BSOD's on new build Windows 7 x64

Could someone please help me find solutions for system errors that I have not been able to successfully resolve? I have done a lot of research during the past several weeks and feel like I am chasing my tail. I just stumbled across this forum and I am amazed at the professional and friendly manners displayed here. It seems the members really care and are helping folks to resolve their computer issues. Lots of really good info here. :)

To the best of my recollection, these are some events that have occurred up until this point. I built this system in February of this year (my first build) and I have been trying to keep it as clean as possible. Fairly new to the computer management world so still have tons to learn. I am a graphic artist and I plan to only load Graphics programs on this machine. (Click on System Spec's for particulars.)

I would so appreciate any guidance or assistance with these issues and I am not opposed to reinstalling the OS if need be. I would really like to understand what is happening so I can learn and prevent similar issues from occurring in the future. Hopefully this makes some sense, it's in the wee hours now. Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction!

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Chain of events:

6-25-2010

Windows Update installed several updates. Received 2 BSOD's as a result.

Safely removed Hardware "My Book External drive" to prepare for installation of WD Smartware software and New MyBook.

Installed new WD external hard drive with Smartware software. Installation successful. Tried to run the Smartware software to backup system and could not get it to initialize. Windows had installed wrong driver. Uninstalled
smartware software and safely removed external drive.

Resulting Issues

The fonts for Windows 7 became very small, very difficult to read and I was unable to launch Firefox Browser. Ran several Google searches to find solution to the issues. Unsuccessful.

6-27-10

Mozilla issued new updated version of firefox. I downloaded the updated version and it was successful. Connected old "My Book External drive" which holds no operating system files, just storage. When I rebooted, the windows fonts were
restored back to normal??

6-28-10

Tried to open Photshop CS 3 extended and received error that "Program was unable to initialize due to a system error."

Opened Administrative tools in control panel, clicked on Event Viewer to try and see why Photoshop would not open and received the folowing error:

"MMC has detected an error in a snap-in an will unload it."

Then a new error popped up:

"Unhandled Exception in Managed Code Snap-in FX:{b05566ad-fe9c-4363-be05-7a4cbb7cb510}
Exception type: System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException
at System.RuntimeTypeHandle.CreateInstance(RuntimeType type, Boolean publicOnly, Boolean noCheck, Boolean& canBeCached, RuntimeMethodHandle& ctor, Boolean&dSecurityCheck)
at System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceSlow(Boolean publicOnly, Boolean fillCache)
at System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceImpl(Boolean publicOnly, Boolean skipVisibilityChecks, Boolean fillCache)
at System.Activator.CreateInstance(Type type, Boolean nonPublic)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.FormView.InternalInitialize()"

7-13-10

Still unable to resolve the initilazation error for Photoshop CS3 and uninstalled the program. In fact uninstalled and reinstalled several times. The uninstall was
successful. Rebooted and received another BSOD. Still unable to open Event Viewer and Task Manager.

I have been unable to resolve these issues to date. I stumbled accross the Debugger tool and ran it on all four minidumps however, I'm not sure I did it correctly? Plus it's puzzling as to what all this info means.

Thanks for your quick response. I will give it a try and check the results. May I ask what clues led you to feel Zone alarm could be the problem? I have never installed Kaspersky, however I believe Zone Alarm does use one of their engines. Just curious.

Will my browser and e-mail be vulnerable if I remove Zone Alarm? Still trying to get my head wrapped around configuring Anti virus and firewall stuff. I am behind a router that has a firewall. Also, I currently have Windows defender and UAC turned off, would I need to turn these features back on?

If this solution does not resolve the MMC snap in error for the Event Viewer and Task Manager, is there a way I could re-install the administrative tools from the install disk? Or would I need to do a repair install of windows 7 to make that happen?

Thanks so much for your help, I will be sure to post my results in either case. Have a great evening!

Thanks for the input severedsolo! I have only been using Zone Alarm on this new build. I previously had Norton 360 and hated that! Still trying to find the right fit. hehe

May I ask what what Anti virus and Firewall you are now using with Windows 7? Also, do you activate Windows defender and UAC? I had turned these off since I installed Zone alarm. Just curious.

I so need for all these error issues to go away. Have not been able to work in a couple of weeks! Booo! Starting to have withdrawals. haha

Sweet! Thanks so much for the link! Evil Zone Alarm! Grrrrr! Hopefully I can get my puter back in shape after the beatings it has had to endure mostly due to User Error! hehe

Love your screen name! Capt'n! Arrrr... Take a peek at my Pirate image if you like, it's in my Deviant Art gallery here: Dead Men Tell No Tales... by *Kachinadoll on deviantART

Update: I uninstalled Zone Alarm and cleaned away all traces of it. Installed Microsoft Security Essentials and Pooof! Magic! My MMC is back to normal, no more errors for a whole day!!!! I could just kiss you guys! Thank you so much, all is well with the world! Weeeeeeee!