Desktop, Start and icons wanted back

About a month ago, my computer (Windows Xp pro) got a virus called spywareguard2008 and succeeded getting rid of it by getting a removal tool on someone else's computer. I regret waiting though, because between this time, my computer bugged even more, when all of a sudden it froze. I restarted it and that's when all I saw was the wallpaper and nothing else. no right click. only the task manager by pressing ctrl+alt+delete. I tried different ways of fixing it, but still nothing...
I already did msconfig... nothing
I went into a different user in safe mode and cleaned it... nothing
I went in task manager and there is no explorer.exe ( I use Firefox if that makes a difference)
etc.
I'm almost ready to give up and reboot.

!!!!I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but whenever I try to update windows, I get this:


"Thank you for your interest in obtaining updates from our site.

To use this site, you must be running Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later.

To upgrade to the latest version of the browser, go to the Internet Explorer Downloads website.

If you prefer to use a different web browser, you can obtain updates from the Microsoft Download Center or you can stay up to date with the latest critical and security updates by using Automatic Updates. To turn on Automatic Updates:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Depending on which Control Panel view you use, Classic or Category, do one of the following:
* Click System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab.
* Click Performance and Maintenance, click System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab.
3. Click the option that you want. Make sure Automatic Updates is not turned off."

First off, I do have explorer up to date! Second I can't get to the control panel... no desktop!!!!