Windows 7 Will Not Play Anything Video Related After Kb253355 Install 2

i have suddenly developed problems with my win 7 after installing software, specifically the aforementioned update. at present, i can not use skype (i get the 0xc0000034 error), any torrent downloaders, play video on Internet, etc, and the flash player crashes in all browser windows (ff, ie) every time. vlc will play video, but no sound, and when i try to access controls, the program crashes, but won't quit the systray, like skype. itunes will load up, but not play anything, and then freezes, and has to be forced to quit. i've done a clean boot, and still nothing was working. i tried to restore twice, but both failed, at which point my save points were deleted as new action had taken place. i checked my device manager. and all hardware is functioning fine. i am currently updating all drivers, but i'm fairly certain it's superfluous. i have disabled my firewall and avg, run spybot, and scanned for virus. all clean. (i've always kept a clean drive). i am soooo close to fragging the drive and reinstalling windows. save my sanity. i have tried to uninstall the patch, but can't. things went to pot after installing kb2533552, and 2534366... running win 7 64 bit, ultimate, v.6.1 (build 7601, sp1) 4 gig ram, triple core amd processor, ati 4770 graphics card, creative sb titanium sound.