Explorer and built in apps freeze when I type

As it would turn out, I don't have the registry key that they want you to change, nor do I have the update that they recommended removing. Any more suggestions?

Well, you could try installing ShellExView. That will give you a list of all your installed shell extensions. Go through it line by line, and look for non-MS applications, and disable them one at a time.

ShellExView (64-bit) - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

But first I would try everything that JMH suggested.

Haha I already went through with ShellExView and disabled all the non-Microsoft shell extensions, but that didn't help. The only thing I haven't been able to do short of a clean install is sfc /scannow. It gets to 7% and stops working with the error "Windows Resource Protection could not complete the requested operation." This seems to be a common error, but I haven't found a tenable solution for it...

Hmmm... I'm out of ideas. The only other things I can think of would be to replace explorer.exe or do a repair install. And see if you could get an admin to kick this thread over to the Crashes and Debugging forum.

Have you actually ever had a BSOD?

I've had BSODs for other reasons, though not for this specific issue.

Would a repair install only modify the C:\Windows directory and leave my user profile, program files, etc. intact? If so, I'd be more inclined to go with that option. Otherwise it'd be too much of a hassle.

--By intact I mean leave them where they are; not move them to a Windows.old directory.

All the information you require should be within the Tutorial.

Repair Install

I seem to be having issues with doing a repair install. I first tried it with the SP1 disc, seeing as I have SP1 installed, this should be the correct choice. However, after it does the compatibility check, it tells me I need to have SP1 installed in order to proceed. Which is strange. Because I do. So then I got a non-SP1 disc, changed the compatibility to Vista SP2 like I'm supposed to, then it'd get to the compatibility report and tell me that I can't upgrade from 32 to 64 bit Windows (even though I have a 64 bit version of Windows), and right below that it says that I can't upgrade from 64 to 32 bit.

Any ideas?

No, I'm not using a slipstreamed disc. The original install was not with SP1. *sigh* I would hate to have to do a clean install... It'd take so much work to put everything back to the way it is now -____-