Vista - I need some serious help

Ok, I think I'm in pretty deep here with my problem and getting more frustrated by the minute. I'm running Vista 32 home that is up-to-date with all updates, AVG virus protection and IE8. I am pretty computer literate, I am comfortable with regedit and the like.

I saw a post on downloads disappearing and I have the same problem, but it goes much deeper than I've read so far; so I'm posting new here to explain.

I try to download a file, like many others, I've tried many methods of saving to no avail, the icon pops up for a split second and then disappears. I've tried every possible angle of searching for the file but it is never found.

So I've read a few things about UAC, I actually never run it. So that won't solve the problem.

Then I messed with my internet settings, making sure there isn't something checked somewhere that would block a download somehow. Nothing there.

I tried rolling back a week or so to see if maybe one of the recent updates screwed something up as they sometimes do. That wasn't it either.

I've also read something about AVG causing issues, so I tried to uninstall it....this is where I discovered my next problem. Something happened with my program that caused an error that prevents me from uninstalling it, some of you are probably familiar with this error message. I'm not at my home computer right now so I can't copy and paste it here. Basically it tells me no and then proceeds to laugh at my futile efforts to purge it from my hard drive. I tried running in safe mode, tried removing it from the directory in regedit. Nothing worked. I saw something about downloading the AVG removal tool.....but.....I can't download! So that doesn't work either. Am I missing a step in removing it from regedit? Can I now delete the file from my program files without an issue? I just had a thought actually, I have an AVG disk I can try to install fresh and then uninstall. I'll try that when I get home. The more I read into the similar posts, it seems that AVG 8.5 just might be the problem as the majority of people with this problem mention that they are running this virus software, it won't run when I click on the icon and it won't uninstall.

One other thing I tried last night where I found problem number three.
My frustration level was so high last night that I decided to do a factory restore. I have a Dell computer that has a separate recovery drive, most of you know what I'm talking about. So I open that drive and double click on the tools folder, then on the factory image restore icon. It goes through some of the motions, I get the window that lets me know it's reformatting the hard drive, I thought "ok, fresh start, here we go". Unfortunately, it came to a point where I get a small, blank error window that gives me no explanation of the error. So I try another angle; I put the OS disk that came with the computer into the drive and reboot to the CD, go through the motions of picking my language and such, and then I come to the menu where I can choose from several different tools. Everything from system restore, recovery, safe mode, selective startup...etc. So I click on the recovery option and long story short, it sees no backup created anywhere so I can't continue with the process at this point.

And, of course, I'm out of warranty!

I'm about to throw my computer out the damned window.

Hi Christine2187

Are you happy to work in Command Prompt?
If yes. try this:

Run PC Restore From a Microsoft® Windows Vista® DVD


Note:
The following instructions require a Microsoft® Windows Vista® DVD, which includes the Windows Vista disk that was originally shipped with your computer or any Windows Vista DVD displaying the Windows Anytime Upgrade logo . In addition, the Recovery partition must not be damaged.

1. Click Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options window.

2. In the Administrator window, type the following lines, pressing <Enter> after each line.

path d:\windows;d:\windows\system32
d:
CD Tools
PCRestore

3. In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.

4. In the Confirm Data Deletion window, click to select Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition, and then click Next. The message Factory image successfully restored! appears when the process is complete.

5. Click Finish to restart the system.

I will give this a try when I get home later and let you know if it works. Thanks for the help

This did not work, the commands you suggested were not valid in the command prompt.
path d:\windows;d:\windows\system32 (I assumed that semi-colon you have there is supposed to be a colon, that worked to bring up d:.
d:
CD Tools (not valid)
PCRestore

At this point, I think I need to do a manual reinstallation of the operating system, but I can't remember how to do it, it's been so long. (vista 32 home premium)

My computer is a Dell XPS420, last Dell I'll ever buy.

AVG Antivirus and Security Software - Tools download

AVG REmoval Tool

Repair Install For Vista

Vista Repair.

As I said this only works with a good drive.

Check in your Dell manual on how to use Dell recovery DVD's.

This may be of same help:

Clean Install with a Full Version of Vista

I will have to try a clean install tonight. I tried to get the AVG removal tool, but the whole root of my problem here is that I can't download anything.
Thanks again for all your help