Vista will not run any programs

Hello, I was wondering if anyone knows what is wrong with my laptop.. Recently my roommates and I got Left 4 Dead, and while playing it would constantly crash to my desktop. It wasn't that big a deal because I could just get back on, but when I shut my computer off, it seemed to have corrupted something, as now I can't do anything on it.

One of my roommates had the same thing, where after a restart his screen was messed up, but he was able to clear the problem by installing new graphics drivers.

I uninstalled mine and reinstalled new ones, but that didn't fix the problem. I tried it again, but I couldn't get on the internet to get new drivers, so it's using the crappy basic ones.

I don't know if this is the right place, and you probably need more info, so feel free to ask me more. Thanks.

Edit: Computer Specs
Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor at 2.5 GHz
(6 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB, 64-bit CPU)
3GB RAM
15.4” WSXGA+ (1680x1050) TFT display
160GB 7200RPM hard drive
256MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M graphic processing unit
CD writer/DVD writer (dual layer)
10/100/1000 on-board Ethernet and 56K modem
802.11a/b/g/n integrated wireless

Edit 2:
I have tried to run a chkdsk, but it will not run at startup (just goes straight to logon). I have been following tutorials around this site, but to no avail. I think I'll give it a few hours then try again and check back here, otherwise... happy Thanksgiving.

This is what I would do:

1.- Uninstall video & audio drivers on Safe Mode... Restart

2.- Once on Desktop, run a registry cleaner to get rid of any remmants of those drivers.

3.- Download latest drivers for both audio and video... Use a friend's internet since you seem unable to browse at the moment.

I doubt that your drivers come with PhsyX drivers as well but if they do, uninstall them on safe mode as well.

Try to use the native resolution of your screen in-game as well. Depending on how heavy is this game on requirements, keep everything as low as possible. Check your temps.

Alrighty, so I went in and removed my drivers then reinstalled new ones, and when I started it up again and tried to open a program, my desktop disappeared and I see the little loading icon where the mouse is, and my computer will not respond. CTRL ALT DELETE does not work, etc.

So I don't think it's a problem with my graphics or audio drivers, although I was looking at the L4D forums and that seemed to be a common issue.
Earlier I tried to open SpyBot S&D, but I got a little bubble that said the file path was corrupted, and the same thing happened for a few other programs.

Any tips/suggestions on getting chkdsk to run to see if it catches anything and fixes it? I have tried several times to go into my CMD prompt and type chkdsk C:/f or /r, it says it's in use and cannot be checked, so I say yes to let it run next startup, and every time I restart it after that it goes straight to log in.

Hit F8 on startup before the windows starts loading and go into command prompt and run check disc there.

When I hit F8 it doesn't give me the option to just run the cmd prompt, only safe mode with it.