Ok so for some reason the problem corrected itself. at the same time i reinstalled java i reinstalled flash and when i erased them both i ran a registry clean. Keep in mind i did this before but only for java. So I did both this time... and all of a sudden my menus were sort of working... (i would hold the menu open for several seconds and the contents would appear. Then i went back and tried all of the troubleshooting you guys listed in other posts and voila changing compatibility mode to windows 2000 finished off the fix.

For those of you guys that are newbies or even seasoned vets, a word of caution. The older your computer the more crap is in there hiding and gumming up the works. I used to reformat once a year to wipe the slate clean and start fresh... After 5 years my old machine is due for retirement I think.

Thanks to all for the help it is greatly appreciated.