A chain of problems...starting with check disk.

[JT12]

I have Vista Home Premium. A few days ago I was having problems installing
software for a printer, which would cause a fatal error due to registry
permissions and whatnot. On the third try with HP tech support the issue was
fixed, but somehow, perhaps through some of the questionably complicated work
they had me do with the registries, the visual style Windows Aero was gone.
It is no longer an option under "Appearance Settings," and nothing I've found
has got it to work again; I've checked and re-checked that my computer meets
the minimum hardware settings, and it does. It had been working fine
previously. I was thinking of maybe at least doing a system restore to before
working with the printer software to see if that had to do with it, but in
order to do a system restore I'd have to do a disk check to fix the errors on
my hard drive.

The main problem: The disk check never runs when I reboot, no matter how
many times I schedule it through the regular window or through command prompt.

Advice would be much appreciated. (This is starting to get frustrating!! )

 

[JT12]

I fixed my own problem! This is how to do it:

1. Press F8 at the startup screen with the Windows logo.
2. At the black screen with white text, select "Repair computer" and press
Enter.
- The screen should look like an old Windows normal display with gray boxes.
3. At the box for keyboard layout, make sure "US" is selected. Click on
"Next >"
4. Log on with your usual Windows Vista account username and password.
5. Select "Recovery manager" towards the bottom. Click "Next" or "Ok"
through the windows, and the Recovery Manager should help to fix any errors
on the disk.

From there, I did a System Restore to before I messed with the printer
software and lo and behold, there was Aero! I then re-loaded the printer CD
and, since there had already been some HP printer software on the computer
(possibly from previous attempts to load it), I selected "Add another device"
or something like that, and reset the network connection to the printer,
which is wireless.

Now my drive is free from errors, my printer is connected, and I have Aero
back!