Definitely looks like you've been got at. I am assuming you are okay with
voltage as this would cause different problems. (All this applies when on
battery too, yes)?

A clean install seems your only option. Get it right first time and it
should only take a couple of hours. Hunting for malware etc could take days.

Two things...
1: I suggest disabling Autorun. Any viruses etc are often self loading and
Autorun does the job for them.
2: So you don't have to go hunting on your slow machine, I have copied the
instructions here.

Good luck

Ed

Perform a clean installation
There are two ways to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista. The
first method is to install Windows Vista by running the Setup program from
the current version of Windows on your computer. The second method is to
start the computer from the Windows Vista DVD. First, try method 1. If it
does not work, try method 2.

Warning In a clean installation, existing data on your computer is deleted.
This data includes personal data, settings, hardware driver information, and
software programs. After you install the operating system, you must also
reinstall all programs. Make sure that you back up personal data to disks or
other external storage devices before you perform a clean installation.
Method 1: Perform a clean installation of Windows Vista by running Setup
from the current version of Windows
To perform a clean installation of Windows Vista from the current version of
Windows on the computer, follow these steps:
1.. Start the computer and make sure that the current version of Windows
has started.
2.. Insert the Windows Vista DVD into the DVD drive and then close the
drive tray. Wait a moment for the Setup program to start automatically.
3.. If the Setup program does not start automatically, follow these steps:
1.. Click Start and then click Run.
2.. Type Drive:\setup.exe and then click OK.

Note Drive is the drive letter of the computer's DVD drive.
4.. When the Setup program starts and the Install now screen appears,
click Install now.
5.. When the Which type of installation do you want? screen appears, click
Custom (advanced). The follow the instructions to install Windows Vista.
If Windows Vista is now running on your computer, you have completed the
installation successfully.

If the installation does not finish or you receive an error message, and you
are comfortable trying to troubleshoot the problem, go to the
"Troubleshooting" section for more information about common issues and their
resolutions. If you are not comfortable trying to troubleshoot the issue, go
to the "Next Steps" section.
Method 2: Perform a clean installation of Windows Vista by starting the
computer from the Windows Vista DVD
Note The computer must be configured to start from the DVD drive. For
information about how to configure the computer to start from the DVD drive,
see the documentation that is included with the computer. Or, contact the
computer manufacturer.

To perform a clean installation of Windows Vista by starting the computer
from the Windows Vista DVD, follow these steps:
1.. Start the computer.
2.. Insert the Windows Vista DVD into the DVD drive and then close the
drive tray.
3.. Restart the computer.
4.. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press a
key.
5.. Follow the instructions to install Windows Vista.
If Windows Vista is now running on your computer, you have completed the
installation successfully.




"popular" <brenden.cline******.com> wrote in message
news:38e0d86fd227861645d313c0351a4495@nntp-gateway.com...[color=blue]
>
> I'm studying abroad in China and my laptop has a really weird problem,
> so I apologize in advance but this is a bit long.
>
> I moved in with a host family last week, and 5 minutes after getting
> the internet to work and beginning to Skype chat people (without video)
> my computer (Gateway laptop model MT3423 I think, Vista Premium, Dual
> Core AMD Turion, ~2 years old in good condition) froze and hasn't been
> the same since. Now, booting brings me to the recovery screen (of course
> - Normal Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, etc.), but no Safe Mode works
> - I can get to the login screen but after signing in the Welcome screen
> with the loading circle stays up indefinitely. Normal Mode works though,
> but it has major issues. After successfully signing in programs begin to
> load but it quickly slows down to a crawl, and takes about a minute to
> close the two program warning boxes that pop up (just the usual 'this
> program is unregistered' sort of thing). After this, Windows Calendar
> inexplicably loads, again painfully slow, and if the computer hasn't
> crashed by this point then it does shortly thereafter. And the crash
> varies - a few times it started with a "Server Busy - this action cannot
> be completed" error message but it usually says euphemistically
> "Microsoft Windows - this application is not responding."
>
> I've tried several things but I haven't had any success. During this
> loading window, I've tried running msconfig and unchecking nonessential
> programs, but even after clicking Save Changes and Restart the changes
> are not saved, and it'll still proceed to crash and load the programs
> again next boot. I've tried loading the control panel, but it becomes
> unresponsive after I try to click anything in it. I tried opening
> accessories under the Start Menu and it bugged out, and instead of
> showing the folder icon it showed a searching icon and wouldn't open.
> The Command Prompt loaded but was too slow to execute anything. I also
> tried opening Task Manager, even through Ctrl+Alt+Delete, and after a
> few minutes it successfully loaded once but didn't show anything unusual
> and then crashed.
>
> I'm not sure what the problem is - the only things I can think of are
> that I had just setup 3 identical automatic broadband internet
> connections as I was troubleshooting the connection, the room was really
> hot (about 90 degrees F), and I had an SD memory stick in when I booted
> up the last few times before this. Also, I installed a Logitech Quickcam
> a few weeks before (whose software loads in the tray automatically) and
> one of the 2 popups that load is new, bugging me about registering
> EarthDesk. It seem to me like any of this should cause my problem, but
> it seems to me that it's a software problem, in part because I don't
> have any real evidence of hardware failure (although it does get really
> hot, but the fan is still working) and because while Windows will be
> crashing and I can't use the Start Menu, I can still hover over programs
> in the tray and have their name popup (but the battery status and volume
> control won't).
>
> Anyone have any advice/input? I'm going to try to get a copy of the
> recovery CD, but that'll take at least a week and there are no
> authorized Gateway repair centers in China, not to mention the language
> barrier and risk involved, especially if I don't know what's wrong...
> Thanks a lot everyone!
>
>
> --
> popular[/color]