i have been trying to help a friend with his computer.first it was running slow, then everytime he started it up his desktop came up  totally different.i found an adaware problem took care of that.now his outlook express mail is blank envelopes and he can not get any of his email  and his internet favorites have disappeared.i defragged it had to do the short defreg because it wouldnt finish the long one ,took all of his pictures off,that didnt help.now i'm frustrated.i did a virus scan none. any suggestions?

Try running check disk, sounds as if the file system could be messed up and disk errors may exist.
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/article/chkdskhowto.htm

Might also run system file checker in case any system files have been corrupted.
http://ask-leo.com/what_is_the_system_file_checker_and_how_do_i_run_it.html