anomolous behavior

System:

hp zv6005us notebook
AMD 64 Athlon 3200+, 1990MHz
ATI Radeon xpress 200m
512MB ram
74.52GB hard drive
Windows xp sp2,v.5.1.2600
Bios v.F.1B

This is my 1st computer, up since 6/05, and I am a new user.

My computer is showing 4 anomalies that have stymied technical support and the few expert users I know. HP tech support suggested re-installing Windows, and I almost did that, until I read an article that explained that this is frequently off-shore tecnical support's answer to almost anything. I tried to repair Windows with the OEM disc, but the repair function that I had read about is not available.

I am grouping these anomalies together, because for all I know they could be related or symptoms of the same problem.

1. When I install a plug and play device (say a music player), the "Found New Hardware" balloon and corresponding icon appear in the notification area. As soon as the "Your Hardware is Installed and Ready to Use" balloon pops up and fades, the icon disappears (the device appears correctly in My Computer). The only ways I know of to safely remove the device is to turn off my computer and uplug it or to uninstall it from the device manager.

2. The Desktop appears with a task pane on the left side of the screen, as though it was a folder window! Otherwise the Desktop seems to function normally, except that I can't seem to move icons around (I get the slashed circle when I try, even though I have disabled the align to grid, and other icon arrangement options); icons still can be deleted and created. Whatever background picture I select extends only as far as the task pane. Application and folder windows can be viewed fullscreen, however.

3. The miniature icons on the quick launch bar keep morphing into different icons, often representing recently used programs, though the programs associated with the position of the icons do not change. Also, I am not able to shift the positions of the quick lauch icons, as I could previously.

4. Whenever I try to enter the Windows firewall to check that its settings haven't changed (I have disabled it since I get Macafee firewall for free as an AOL subscriber), I get a "Due to an unidentified problem, Windows cannot display Windows Firewall settings" message.

I'd appreciate any ideas the members have for resolve any or all of these problems.