[dclark]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned, but is worth mentioning, is User Account Control (UAC). What is yours set to? If it's at the highest level, try setting it down one notch.

To access UAC, open your Control Panel and choose "User Accounts". Then, under "Manage changes to your user account", the bottom item should be "Change User Account Control Settings". If you click on that, it'll open a new window with a vertical slider control. If it's at the top ("Always notify..."), drop it down one notch to "Only notify me when..." and click "OK". If it's already below the top, then there's no need to change this, just click "Cancel" and close the User Accounts window.