Sorry for jumping in here, but can I ask questions?
If you've been doing weekly backups, did you try to restore a backup image from before the problem started?
To me the main reason to create backup images is so I can restore a backup without needing to go back to square-one and re-install Windows and everything else.
If you can't reliably restore a backup image to a "working state", what good is creating backup images?
First of all, I am not smart enough to really understand all about Windows 7.
Plus, this computer was such a mess thanks to 21 updates that really screwed up two of my Windows 7 computers, I thought it was a good idea to clean the drive and start over.
So- I did them both.
Right now I will finish giving user names and passwords to my favorite sites in Firefox. Next I will run a backup and go to bed. Wow! It's after mid-nite.
I'll report the results here.
Well, backup completed with no errors. Another reason wiping the drive paid off.
Off to bed (after checking to see what specials Newegg has going).
Quote