Date: 03/16/07 (Microsoft Windows)    Keywords: software, microsoft, google

Hello all. I'm about to ask three really dumb questions, but I'm not a computer whiz, so please bear with me.

I just upgraded from XP to Vista. Mistake number one, as I did it by myself.

So... after a rocky installation, I have the following problems:

1) It erased all my software. I can locate things like Word and Excel, but it tells me they aren't configured. Is there a way to do this without re-installing the software? I ask because I'm far away from the installation disks right now (at school, discs are at mum's).

2) My sound isn't working. When I attempt to do anything involving sound, I get the following message: "The computer cannot play audio because the Windows Audio Service is not enabled. Would you like to enable the Windows Audio Service?" And I click 'Yes' and it takes me to the Sound menu. There, it says my VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller is working and enabled. There is no option to enable the Windows Audio Service though... any thoughts?

3) My Windows Live Messenger doesn't work. Apparently the system is stable and running, but I keep getting the following error code when I attempt to log in: "81000314". According to my google search, this might mean that Softpub.dll may have become unregistered. It suggests to register softpub.dll. Any insight into how I might go about doing this?

I appologize if these are really elementary questions... but I'm stumped. I've run available updates and searched the internet and microsoft.com at length, but no one is speaking my language (read: Dumb).

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/ms_windows/77109.html