal login screen, put the password in and everything was loading as normal. When the startup and loading was just about complete, my task bar and desktop icons, sidebar, etc… disappeared. I figured it was a windows explorer crash, so I used ctrl+alt+delete to start my task manager to do the- run>explorer- fix method. My screen switched over to the list that allows me to choose task manager, change password, and the other options. When I clicked task manager, my screen went back to the desktop, but the task manager window was not visible. I did ctrl+alt+delete again and figured I would restart. When I clicked restart, my desktop flashed and all of a sudden I could see my task bar, icons and the task manager window as the computer shut down. I went through this a couple of times, but kept getting the same result. Every once and a while, instead of showing the picture that I have set to my wallpaper, it would be a white screen, but I would get the same result when I used ctrl+alt+delete. I tried restarting in safe mode, but got the same result as above. Not really sure what could be causing this. I did have some issues recently with an adobe update. Could that have casued this? I have been trying to access a system restore point to go back to before I was having these issues, but I can't access the system restore through the start menu before it disappears. I tried pressing F8 during re-boot to access the restore point through that menu, but when I click it nothing happens. When I click it a second time, it tells me its already running, but nothing happens and no other windows pop up. Any suggestions?

Have you tried logging ona as Administrator from Safe Mode instead of your normal userid?

If that works, run System Restore from there: How to start System Restore by using the Command prompt

Open a Command Prompt by pressing Windows key + R.