here is what happened in better detail...

=sis has been on comp (she said she didn't do anything)
=me shut down the comp as usual
=me turned on comp a few hours later, the comp seems funny, i forced it shut (by holding the power button).
=log in as usual
=*didn't pay attention on the screen yet, as my gigi wallpaper is still on* a pop up saying new features about window xp *still didn't realize that something is wrong and the recycle bin is on the other side of screen*
=looked at some of the new features *sigh*, turned that thing off
=*freaked out* *screamed* *cursed* finally discovered all the missing icons on the desktop and all the shortcuts on the task bar at the bottom of the screen are GONE!!! all my favorites are gone.
=checked to see the harddrive, seems that most files are still there
=double-clicked on itune to see if it works (just as a test), it acts like i just freshly installed it
=*freaked out MORE*
=shut down computer normally *hoping everything will automatically return to normal*
=turn computer on again, logged in as normal. things have NOT return to normal