All text missing windows open but never become visible.

The login screen for my computer is missing all text and controls except the speech assistance button in the bottom left corner. If you click this the password filed does display and you can login. After login all text is missing from icons etc. Start menu will not display nor will right click menu. If applications are lanced they show in the task bar but never become visible. That said full screen applications such as games will launch from the desktop and work fine. I have scanned the hard drive for viruses with AVG from a Ubuntu instance on the computer which found no viruses. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Ulfhiden
When did this begin happening? Have you modified anything or installed anything on your computer?

I dont think anything changed but I am unsure I was out of town on business.

Does anyone else use your computer? if so can you find out it they have modified or installed anything on your pc.

Quick way to have a look is (c) drive\windows\prefetch folder. You can see what processes have been running and when. See if there are any for when you were out of town. Post any process names here and Ill try and figure out what they are and what they do/have done

shannon@shannon-desktop:/media/disk/Windows/Prefetch$ ls -l -t
total 24353
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 122990 2009-12-12 11:35 CCC.EXE-ECD4BD27.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 2700546 2009-12-12 11:35 NTOSBOOT-B00DFAAD.pf
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2009-12-12 11:34 ReadyBoot
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 35450 2009-12-12 11:28 LOGONUI.EXE-1BEE4A84.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 18940 2009-12-12 11:28 WMIADAP.EXE-369DF1CD.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 36184 2009-12-12 11:28 WMIPRVSE.EXE-43972D0F.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 31838 2009-12-12 11:27 DWM.EXE-AEABE78B.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 82938 2009-12-12 11:27 WERFAULT.EXE-B7E27BE5.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 27348 2009-12-12 11:27 DW20.EXE-C0ADD1F4.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 43896 2009-12-12 11:27 PRESENTATIONFONTCACHE.EXE-42767AE9.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 20430 2009-12-12 11:26 IPODSERVICE.EXE-FE1A6FF7.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 54394 2009-12-12 11:26 RGSC.EXE-5F7304AF.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 87682 2009-12-12 11:26 DAUPDATERSVC.SERVICE.EXE-88675AC2.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 46632 2009-12-12 11:26 CSC.EXE-4EF173D0.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 24374 2009-12-12 11:26 CVTRES.EXE-419E4E46.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 255486 2009-12-12 11:25 DAORIGINS.EXE-0814DF79.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 14058 2009-12-12 11:25 EHMSAS.EXE-6BE9D904.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 33422 2009-12-12 11:25 DLLHOST.EXE-71214090.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 18896 2009-12-12 11:25 WERMGR.EXE-2A1BCBC7.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 75012 2009-12-12 11:25 DAORIGINSLAUNCHER.EXE-E28A75EB.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 14942 2009-12-12 11:25 VERCLSID.EXE-4D95F5A7.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 249422 2009-12-12 11:25 EXPLORER.EXE-7A3328DA.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 32730 2009-12-12 11:24 TASKENG.EXE-5BAF290C.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 13680 2009-12-12 11:24 USERINIT.EXE-F39AB672.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 23820 2009-12-12 11:24 DLLHOST.EXE-893DDF55.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 8906 2009-12-12 11:24 ATBROKER.EXE-FF58B71D.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 61228 2009-12-12 11:24 UTILMAN.EXE-6DAF08F5.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 707940 2009-12-11 13:53 AgGlFaultHistory.db
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 1257662 2009-12-11 13:53 AgGlFgAppHistory.db
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 2689566 2009-12-11 13:53 AgGlGlobalHistory.db
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 42984 2009-12-11 13:53 AgRobust.db
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 42224 2009-12-11 13:47 GOOGLEUPDATE.EXE-1C6C23CB.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1599378 2009-12-11 11:38 Layout.ini
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 76578 2009-12-11 10:44 DFRGNTFS.EXE-4F838A89.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 13908 2009-12-11 10:44 DEFRAG.EXE-738093E8.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 24688 2009-12-11 10:04 MPAS-D_BD1.EXE-B82677C3.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 5268 2009-12-11 10:04 MPMINISIGSTUB.EXE-869905FF.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 50670 2009-12-11 10:04 MPSIGSTUB.EXE-7C60A359.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 36138 2009-12-11 10:04 WUAUCLT.EXE-830BCC14.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 30338 2009-12-11 10:03 DLLHOST.EXE-C5C55E89.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 18766 2009-12-11 10:03 SVCHOST.EXE-8FD92526.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 70416 2009-12-11 10:03 VSSVC.EXE-04D079CC.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 282776 2009-12-11 09:58 JAVA.EXE-066C5985.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 62976 2009-12-11 09:56 TRUSTEDINSTALLER.EXE-031B6478.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 4968 2009-12-11 09:55 RUNDLL32.EXE-7768279B.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 233080 2009-12-11 09:54 CHROME.EXE-1F2CBB70.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 508 2009-12-08 17:45 PfSvPerfStats.bin
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 930837 2009-12-08 17:45 AgGlUAD_P_S-1-5-21-2627712593-1406024047-543673879-1000.db
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 2479819 2009-12-08 17:45 AgGlUAD_S-1-5-21-2627712593-1406024047-543673879-1000.db
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 9200 2009-12-08 17:39 RUNDLL32.EXE-F452D79D.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 16450 2009-12-07 22:23 SEARCHFILTERHOST.EXE-AA7A1FDD.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 17656 2009-12-07 22:23 SEARCHPROTOCOLHOST.EXE-AFAD3EF9.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 15764 2009-12-07 22:23 JP2LAUNCHER.EXE-42754454.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 101920 2009-12-07 21:49 WMPLAYER.EXE-9DE758AE.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 17492 2009-12-07 21:18 DLLHOST.EXE-91B07125.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 135802 2009-12-07 20:16 WERCON.EXE-FE5CD389.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 29024 2009-12-07 20:13 SETUP_WM.EXE-4A6000A5.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 46182 2009-12-07 20:08 MPAS-D.EXE-C74E749D.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 18242 2009-12-07 20:08 MPSIGSTUB.EXE-E68C0BE8.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 92602 2009-12-07 20:08 WINDOWSPHOTOGALLERY.EXE-11A60553.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 73862 2009-12-07 20:06 DLLHOST.EXE-64F4A157.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 79548 2009-12-07 20:06 APPLEMOBILEBACKUP.EXE-8D45D009.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 85622 2009-12-07 20:05 MDCRASHREPORTTOOL.EXE-8E76F76D.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 48290 2009-12-07 20:05 SOFTWAREUPDATE.EXE-2B0C49F7.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 85044 2009-12-07 20:05 SYNCSERVER.EXE-8B8A3075.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 19048 2009-12-07 20:05 DISTNOTED.EXE-AA90F3EF.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 76218 2009-12-07 20:05 APPLEMOBILEDEVICEHELPER.EXE-FD29BBCB.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 177984 2009-12-07 20:04 ITUNES.EXE-049DB451.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 101576 2009-12-07 20:04 DLLHOST.EXE-6202E8F2.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 23154 2009-12-07 20:03 RUNDLL32.EXE-98BF35ED.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 23584 2009-12-07 20:03 APPLEMOBILEDEVICESERVICE.EXE-11254380.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 34892 2009-11-25 23:01 TASKMGR.EXE-72398DC0.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 146942 2009-11-25 23:01 FIREFOX.EXE-E60C0AA7.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 40632 2009-11-25 22:57 SIDEBAR.EXE-3A7B3FCC.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 16154 2009-11-25 22:57 GOOGLECRASHHANDLER.EXE-FD77317C.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 28006 2009-11-25 09:10 LOGON.SCR-7C80CA1C.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 4896 2009-11-25 03:17 POQEXEC.EXE-CFF63269.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 1100 2009-11-25 01:58 MPCMDRUN.EXE-BB72ED6F.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 17468 2009-11-24 20:41 RUNDLL32.EXE-3FA5FC7F.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 16976 2009-11-24 18:36 RUNDLL32.EXE-B74FE204.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 13010 2009-11-24 18:15 CALC.EXE-AC08706A.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 92120 2009-11-23 20:43 DAUPDATER.EXE-7464E253.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 4316 2009-11-23 19:05 WSQMCONS.EXE-E2CE6542.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 5332 2009-11-23 18:59 MPMINISIGSTUB.EXE-236DEA46.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 24780 2009-11-22 18:03 MSPAINT.EXE-89BB51A7.pf
-rwxrwxrwx 2 root root 40862 2009-11-22 16:52 ADOBE AIR APPLICATION INSTALL-DE

Just to help narrow it down, what dates were you away? You will be interested in those processes running when you were away and then we can work out what they are.
I noticed the last process to execute was ATI Catalyst Control Centre. Has someone made changes to your display settings/setup at all?

Looks like around 11/25. I am not the only user, it does not appear anyone else made changes but you know how that goes.

Update: my wife informs me that the computer did start functioning again on 12/7 but after a reboot it went back to the non working state.