Unsolvable explorer.exe crash/restart loop, any way out?

Hello everybody,
I seem to be having a serious problem with Windows 8.1 on my Acer Aspire V5,

When I log to my main user account, explorer.exe keeps crashing/restarting every second (literally,) which rendered the computer unusable. I tried all solutions I found online to fix this but none worked.

Safe mode works, however, so I managed to create another user account. When I log on using this account, desktop programs run fine, but no taskbar/start screen/apps desktop (and launching explorer.exe doesn't help)

Worst of all: Acer's recovery manager (which supposedly would reset the computer to factory settings) won't launch. Is there any way out of this problem? My computer wasn't supplied with recovery CDs.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

First, make sure you don't have a virus.

Then check this out: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/26512-dism-fixing-component-store-corruption-windows-8-a.html