After starting the PC in safe mode as per instruction the ESET anti-virus was unable to perform a virus scan.
However my problem seems to have gone from bad to worse, aswell as the Taskbar and Desktop icons disappearing im now getting several instances of internet explorer opening up by itself opening webpages like pacific poker and other gambling websites. Ive done a spyware scan with Ad-Aware 2007 and removed all cases of infection but this hasnt resolved my issue so any help would be appreciated. Thanks