Hi BluePeter,
As far as updates go, that code appears to have to do with the Windows Update Service (which may well be caused by or at least involve the Registry as Richard suggests). The following article contains the normal fix for it:
Error message when you try to install updates from the Windows Update Web site or from the Microsoft Update Web site: "0x80240016". If that doesn't work, as noted in the article, try to reset the Windows Update components using the following article:
How do I reset Windows Update components? (and I'd try the Mr. Fixit first if you need to go that far).
How did you identify the 60+ Registry problems and what did you do to clean them? Did you use the Registry part of CCleaner despite Richard specifically suggesting that you do not use this? If so, I would recommend you restore the backup copy you made. There's no telling what changes were done or how they affected the system. Maybe they were useful, maybe they were harmless and of no value, and maybe they created problems which may be extraordinarily hard to identify or resolve. We typically recommend against the use of any registry cleaner, booster, optimizer, fixer, or whatever it may be called even if included in another program that is valuable (as is the case here - but the registry changes should not be checked or done). I don't know if this will help with the many problems you listed, but I feel certain that you will be better off with the registry before the changes than the one after the changes.
Where are you making changes to Services and Boot? Are you in msconfig.exe or using Autoruns? While some changes can be made there, there aren't usually very many, they typically don't have much of an effect (I mean a positive effect - the wrong changes can definitely have a very seriously negative effect). It is generally recommended that unless you know precisely what you are doing and the ramifications (e.g., some services which don't seem necessary are actually dependent services for other services that are necessary), you leave both of these areas alone. What is Black Viper and what changes did it/they recommend - if you have a list they provided, please post the recommendations they gave and that you followed.
There is no
one program that will fix all your problems or even address all the underlying issues involving all your listed problems. If there were, they would probably very quickly be as rich as Microsoft. You need different programs for different types of problems and different types of maintenance - and the right one depends entirely on the problem(s) and a situation may require several different ones to deal with different aspects of the problem.
Go to Start / Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Event Viewer and check the system and application sections for errors relating to STacSV64.exe and TVCapSvc.exe. When you find them, double click on the error and then click on the details tab and copy the information there and paste it to your next reply here.
Here's how to use Event Viewer: http://www.petri.co.il/vista-event-viewer.htm. This may help identify what is going on with those two programs.
Also, in terms of those two programs (and perhaps some of the other issues as well),
try a clean boot http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135. If the problem goes away then it's just a matter of tracking down the culprit causing the problem. Follow the procedures in the article. Once found, delete, remove, deactivate, or uninstall it. Once done be sure to reset Vista back to normal status as explained in the procedures. If the problem occurs in clean mode then just restore the system to normal status and reboot - this solution is not going to work.
Boot into Safe mode with networking and see if the problems occur there. Either result helps us narrow down the search for the cause.
To be completely honest, you have so many problems, I'm not sure trying to fix them all individually is worth the time or even going to be effective. Doing so may just reveal other issues that haven't yet been noticed. Richard may well be correct that your registry (and/or your system files) are damaged almost if not entirely beyond reasonable repair. We could get lucky and find it is a device driver, but I have a very hard time believing any driver could cause such a variety of different and sometimes seemingly unrelated problems. But you're certainly welcome to try as they are less radical than what I'm about to suggest.
I'm inclined to suggest that you first try a system repair/upgrade and, if that doesn't work, then a clean install. There are just too many different issues and this is probably the best way to deal with all of them at this point.
If you try and the above doesn't work (including the suggestions from Richard), we'll need to do a system repair/upgrade using the genuine Windows Vista Installation Disk (one you own or one you can borrow from ANYONE). To do this you have to also be able to boot normally. Here's the procedure: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html. Although this will not affect your data, settings, or programs, you should still backup your data before starting just to be on the safe side. You may have a lot of updates to re-install (including any service packs you had to remove). If the version on the system came with SP1 or SP2 pre-installed and the disk is an earlier version, then you'll need to make a slipstream disk as follows: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/151606-vista-sp1-slipstream-installation-dvd.html.
If that doesn't work (or you don’t have the disk), then I'm afraid the only option is a clean install. You can use Knoppix http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html with a good ISO copier like: http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm along with a blank CD. This should give you enough access to the system (if you can't get in any other way and I think you still can at this point) to backup your important data. If that doesn’t work, try slaving the drive to another computer and recovering the data using that other computer to access the disk. Once done, you can do a clean install either using the genuine Windows Vista Installation Disk or the Recovery Disk or the Recovery Partition (whatever process is dictated by your computer manufacturer – you may need to contact them for the procedure and perhaps to get recovery disks). To do a clean install proceed as follows: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_install_03.asp (adapted as necessary by the procedures of your computer manufacturer). Then you will need to re-install all your programs, reset all your preferences, reconfigure your network and email settings, restore your backed up data, run Windows Update with possibly nearly 150 updates pending,...
I hope this helps.
Good luck!
