Solved Vista will not load after software install

Hi, New to the forum, but not necessaily a newbie.
I installed ActivClient 6.1 (CAC reader sw), on a Dell Inspiron XPS Gen2 laptop running Vista Ultimate SP1. When performing the suggested restart to complete the install, I received this error ""Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause....blah, blah, blah...File: \windows\system32\Drivers\pxHelp20.sys Status: 0xc0000098 Info: Windows failed to load because a critical system driver is missing, or corrupt."
I tried the Vista Repair option multiple times and though it indicated success, I still could not start windows. I then attempted to perform a restore from three separate restore points, each time it stated to reboot as if all was well, but returned the same errors with alternating bad files PxHelp20 or winload. I went to the Vista repair utility command prompt and attempted to run sfc /scannow, but was given "Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service."
I would love to fix this without a wipe and load...any ideas?
snpperhd

How can I do a Vista backup from the Vista Repair Disk command prompt? Just want to save my data in case I cannot repair my Vista installation. Thx.

snpperhd

Update to my situation...
Via command line, I manually removed the 'alleged' bad program (ActivClient), and this has caused a slightly different error. It still indicates a corrupt file, but now it consistently lists "C:\Windows\System32\winload.exe-Status: 0xc000007b". When I installed ActivClient, I noticed it also installed Microsoft Visual C++ 2005, not sure if that could be an issue as well.
I'm using Robocopy to backup some of my data, but I would hate to rebuild this machine. Thanks for any input.

snpperhd

Thanks to all the replies to my post, I have fixed my problem...just kidding, but I did get it fixed. The fifth/oldest restore point was the charm. You would think I would have tried them all first, but after three restore point failures, I didn't. Once I was able to start up in Vista, I ran restore again hoping to save some program re-installations...fortunately I was able to restore to a more current point which had originally failed from within the recovery console.
Although I joke about no replies, I do appreciate this resource and know it has saved me valuable time. For that and future assistance, I thank you all. See you around.

snpperhd