Weird problem with drives not appearing in Windows Explorer

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For some reason, when I open up Windows Explorer, it no longer shows "My
Computer" or any drives -- no hard drives or optical drives or usb
flashdrives. It doesn't show them on the folders sidebar nor in the address
bar. The only options are "Desktop" and "My Documents".

Same is true in Internet Explorer.

And "My Computer" is no longer on the start menu even though the radio button for "Display as a Link" under customization settings still is checked).

And "My Computer" isn't on the desktop, and when I try to restore it to the desktop using "Display Properties", desktop tab, "Customize Desktop", both "My Computer" and "My Documents" are greyed out, and can't be checked.

Here's the weird part! All drives work perfectly. Pop a dvd in and autoplay fires right up. Pop a flashdrive in and the Windows Explorer window pops open.

*And*, some programs show the drives perfectly. MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, Outlook, etc. all show the drives fine, but Adobe Photoshop, Windows Media Player, Firefox, and iTunes all act the same as Windows Explorer -- they'll show desktop and "My Documents" but no other drives.

Any ideas what is going on? Thanks!
 
If you have a windows cd, put it in and click start, run and type sfc /scannow. If your problem is being caused by data corruption this may well help.
 
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With regards to your problem, try what rik said first but if that doesn't work then it would probably be best to reformat and install windows again. I had a similar problem where my optical drives wouldn't show up in windows explorer at all and the only way to fix it (that i knew of) was to reinstall windows. If you need help on formatting and reinstalling windows (if you decide to do so) then there are instructions here
 
Your problem isn't caused by hard drive corruption then.

My next suspect would be malware.
 
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