[CKW10683]

Hello everyone. After installing SP1 a few days ago, my Windows Sidebar only shows white blocks where the gadgets used to be. But it goes far beyond that with problems like YouTube videos not showing up on their website, Google image search results not displaying, various Java coded parts of websites not working, AIM text not showing up in instant message boxes, etc. Though this series of glitches first began several months ago when I accidently ended a process in the task manager (don't remember which one) and all of these problems showed up the next time I restarted my laptop. But after reverting to a previous restore point, the glitches went away up until I installed SP1.

I've tried reinstalling and upgrading the Java Runtime Environment and that did nothing. I tried the fixes mentioned on this forum about the Command Prompt and the specific .dll files and that did nothing either. The thing that may fix it is restarting the process I accidently ended months ago but I don't even know what should and shouldn't be in the process list. Going back to a previous restore point before installing SP1 will do nothing as all of these problems will most likely come back after installing SP1 again. Anyone ever experience this before and knows how to fix it? I'm dreading the idea of restoring my entire laptop from scratch to permanently fix this .

Laptop in question:
Dell Inspiron E1705 – Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1

[DaveA]

Did you install SP 1 from Windows Update or did you go to the Microsoft site and download and then install it?

[CKW10683]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Did you install SP 1 from Windows Update or did you go to the Microsoft site and download and then install it?

Installed SP1 threw Windows Update. But this set of glitches originated far before installing SP1. Installing SP1 basically woke up the mistake I made and seemingly fixed months ago . I've tried many fixes from this forum and a couple of other places so far and nothing seems to work. So I'm going to try a Repair Install of Vista by creating a custom Vista SP1 Slipstream Installation DVD and see if this fixes my problem. I'll let you guys know how that goes.

How to perform a Repair Install of Vista: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88...all-vista.html

How to create a Vista SP1 Slipstream Installation DVD: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/15...ation-dvd.html

[CKW10683]

Well I created the Vista SP1 Slipstream DVD, performed a Repair Install of Vista and it fixed my problem! It was a simple fix thanks to those tutorials but took over 8 hours in total to create the Slipstream DVD and perform the Repair Install >_<. What surprises me is that this Repair Install actually fixed Vista and didn't make things worse. Unlike Windows ME where performing a similar reinstall would make things a living nightmare. Though that OS was a nightmare to begin with........so this is some proof that while Vista isn't quite as reliable as XP, it sure as heck isn't ME all over again .