Solved Vista crashing upon boot

The problem:
I have had this problem for about 3 months now and it has gotten to a point of no return. My machine will load windows and allow me to type in my user profile password, all is well. As soon as the desktop becomes available vista crashes and displays multiple colors (see attached picture).

What I have done so far to attempt to correct the issue with no success:
Ran windows repair
Loaded to a restore point
Ran AVG and Malwarebytes
Lastly, a completely fresh install

Even the fresh install is freezing at this point so I am stumped.

My conclusion:
Is this a hardware issue? Is the card is on its last leg? I have had the graphics card (nvidia 280x) for about 2 years and with the price tag it came with I would imagine it would still be good. Plus the last time my machine was able to load without freezing the machine was on for 2 days with no issues. Any suggestions on where to go from here?

Sounding as if a hardware issue, do this and see if you can save the data : Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek
Post back results please.

I don't need to back up my files. I need my machine to stop crashing.

If you are not concerned about what you have on the hard drive then get an external hard drive and see if you can load your OS onto that and have it operate . If it does, then that would indicate the hard drive is bad on the computer,if you still have issues, then you are down to other hardware issues, Video card ? If you are a gamer , you very well may have " burnt " it up . Do you have a spare one to try ?

I did a fresh reinstall back on the machine and the freezing stopped for about 5-6 reboots. I was running Windows Updates and the freezing came back.

I am looking for an external HD. I'll repost when I am able to find one and see what happens.

Sorry to hear that, hope you can find one . Thanks for using Vista Forums for your computer issues .

After further review, this is a known issue with the nvidia GeForce 280 card I was running. I replaced the card and we are 100% fixed.

Excellent troubleshooting, glad you are up and running.