Black screen + cursor instead of login screen

####, new drivers didn't work...

Edit: Isn't there an install option that lets you re-install windows while keeping your currently installed programs/etc?

Yes. It's the repair install option. You do it from inside your open Windows 7 system. Then insert disc etc. etc. This explains it better than I, plus less typing!!

How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7

Is there any way to make the Win7 folder smaller (after install), as I've only got ~19.4 GB space on my C: drive (which is old & small), of the ~18 GB I've got on that drive ~15 GB is Win7, the rest is mostly in the MSOCache folder (~0.5 GB).

Personally I wouldn't slim Win 7 down, although it can be done with a 3rd party app. (RT7 Lite) that you use to make a lightweight installation ISO file that you then burn to DVD.

In your situation I would be tempted to:
a) Make at least a 50gb partition, preferably closer to 100gb, on your Maxtor HDD for your "C:" drive. (40gb recommended minimum disc size for 7) and use your PATA drive for "Your Documents". That is if your Maxtor isn't full!
OR
b) Replace/add a new larger drive for your C: partition.

Things you can also do is to remove all the foreign language folders that are not relevant to you and remove the non-Latin fonts if you don't use them for a start. That's not really going to give you much space back though, maybe ½gb.