Vista - IE8 Favorites Problem

Hello, just downloaded IE8, and now, seemingly randomly, I can't access my Favorites from the altC or altA bar whatsoever.

even more odd, the Favorites folder has disappeared from My Documents (i reassiged the location to a backup drive previously, but that is still there).

when I try to bookmark something (ctrlD, or click add to favorites) absolutely nothing happens.. no popup, no nothing.

i've tried several things already from changing downloading the fix_fav_il prompt, to resetting folder properties, etc.


ah yes, and i tried uninstalling/reinstalling IE8 already, which didn't help anything
nothing seems to work..

I feel like if the Favorites folder would reappear in MyDocuments, I might be able to figure something out, but it just won't come back!

any help is appreciated, thanks!

under regedit

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User
Shell Folders]

it shows D:\backup\Favorites, which is, indeed, where my favorites are located.

but they don't display in the favorites window or tooldbar anymore?! (IE7 or IE8)

i tried changing the Favorites in the registry to the default
%USERPROFILE%\Favorites
with the small hope that it would create a new Favorites folder for me--to no avail.

i now realize that nothing from the Favorites drop down menu does anything..
Add to Favorites, Add to Favorites Bar, Add Current Tabs to Favorites, Organize Favorites... they all do the same thing--no response at all.

ugh
okay so when I changed the registry and reset advanced settings in IE8, the Favorites folder finally appeared in My Docs, this also enabled me to bookmark websites, and organize favorites (popup menus finally appear).
However,
none of the bookmarked sites appear in either the favorites sidebar or dropdown menu. (they DO appear in the newly created favorites folder, and in the popup of Organize Favorites)

im going crazy with this

okay guys, this is going to seem stupid but i solved the problem i think (for now).
when I changed the the directory of the Favorites to the default in the regedit, it created a new Favorites folder, at first it still wouldn't display any of the bookmarked favorites in the pulldown.
After I restarted IE, copied all my favorites to the newly created folder, and reset all the advanced settings, things finally began to work again (i could see websites in the favorites pulldown)
so I changed the directory to my favorites again, back to my backup folder and it seems to work now.

we'll see how long this lasts.

Can you please be real specific on what you did it the registry so I can fix the problem tool.
Thanks