Very strange problem with Windows Vista

[Amagi82]

My computer greeted me today with a rather annoying problem:  When you start up windows, you are greeted by a black screen with nothing but a mouse cursor, and several error messages. The most interesting of which is:

"The procedure entry point RegCreaTeKeyW could not be located in the dynamic link library ADVAPI32.dll"  This prevents explorer.exe from loading.

If I hit ctrl alt del, I do get the normal screen, and I can even load up task manager and whatnot, but I can't get any programs to load up- they all show error messages respective to that program.

Now, the interesting thing is, if I reboot, I get a message saying windows failed to load properly, and telling me to put in my windows disk and hit repair.  I tried doing that, and it loads up, then shows the blue screen of death, and promptly restarts the computer. The same thing happens if you start windows in safe mode.   I tried reloading with the last known working configuration, and it did start into windows once, with tons of error messages, but after that, it hasn't been loading up either.

So, how on earth do I fix a problem when I can't even reload windows??  I'm lost here, and would appreciate any help you guys could give. Boot error?  Virus?

My computer:
Windows Vista Home Premium
Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2x2.6ghz
2gb ram
I'm not sure what's relevant in the system specs, so if any of that would be helpful I can find out.

[Amagi82]

hmm, I've found out if I load my windows disk through task manager, it does seem to work.  I might be able to transfer my important files to another harddrive and reinstall windows.  That is, unless anyone has any good repair ideas, because I've got nothing.

[GX1_Man]

Back up your data and reinstall. What happened prior to all of this? There is a clue there. 

[Amagi82]

Nothing unusual happened prior to this, it just suddenly started for no apparent reason.  I can back up files, but only one folder at a time, after that, task manager crashes each time. Hopefully reinstalling works.

[Amagi82]

Windows Vista will not reinstall no matter what I try.  I'm trying to format the disk and install XP now.

[Amagi82]

Unbelievable... XP won't install either. It goes through the whole format and install process up until the first reboot, then it just goes right back into the initial setup process- it never proceeds to phase 2. I'm wondering if it could be some sort of hardware issue.

[GX1_Man]

Derails about the computer, age, and what CD/DVD you have to work with are in order. Did you install Vista originally? If so, is it a real version that says Microsoft all over the disk?

[bayern]

Thr mother of all solution to Windows's craps.

--Ditch Windows and start using Mac or Linux. 

B.

[Amagi82]

Derails about the computer, age, and what CD/DVD you have to work with are in order. Did you install Vista originally? If so, is it a real version that says Microsoft all over the disk?

New computer, only bought it a couple months ago. Vista was the first OS installed. Windows is on a DVD-RW disk, but was properly authenticated.

Asus P5LD2 motherboard
512mb nVidea graphics card
Samsung DVD-RW drive
1x~350 gig harddrive
1x~500 gig harddrive
1x~500 gig external harddrive

I may try linux if I can't get any windows versions to load here. I'm starting to think it may be some sort of hardware failure.

[GX1_Man]

Only 2 months old? It surely has a warranty. Where did you purchase it? Have you contacted them? How did you come up with Vista on a DVD-RW? I don't believe Microsoft sells them that way.

[Amagi82]

I bought it off ebay.  Good call on the warranty thing- It has a 3 year warranty and free tech support. I'll have to give them a call tomorrow if I get off work early enough.

[GX1_Man]

How did you come up with Vista on a DVD-RW? I don't believe Microsoft sells them that way.

When things get FUBAR'ed that early in a machine's young life, the problem may be hardware and you are not expected to try to remedy that.

[helper]

em i the only one who see's the problem here? he bought it off ebay, on a DVD-RW? Mabye its a PIRATE?

[Amagi82]

How did you come up with Vista on a DVD-RW? I don't believe Microsoft sells them that way.

When things get FUBAR'ed that early in a machine's young life, the problem may be hardware and you are not expected to try to remedy that.

Any idea how to verify that? Or narrow it down to which part is malfunctioning?

[Amagi82]

em i the only one who see's the problem here? he bought it off ebay, on a DVD-RW? Mabye its a PIRATE?

Aaaarrgghhh matey! A pirate it may be. With wooden peg leg and eyepatch.  That doesn't explain however, why it worked perfectly for months then suddenly quit, refusing to reinstall even on a formatted drive, and why other versions of windows refuse to install either.

[Amagi82]

Problem solved!

It was a faulty ram chip. I talked to tech support and he recommended removing one of the ram chips since I have 2, and seeing if anything changed.  Works just great now, and best of all, it's covered under warranty- I just have to send the chip back and they send me a new one.   Now, I just wish I had known this before I axed windows and lost a lot of my data and settings. heh

[patio]

Exercise that warranty pronto...

You could run the HDD manuf. diagnostics on that drive to determine it's well being...

How did you format that drive and did the operation complete itself ? ?