Some bad things got installed on the laptop, so I had a choice.  I could spend several hours getting it all cleaned off and working right again, or I could just do a format and reinstall that I'd been thinking about anyway.  I've decided to go with the latter option.  I think I've got everything backed up now, so it's time to start reinstalling windows.  Now I'll finally be rid of some of the crap that Dell installed on it before I got it.  (There's always a bright side.)