I have already given up and used the 'system restore' disks included with the computer... bad move!! I used the format/restore option as there was nothing extraneous worth saving on the hard drive, and it formatted the HD, and part way through re-installing the OS, it errors out saying it can no longer read the CD drive... So now... if i start in safe mode, I get:
The following file is missing or corrupted: C:\WINDOWS\DBLBUFF.SYS
The following file is missing or corrupted: C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS

And if I restart in normal mode I get:
Missing IFSHLP.SYS
Bad command or file name
Bad command or file name
Cannot find WIN.COM, unable to continue loading Windows.