Vista Won't run most programs

[Knightmare]

A laptop i've been trying to fix has some very odd problems. I'll connect to the internet but downloading anything is hit or miss. I'll just hang at the download screen and never complete. Been trying to run a virus scan but most programs just dont start up and whatever you clicked last becomes frozen. Tried rolling it back but that didn't work so ive come here for your help.

It's vista professional SP2 any solutions not involving reformatting would be appreciated.

[Lhyet]

When did this start happening? All of a sudden or gradually? Was it after any specific event (installing software/service pack/update)?

[Knightmare]

Think it happened after a windows update but I wasn't able to use the recovery to restore before it happened because I gave me an error.

[Crowort]

If you think it is a virus, have you tried running the scan in safe mode?

I'd like run a disk check (I do this for just about anything, but you'd be shocked how often it helps)

[Lhyet]

Try what Crowort said first, and then pop your Vista disk in, boot from the disk and use the recovery console to check for any further corruptions with the OS install.

[Lhyet]

Eh, disregard the end of that post. I use Vista so rarely that I forgot it doesn't have a system repair utility like XP does.

I think you're in a bit of trouble, to be honest with you. If an update screwed some things up and you don't have a backup disk created, there could be little more you can do other than reformat.

Try what Crowort said, look for more updates from windows update and then start backing up your files if none of that fixes it =/

Hopefully someone else can come up with a winning solution, but I jumped from XP straight to 7, and my workplace has only started upgrading to Vista, so my knowledge on it is lacking.

[Knightmare]

Ran diskcheck no problems, used avg line scanner in safe mode no problems. The computer seems to work for the most part in safe mode but the one thing that seems constant is that the icons in the bottom right corner don't open. Used recovery disk but no problems were found, seems like my only option is reformat which would suck since its not may laptop.

[Lhyet]

Sounds like a driver is doing it... thought it's difficult to think of which one.

Try going into safe mode and completely uninstalling your graphics driver. Boot back into standard mode and your screen should look the same as in safe mode (due to the computer only using the blunt standard VGA driver) and then redownload the graphics driver through windows update.

Bit of a shot in the dark, but best to explore all areas before a reformat.

[Knightmare]

Uninstalled video driver and when I reinstalled it i got a black screen. I'll try installing a different driver.

[Lhyet]

Did you try reinstalling it from windows update or from a driver download from the manufacturer site?

[Knightmare]

from hp site, i think im gonna try to do a factory reset if nothing else works

[Lhyet]

I think that's going to be your best choice. There just seems far too many things going wrong to pin down the real issue without being sat in front of the machine.