IE7 corrupt on vista home basic laptop. Tried sfc /scannow to fix but to no avail.Any suggestions

There is a very long step by step guide on MS Community site . Go to
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/sfc-found-corrupt-files-but-was-unable-to-fix-now/3bb2755f-57d6-401a-aba1-74d1f2c56ae5
and print out then try and see!

Run System File Checker (SFC) to check if Windows Vista system files are corrupted.
1. Click Start, type "cmd" (without the quote) in the Start Search bar, right-click cmd.exe and click run as administrator.
2. Input the following commands and press Enter after each line.
sfc /scannow
Note: There is a SPACE between "SFC" and "/Scannow". This command will take several minutes to complete.
Restart the computer.

1. Go to Start, then to Run, and type in "SFC /SCANNOW" (without the quotes - and with a space between the SFC and the /SCANNOW).

2. Then press Enter.

Note : For VISTA & Windows 7, go to Start and type in the above information, then go to the top of the box and right click on SFC /SCANNOW and select "Run As Administrator"

I've used SFC to repair Windows 2000/2003 servers in the past, it debuted in Windows 2000 and it fixes system dlls. Start > Run > type 'cmd' and 'sfc /scannow'. You will have to insert a Windows XP SP2 cd for it to work (or mount and ISO of XP with a tool like alcohol 120).

If the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder becomes corrupt or unusable, use sfc /scannow, sfc /scanonce, or sfc /scanboot to repair the contents of the Dllcache directory.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/system_file_checker.mspx?mfr=true

Probably some malware or some other form of malicious software, i suggest you go get some anti malware ( i use malwarebytes) software and make sure that isn't the cause

Start>Click on the start search box>type system restore and check on the top if any option like system restore is coming or not. if u see that right click on that option and click on run as adminstrator. it might ask for ur permission. Allow it.

Try to ensure that Windows Installer service is running, or force start it. 1.. Open Run, and type in services.msc then press Enter. Alternatively, go
to Control Panel -> Administrator Tools -> Services.
2.. Locate Windows Installer in the all install services listing.
3.. Verify that the Status is Started. If the Status column is blank,
right click on Windows Installer and select Start.
4.. If you get error trying to force start the Windows Installer service,
try to change the Startup Type to Automatic (default is Manual), and then
restart the computer.

I would suggest you to run SFC scan which would scan for corrupt system files on the computer and replace them.
Steps to perform SFC scan:

1. Click the Start button
2. From the Start Menu, Click All programs followed by Accessories
3. In the Accessories menu, Right Click on the Command Prompt option
4. From the drop down menu that appears, Click on the 'Run as administrator' option
5. If you have the User Account Control (UAC) enabled you will be asked for authorization prior to the command prompt opening. You may simply need to press the Continue button if you are the administrator or insert the administrator password etc.
6. In the Command Prompt window, type: sfc /scannow and then press Enter
7. A message will appear stating that 'the system scan will begin'
8. Be patient because the scan may take some time
9. If any files require replacing SFC will replace them. You may be asked to insert your Vista DVD for this process to continue
10. If everything is okay you should, after the scan, see the following message "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations"
11. After the scan has completed, Close the command prompt window restart the computer and check.

SFC scannow will only restore missing windows files, and the drivers for your cd rom are unique to that laptop. Try visiting windows update first, and see if they offer you the needed drivers. (See here.)
If not, go to the laptop manufacturer's support site and you should be able to download drivers for your model. Save them to your desktop. Then follow the instructions in this guide to update them. (Your windows may look slightly different, the article was written for xp, but instructions still hold.)

I hope this information allows you to resolve this issue. If you need further assistance, please post back with a comment to this thread.
If I've managed to answer your question or solve a problem, please take just a moment to rate this post....thanks!

When you try to use Windows Vista, Windows Vista may not behave as expected. For example, some Windows Vista functions may not work, or Windows Vista may stop responding. This issue may occur if a Windows Resource Protection (WRP) file is missing or is corrupted. To resolve this issue, use the System File Checker tool (SFC.exe) to determine which file is causing the issue, and then replace the file. To do this, follow these steps: 1 Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow. 2 Type the following command, and then press ENTER: sfc /scannow The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect or corrupt versions with correct Microsoft versions.

The "side-by-side" component is associated with the Vista Windows Resource Protection (WRP). You may have a corrupted file in the SxS folder.

To resolve this issue, use the System File Checker tool (SFC.exe) to repair these files.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow/Continue.

2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
sfc /scannow

(The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correctMicrosoft versions.)

This may take some time to run, so be patient.

Hope this fixes the problem.