Repairing Thinkvantage Tools

[howelln]

I have a ThinkPad Edge 15 (0301-J9U) running Windows 7. Last week my antivirus tool AVAST advised me to remove 2 web tool bars that I didn't even know I had, and since then I have had tons of problems. I was able to fix most by reinstalling the broken application (AOL, Firefox), but now it seems to have brolen the ThinkVantage Tools, including Rescue and Recovery. I can't get any of the tools to start. I was thinking of reinstalling Rescue and Recovery so I could recover my machine to an image from last week (or prior), but the Lenovo web site says that to be able to use your previous RnR backups you have to start RnR and copy the files to bootable media. Problem is, I can't start RnR.

Second problem, The Microsoft Office Starter programs that came with the system now won't work either. Anyone know how to reinstall those?

PS - I tried using older Windows Restore points, but they fail everytime.

Thanks for any assistance