Windows 7: x86 programs not starting in windows 7 x64

Going about my second install of windows 7, last time all programs running under x86 were locking up, During install everything went ok till about two hours later and its doing it again. IE x64 will run but not firefox, winamp, or even trying to play a CD, they just show up in the task manager and never pop up. Bois & chipset are up to date, I'm running windows 7 RTM ultimate x64 on a ASUS P5N72-T Premium. No custom installs were done on windows, I've had no problems with previous versions of win 7 RC or Beta. Any suggentions on what to look at next. UAC controls are on the lowest settings, tried running programs under admin and no difference. HD was wiped clean on install also

CPU - intel q9550
RAM - Ocz PC2-6400 8GB(4x2gb)
MB - ASUS P5N72-T Premium
Soundcard - ASUS Xonar DS2
Video Card - XFX Nvidia 7950 gt 512mb
HP - 500GB Seagate 7200 rpm

Somewhere in there it must be a driver or hardware related issue.

I'm running Windows 7 x64 RTM. I have the same processor as you, 8Gb of Kingston RAM same timing, an ASUS branded Mobo...Only difference is an ATI card, Creative X-Fi Soundcard and an Intel SSD (Issue wasnt present when I had a normal 7200 RPM drive either)

I'd recommend checking the Event Log in Windows ...

1) Start -> Control Panel -> System & Security -> Administrative Tools -> View Event Logs

2) Click Windows Logs -> System -> Click on "Level" to sort by severity. Look for any Red !'s. See if it references your problem at all...And post any results.

Another thing...Try running the Memory Diagnostic Tool -

Memory Diagnostics Tool

In my personal experience I have had a friend who was running 4Gb of RAM and had persistant BSOD's. I suspected a RAM issue and sure enough the utility caught it. I removed random sticks til the test came out clean, and when it did come clean...He never had another issue. While your issue is different it could still revolve around one or two bad sticks.

Far as the RAM I tested each one individually two weeks ago with mem test, when I was having issues with my old motherboard. Each one came up clean with no errors. Doubt it may be with them. Below is the error log I pulled from the system. I'll try taking out half the RAM too to see that does any thing.

Log Name: System
Source: nvlddmkm
Date: 8/18/2009 4:44:28 PM
Event ID: 14
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Sauce
Description:
The description for Event ID 14 from source nvlddmkm cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.
If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.
The following information was included with the event:

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="nvlddmkm" />
<EventID Qualifiers="49322">14</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2009-08-18T23:44:28.209200000Z" />
<EventRecordID>1636</EventRecordID>
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>Sauce</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>
</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Binary>0000000002003000000000000E00AAC0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

From where you've got ISO and on which speed did you burned it?

I HIGHLY doubt that burning the ISO at a high speed would cause Windows to freeze AFTER installation, especially when dealing with 64 vs 32 bit applications.

downloaded win 7 rtm x64 from my subscription with tech net plus. The dvd burned at 16x speed. I even redownloaded the iso image and burned it on a new dvd for the second install. I noticed last night the 32 bit programs run in safe mode no problem, was trying to make sure every component has the latest drivers, mainly MB, sound card and video card. Which they all do now.

This problem is occuring because you havn't installed the patch for your Asus Xonar sound card drivers. To fix this problem go to the Asus driver download section but instead of going to the Windows 7 driver download section you need to go to the Vista driver download section and download the patch located at the top of the Vista driver download page.

If you can't get IE to work just uninstall the Xonar drivers then get the patch. After you download the patch just reinstall the Xonar drivers, skip the restart prompt and before restarting install the patch and then restart. Everything will work as it should after you do that.

The patch says nothing about this fix but it works perfectly none the less.

This patch was not required for the older versions of Windows 7 but is required for all builds 7200 and up using the Asus Xonar drivers for Windows 7.

That was the issue, I deleted those two programs in the task manager and all the programs started running again. Still having some issues but it looks like more hardware based now. After reinstalling the sound card with the patch the computer wouldn't start up. Had to flash the bois to get it started. Not sure whats acting up now. CPU, MB, RAM are all new less a month. Only original part left is the power supply which is a thermaltake toughpower 750 watt. Just over two years old. Give it a second go tonight. Tempted to put vista x64 back on it, as much as I don't like it. The drivers are much more stable than windows 7 right now