Win7 system messed up after restart

[gsb97007]

During the day I clicked on a link saying I needed to check for updates or restart my computer. Don't remember exactly which program it was or in what order.

However, now when my computer starts up my desktop has reverted to some default desktop which is misssing a lot of my icons I had previously. Some of my shortcuts are still there, but most are missing.

Also my outlook email appears to be gone.

Internet explorer history and favorites is gone.

Also various registered software programs I had are now asking me for a registration key like I was still using a demo or trial version.

I'm at a loss of what to do as I had years of email on this system and can't afford to lose it.

 

[Britton30]

Ouch! This sounds not so good. It sounds like you picked up some sort of virus or malware. Do you have restore points? Try to see if it will go back to before you did that update. If that is successful, make sure it is a valid program which is trying to update. Scan you system as well. You may have to boot into Safe mode to get rid of malware. Please fill out your system specs in case someone needs that info.
Post back with questions or results.
Welcome to seven Forums too.

 

[gsb97007]

Ouch! This sounds not so good. It sounds like you picked up some sort of virus or malware. Do you have restore points? Try to see if it will go back to before you did that update. If that is successful, make sure it is a valid program which is trying to update. Scan you system as well. You may have to boot into Safe mode to get rid of malware. Please fill out your system specs in case someone needs that info.
Post back with questions or results.
Welcome to seven Forums too.

Don't know if I have restore points or how to access them.

Somewhere in control panel or whatever, I thought I saw something about uninstalling updates. Should I uninstall all updates that were done today? Would that help?

 

[Britton30]

try this first How to do a system restore. See if you can restore, this will be the least painful way to proceed.
And yes in Control panel you will find Windows Updates.
For Advanced Boot Options

 

[gregrocker]

Install, update and run a Full Scan with Malwarebytes. This will tell you if you're infected.

System Restore to before you ran the "Updates."

If problems persist, run SFC -SCANNOW Command

Let us know how these steps go.

You should always back up your files regularly to an external source.