cannot run defrag, wordpad, MS search companion (xp sp1)

[drsomewhat]

im having some weird problems that have started a few days ago

first, i got a text box saying that search companion couldnt be found a few days back

then i tried to defrag, and noticed it kept saying that MMC couldnt run defrag and that it might be due to a newer version of either MMC or defrag

i also noticed that wordpad's icon is missing in my start-programs-accessories, and i cant run that either

i have scanned for viruses, nothing shows up in norton 2005 - ive tried to run windows update so i can get SP2 to see if that fixes this, but it wont even load up the update site anymore... (this is a legal oem version of win xp, btw)

gives me this error # when i run win update: Error number: 0x8007045A
i search for that, nothing comes up

Any ideas before I consider reformatting?

[SavageBasher]

You can run wordpad by going to run and typing wordpad. I always use that for wordpad, paint (mspaint), command prompt (cmd), and calculator (calc).

How long has it been since you reinstalled? If its over 4-6 months I'd just backup all your documents and do a clean install.

[drsomewhat]

yeah i havent reformatted in a long time, nor did i want to... oh well

why would this happen so randomly though?

[Redstone]

Do you have Norton ghost? Might try loading image from back before things started going haywire.
Do you tend to tweek things a lot? Sounds like you have some pretty serious registry problems. You might as well start clean again.

[redduc900]

Gives me this error # when i run win update: Error number: 0x8007045A
Try installing the latest XML Parser, downloadable from the MSDN site here...

Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) 3.0 Service Pack 5 (SP5)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4a3ad088-a893-4f0b-a932-5e024e74519f&DisplayLang=en
I got a text box saying that search companion couldnt be found
Log on to the computer by using an account with administrative privileges. Click Start | Run | Type %systemroot%\inf, and click OK | Locate the Srchasst.inf file, right click and select "Install". This reinstalls the files that the Search Companion requires.
I tried to defrag, and noticed it kept saying that MMC couldnt run defrag and that it might be due to a newer version of either MMC or defrag
Visit...

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm ...and scroll down to Item No. 291 (Restore Defrag Snap-In).
Wordpad's icon is missing in my start-programs-accessories
WordPad.exe is located in "C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories"...just copy/paste it from NT\Accessories into Start | All Programs | Accessories. Under the "WordPad Properties" | "Shortcut" tab | "Target" field should read...

"C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad.exe"

In the "Start in" field, you should have ...%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%. The WordPad icon is located in the executable...

C:\Program Files\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad.exe