Losing some functions

So I'm getting some very strange (and minor) problems with my new Vista x64 machine. I am unable to access some basic things like changing the screen saver, viewing network status, or turning on/off windows firewall. When I click on the buttons to run these things, nothing happens at all. Like I said, its all very minor stuff and my system is very stable.

So I tried opening msconfig to see if a service was turned off. But when I clicked on the program, nothing happened. I've also noticed that now I cannot right click -> properties on some things. So I ran a virus scan (AVG) and it came up totally clean. Now I'm starting to worry.

So I've done a sfc from the command prompt and came up with an unrepairable file:

Cannot repair member file [l:32{16}]"comctl32.dll.mui" of Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls.Resources, Version = 6.0.6001.18000, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture = [l:10{5}]"en-us", VersionScope neutral, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:6595b64144ccf1df}, Type = [l:10{5}]"win32", TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2008-07-14 08:31:29, Info CSI 00000275 Hashes for file member \SystemRoot\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft.windows.c..-controls.resources_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.6001.18000_en-us_2b39bc68206382b3\comctl32.dll.mui do not match actual file [l:32{16}]"comctl32.dll.mui" :
Found: {l:20 b:2+OSRbf83erD1b4qj8P7YLv7vkk=} Expected: {l:20 b:IWf153kMlEJUOV14Wd1PkC0vxJM=}


The really strange part is that I'm running a QX9770 Intel Extreme, not an AMD.

Could someone help me out with what my options are at this point? I've tried system restore but I get an error everytime I try to run it:
"Invalid access to memory location. (0x800703e6)"

My system is very new so a clean install of Vista is an option, but I'd like it to be my last resort.

Any help at all would be appreciated.

The only thing that comes to mind that can cause these symptoms you describe is a virus of some sort, so I'd suggest uninstalling AVG and using an alternative, like Avast!, which picks up items that AVG does not.

I've just now a few minutes ago removed AVG from a computer that "reported clean", but when I ran Avast!, it picked up several files as infected that AVG never scanned.

I'll try that and update this thread. Thanks!

Besides viruses, there are spyware, adware, trojans, all kinds of malware that can cause things like this. I run LavaSoft Ad-Aware, SpyBot Search & Destroy, and SuperAntiSpyware on machines I normally service. All are free and can be found easily under those name by a google search of the internet.

I ran Avast but nothing came up in the normal search. I did another deep scan on just the windows folder with scan archives selected. No infections reported but I did get several "Unable to scan: CAB archive is corrupted" in "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\.."

Any other tips?

Have you tried running chkdsk? Right click the drive in Explorer, select Properties, click on the Tools tab and click on Check Now button.

"Properties" is one of the functions I've lost on most things, hard drive included.

I did, however, do a chkdsk from the command line (thank god that still works). I didn't see any errors when I ran it though. I could try running it again and watching it this time.

Or you can look at the results of the last run. The location of the chkdsk log for WinVista:
It is in the Vista Event Viewer. type EVENTVWR.MSC in the search dialog at the bottom of the Start Menu and hit the Enter key, reply to the User Account Control prompt, in the left pane click on Windows Logs, then under that click on Application. Next click on the Source column of the middle pane to sort all items by Source. You will be looking for the Wininit entries in the list. The log may also be under Source = Chkdsk when the disk check is user initiated.

Thanks for that tip, Lee. Ok, according to the log, the chkdsk, there are no bad sectors but it did "correct" errors in the Volume Bitmap. Hmmm....?

I consider myself pretty computer savvy, but I'll admit that I'm lost from here on out. More help would be greatly appreciated!

Well, I was able to find this MS Knowledge Base article which tells a little bit about the volume bitmap, but it may not be all that clear:

How to locate and correct disk space problems on NTFS volumes in Windows XP
How to locate and correct disk space problems on NTFS volumes in Windows XP

I assume it applies also to Vista.

quote from that article:

NTFS File System Corruption

In very rare circumstances, the NTFS $MFT or $BITMAP metafiles may become corrupted and result in lost disk space. To identify and fix this issue, run the chkdsk /F command against the volume in question. Toward the end of chkdsk process, you receive the following message if the $BITMAP metafile needs to be adjusted:
Correcting errors in the master file table's (MFT) BITMAP attribute. CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap. Windows has made corrections to the file system.