I was removing a program called "Sidefind" and then all of a SUDDEN anytime I clicked on a icon it couldn't open it. I tried using cntrl-alt-del, after it rebooted it then went to the windows 98 SETUP and it told me to use my product key. I punced in a key and now my screen has no programs. I softboot again and when the screen is finally turned on the screen shows that explorer has created an illegal operation and will shut down. I click CLOSE and there are no programs on the screen. I try cntrl-alt-del and it shows no programs running. Anyone out there can help me? I even tried using "Safe Mode" and it still has no programs on the screen. I am using an IBM Thinkpad 390x with windows 98.
Boot to a DOS prompt and type: scanreg /RESTORE , and choose a registry entry before this event occured then press Enter.Thanks a lot.  Your help was greatly appreciated.  But do I have to check if there is anything wrong with the computer?  for example virus check, scandisk or anything like thatAlways scan for Viruses, Trojan Horses and Spyware after you experience problems with your computer.