hardware?
well, we had discussed using the admin tools to look for errors in the log and there was plenty. we came to the conclussion it could be my keyboard(it's a UBS programmable keyboard). when i tried to install drivers for it, it said that there was a missing entry and an invalid INF file or something along those lines and something to do with it being made for windows 95 or later. when i downloaded the drivers off the website and tried to install them, the installation didn't find the keyboard.
edit: also should note that in the device manager, the keyboard turns up a yellow !, but when i uninstall it using the device manager, it disappears from the task manager completely, not really leaving me a way to install the drivers.
Edit again: here's the exact windows message:
The driver installation device is missing a necessary entry. This may be because the INF was written for Windows95 or later. Contact your hardware vendor. i also tried a new keyboard but same problem.