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The windows update function does not work.

Thank you Coochin. The ADWcleaner did the trick.

I’ll try those tips. Now there’s an additional question I have about contents on one of the secondary drives. I also need to access other files like Program Files and Users. They are also hidden. How can I do that?

I’m not sure that I quite understand. Will I try to access these files via the C drive, where they are not stored, or the E drive on my system where they are? Do I then simply type C or E:Users[username]AppDataRoamingMicrosoftOutlook”? I don’t think I understand the rest of it.

I attempted just that (*.pst) as my first try and got zero results.

I don’t have any backed up pst files. I’m in the process of transferring all of my collected emails into a folder separate from the Outlook program, just in case. I can always return them when this problem has been resolved.

I did try to “repoint” which resulted in erroneous files overwriting the old pst data files. In other words, I made an even bigger mess while I attempted a repair. What I need is new pst data files.

Thank you for your suggestions, mrjimphelps. They certainly are worth considering. Vista corrupts easily, I’ve found. I have reinstalled it once before, but it was a nightmare. It took me quite a while to get the reinstallation right. For some reason there were bits missing such as vital drivers. I got it all right in the end though. I wish I could remember everything I did, but I don’t. Reinstalling Vista is a very last resort.

However, taking heed of what you and others have stated, I am leaning towards a hardware issue because the same sorts of problems keep re-emerging. I am thinking a possible power supply or hard drive malfunction. I have already been in the process of backing up my important folders and files. The easiest thing for me to do at this point is to defragment my hard drive and to get a new supply and install it. (Power supplies are cheap.) If the problems persist after that, then it would point at my main hard drive.

OK. I booted into safemode, logged into DOS, and affected the file repair with the sfc /scannow command. It reported back some minutes later that some files had been successfully repaired. That’s a relief. Now we can eliminate the possibility of a damaged OS, I think. Only time will tell with that one.

I downloaded Melwarebytes and its Chameleon and they did a thorough check of the machine. They found a bunch of cookies which I eliminated, and nothing else. So I can forget about anymore malicious code being on the machine.

It has also been suggested by you people that I may have a defective power supply. That might explain a few things. I’ll investigate that next.

I also want to discuss refragmenting (or is that “defragmenting”) my hard drive. I did attempt it a while back, but it ran for hours and I had to eventually turn the machine off. With large hard drives, refragmenting seems a bit impractical. Is it possible to refragment in stages? Does that work, or must it be done in one fell swoop?

Please tell me more about Ready Boost and how you loaded it onto a USB drive.

Hi Fred, I typed in the sfc /scannow, but the computer doesn’t even recognise it. It does nothing.

Hi Fred,
Thanks for your response. When the screen hazes, it’s like a semi-transparent white fog and the machine will not accept any keystrokes when this happens, usually. The haze, I think, seems to be a warning that the machine has bitten off more than it can chew at that particular moment and needs several minutes to recuperte. Attempting to key anything in during such a phase causes a total lock-up. I already have an antiviral and anti-spyware program installed called “PC Tools Spyware Doctor.” Is there a chance that running Malwarebytes or Chameleon is going to cause a clash and affect results?

Sorry for my late response. Thanks for your replies, Ben09880 and mpioso. I assumed it to be a driver problem as my first attempt at eliminating this puzzle. A day or so after posting this, I scanned the Net for what I could possibly do. In desperation, I bought program for $20.00 that scanned your computer, then searched the Net for the latest drivers. Admittedly I was sceptical of such programs, but $20.00 wasn’t too much to lose. It was a choice out of two such progroms that I randomly found. The other program was priced at about $65.00. I wandered what else the more expensive one did. Maybe it made you a cup of coffee while you waited. Anyway, the program I bought found a whole bunch of drivers and installed them as I watched. After that I rebooted the machine and tried running the mp4 files. They worked without a hitch.

I’d like to thank everybody who took part in this discussion. It has solved my speed problem. I did have loads of items in my start-up sequence. I have unchecked almost everything and the machine is running satisfactorily now.

That did the trick, finally! It had to be halted before it could be fixed. Safe Mode was the answer. Then I removed it.