Windows 7: Various Problems: can't edit screen resolution, toolbar shortcuts, etc

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read this.

After a recent problem with my cpu which was my motherboard slot connecting my C: Drive shorting out/failing and connecting my C Drive to the next slot, I've had problems with some things in Windows 7. Before I list these problems, I will also note that during the C Drive problems, I attempted multiple startup repairs (three of which froze/failed in between because of the motherboard issue), and after I switched the slot, I noticed that my desktop resolution had changed and there was also a problem with my cpu stating that Windows wasn't genuine. I performed a system restore (which may be the cause of the problem along with the start up repairs) and I didn't see the message anymore. Though, during all of this, the desktop and various menu issues persisted. Here is a list of all the issues that I've encountered and are still persisting:

- When right-clicking the desktop and selecting "Screen resolution" or "Personalize," receive this error message: "Windows cannot find ". Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again."

- When right-clicking the desktop and selecting "Gadgets," receive this error message: "Settings.ini is being used by another process. Close the other program and then click Retry, or click Cancel to exit."

- The Control Panel folder does not display ANY options, though I am able to select options from the drop down box in the link bar. Though, the following menus DO NOT display any options/links to change settings:

~ Administrative Tools

~ All the way down the list in the "Manage Accounts" menu and when selecting "Create a new account," nothing pops up. No new window, no prompts or errors... nothing.

- When clicking the Start Menu and going to the search box to look for a program/file, NOTHING generates in the menu
when typing known program/file names and even when hitting "Enter," nothing happens.

- Toolbar shortcuts are gone

- can't run Windows Update by simply clicking on the icon in the "Show Hidden Icons" box. I have to go to the Control Panel to start it.

- I own a Zune and use the Zune software, but found that I was unable to start up the Zune program. I uninstalled, removed the folder, found the steps listed on this website, and tried re-installing though came across a ".NET framework" error which leads to the same exact page where I originally found the "fix" to the problem.

Other than these problems, programs seem to work perfectly fine and I've ran sfc /scannow from system boot (no errors found), no problems with
my registry nor any changes made, a recent scan with AVG found that there were two Trojans I believe and other corrupted and bad files that were removed successfully. I have also tried running in Safe Mode and creating a new account to change that account to a new administrative account, but I can't even select the "Create new account" option. I'm basically trying to avoid a hard drive format and fresh install. Is there any way I can get around these problems without doing so? Thank you in advanced for your assistance, I appreciate it.