Vista - Right click menu gone

I noticed it today when trying to create a new folder on my desktop. When i right click and scroll down to new the popup area says empty.

I tried to fix it by following directions that i found here and it did nothing.
New Context Menu - Restore Default Menu Items

What caused these options to disappear in the first place? I would really prefer to not have to do a system restore just to get back these menu options.

On another note... why does tell me that firefox is not my default browser every time i use it even though click the button to make it my default browser ever time?
I even went into the default programs list in the start menu and set it as my default browser but still i get the prompt every time i use firefox.

Hello Jay, and welcome to Vista Forums.

If doing all the downloads in that tutorial didn't restore the New context menu, then a System Restore is about the only easier option left.

Check in Internet Explorer, Tools, Internet Options, Programs tab, and uncheck the "Tell me if IE is not the default web browser." box. Afterwards, you may need to set FireFox as the default web browser program with all of it's associations one last time.

Hope this helps,
Shawn