New Motherboard, no administrative permissions

Someone suggested that since I changed motherboards but kept the same hard drive this might be my issue. I have Windows 7 ultimate 32 bit OS with dual core processer. I Had problems with my motherboard so replaced it. I was able to do a system restore and everything looked fine until you go to the start menu and it's blank. Almost all programs I run I get "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access the item". The problem is I can't go to the Control Panel to check or change administrative access on either my user or guest user. I was trying to do a scan for bad files in CMD mode but it wouldn't work because I don't have permission. I've tried restoring to several different restore points, most don't work or if it does, same results.

Was the new motherboard the same make and model as the previous one? If not I think I would just start over with a clean install of windows, and install the correct drivers etc.

Was not the same manufacturer. I was told by the Frys tech dept that this was easy to do and I didn't need to re install windows. I do have a carbonite backup but I don't trust it as I've had problems with them in the past losing data.

Foe me personally, new hardware (especially the motherboard) means new install. You can swap out your motherboard without a re-install but you need to do things before the swap. One way is to sysprep windows just before the swap. Then install the correct drivers for the new hardware after the swap. If you don't do that windows may try to load the drivers for the old hardware and that can cause some weird things to happen. My advice is to backup your documents, pictures, etc and start over with a clean install of windows.

Regretfully re-installed Windows 7. What a hassle. Oh well.

For some people it can be a hassle, I still think its worth it though. You get the best chance for a stable system over a long run. These days I have everything on USB flash drives including my install media. In an hour or two I can be back up and running with all the essentials installed.