Occam's razor still works

[canuckledragger]

5. If something like that happens again, try creating a new account.

Your original account stays as is, and there's easy ways to move the stuff you created (pictures, resumes, etc) to the new account, provided that it's an administrator account with full access.

Having worked tech support, both on and off of the phone, I've run into that kind of thing before. Reinstalling windows should be a last resort.

Also, as long as you have the original software, whether it's on a disk or just a downloaded app (the installer) and/or the security keys used to activate said software, you won't lose it.