windows explorer has stopped working...restarting windows explorer

[obiron]

Hi guys,

I have an Acer 6930 running WinVistHomePremSP2. This morning, every single application EXCEPT Internet explorer and control panel result in the error window Windows Explorer has stopped working, Windows is checking for a solution to this problem and then another window saying windows explorer is restarting.

I Installed microsoft updates this morning and have tried coming back to a restore point from a week ago but it has made no difference.

I have been on google/ utube and tried the regedit on WindowsNT->CurrentVersion->shell and have tried downloading the microsoft fix, but because I can't run any applications I cant install Windows Genuine Advantage (I am legit..)

I have recovery disks somewhere in the attic, but I would rather not resort to these as my hard drives are almost full.

I am running sfc now and will report back if it finds anything.

Is there anything else I should try before digging out the restore disks or would an upgrade to Win7 or Win8 (GULP!) solve the problem?

Thanks in Advance

Obiron