Thanks, I downloaded the Vista Recovery Disc and then rebooted/ Didn't help. Was on the line with Lenovo support for what seemed forever and after several different solutions didn't work (including restoring past images) they basically said there was nothing I could do and I needed to reformat the computer and lose all my data. Instead, I borrowed a Vista CD from a friend who then INSTALLED it on my computer (instead of just rebooting with it). In addition, his Vista OS is Vista Business (64 bit), while what I originally had was Vista Home (32 bit). So now I have two Windows operating systems on my computer. Still cannot open the files or applications in the original operating system. The computer boots with the new one, but of course without any of my data. Any suggestions how I can resolve this? I thought perhaps to use Windows Easy Transfer to transfer files from one operating system (labeled WindowsOld on my computer) to the new one. Would that work? Thanks for your help, Neal