omg my computer is screwed

[WackityWhiz]

I turn on my computer and as soon as my desktop comes up, it says "Explorer has encountered an error and needs to close." It gives me no option to click on start or anything. If I press f8 @ startup and run it in safe mode, it still doesn't work. I've tried everything and I just can't get my desktop to load.

So, I have a few questions...

I want to recover my pokertracker database, is there ANY way I can get access to that?

I made a backup CD for my computer about a month ago, if I format my computer, how do I use the backup CD? Do I use the backup CD to format, or do I run the Windows CD and then, when Windows has installed all of the basics, run the backup CD?