You should have received the Hardware Disc's with the computer so you should have all of the Drivers for both XP and Vista if nothing else here.
As I'm not a gamer I'm assuming that the listed Games are actually Vista Compatible meaning that they where either written or rewritten with the modifications for Vista so that they work on Vista.
Some Hardware was not released with XP Drivers or associated software and this is all newer Hardware mainly from places like Dell, HP and so on so these systems will not fully support XP but there that isn't the case so forget it. ;)
As for the DVD Ripping Application you need to get a version that was designed to run on Vista quite a few of these applications do not support Vista so you need to either look at a different product or a newer version of the same product that has been rewritten to work on Vista. With any program you need to look at the Minimum Requirements for it and if there is no mention of Vista as a OS don't attempt to use that application on Vista. Quite often for things like Games the Makers write Patches and Work Arounds to make their products function on Vista so you would need to look at the makers Web Site for any Updates for their products to make them Vista Compatible if they are not already. Here that Basically means if the Listed Minimum System Requirements do not mention Vista they need Patching or replacing to work correctly on Vista.
Now as this is a relatively new System do you have any Anti Virus Product Installed and working? Is it current or has it expired?
Have you scanned this computer for Infections with your installed AV Product?
If the preinstalled Software is falling over you need to look at what has been changed from when it worked so the easy way is to restore the system to a earlier time when it actually worked though you need to understand that anything you have installed since will be lost though your Data will remain Intact. But even then you should Backup all your Data before proceeding any further.
If you are not storing anything on this computer like Documents and or E-Mail but are relying on the Cloud to Secure all your Data you can then do as you please though you should make a list of any User Names & Passwords that you require so that when you get it working again you can still access your Data.
You should also have received a Windows Vista Install DVD from the system Maker here so in the worst case Scenario you can use that to reload the system and then proceed to install any Software required. But as previously suggested make sure that everything is Up to Date first as that alone may cure the problem. So visit the Hardware Makers Web Sites and download and install the newest Drivers and associated software for things like the Video Card, Sound Card, and whatever else is fitted. Just for the moment ignore BIOS Updates as they should only be used to fix problems with the M'Board correctly Identifying HDD Capacities and CPU's.
Col
