Hey Werm, I think thats a video driver problem. I've got a MiniNote Netbook which has an S3 GFX chip, and Windows7 would do this if i switched on the Aero theme. Switch to the classic theme and see if the problem goes away.
ya it could be a graphic driver prblm............. did u apply any cracks on it??They too can sometimes cripple the system.
I'll get rid of Aero for now and try a different driver later. I'm currently using the WDM 1.1 Nvidia driver that was installed with Windows Update. I'll give the 185 beta drivers a shot. Thanks. No cracks were applied when I first got the problem. Orbit's crack has since been applied, but there is still no difference except now my black desktop is 'Genuine'. ;P
Update The change in Nvidia vid drivers did fix the problem. I was using the WDDM 1.1 179.23 with my GTX 260. I changed up to the 185.20 beta drivers and everything is back to normal. I should also point out the with these new drivers I got a big improvement in 3DMark Vantage and COD5 W@W. Thanks for the help.
I can say that i had a similar problem in build 6801, my wallpaper wouldnt go black, however all mi icons would disappear once i had enabled aero. This issue got fixed for me since build 6956. I have a GeForce FX 5200 (crappy but i dont game so ya' know...), i'm also aware that someone else had this aero issue in earlier builds, so my vote is graphics card.....