[lostuser]

I've been using 64-bit XP for about two months. It's been great. The only problem I ran into was with my wireless receiver, but that was a problem easily fixed. After getting a feel for things, I decided to do a complete reinstall yesterday. Now things have turned ugly...

After my first reinstall I could not register Windows or run Windows update. Okay, I got a bad install. It's happened before on regular XP. After the second reinstall (which I am posting from now), I could run Windows update, but I still cannot register. Okay, that's not too bad, I can just call up, but that's the least of my worries.

Shortcuts
I used to place web shortcuts on my desktop, give them a unique icon, then set that to read-only so when I visit the site it doesn't try to change the icon. Now, I cannot even set an icon. I can, technically, it just doesn't display, and my changes disappear after I leave the properties screen.
I cannot a] find target or b] change icon on any shortcuts. Not in administrator mode, not in limited mode.

Windows Defender
I have to manually download updates. I can no longer click "check for updates". It just won't work. It responds by saying there are no new updates, then prompts me to check for updates again. I had to manually download and install the updates. Yes, I am using the 64-bit version.

Start Menu
This is a really wierd one. Programs I've installed since this afternoon have not given me start menu folders.

Video
I installed a game called Titan Quest. No start menu folder. It gave me an error when I tried to run it saying it failed to initalize the graphics engine. I did some research and that's a problem encountered by users of old integrated cards. I'm running a 3870 HD which, three days ago on the old install, ran Titan Quest maxed at 1680x1050!
As a test, I went to the SpeedTree site and downloaded The Valley demo. At first it didn't run. It gave me some error saying it could not located mfc71.dll. Okay, I went out and picked up that driver and put it in the right spot. When I ran speedtree, it gave me some wierd message concerning ffdshow (or something similar) and several radio buttons. When I clicked "okay" to it all, none of the trees had textures on them, and there were rocks just floating around! I've ran this demo for years and never seen it look like this.

So guys, what can I do?

After using XP on numerous computers since it's release, I have never encountered anything like this before.

[Alvin.C]

Hello,

Have you installed all the appropriate drivers?

Have you installed the latest service pack and windows updates?

[lostuser]

Yes, of course. I've even reinstalled DirectX.

Did I just get two bad installs?