I even went so far that I installed XP on an old laptop that came with Vista on it long ago.

That machine never ran satisfactorily and finally quit in the way you described. The manufacturer does not supply any drivers for Win 7 or I did not find them, so I went with XP and the laptop now runs perfect, as it should ever have done.

If you have any chance to find drivers for 7, get 7, or get a new computer. Do not mess with Vista any more. The XP route was good for me until now, but I would not recommend it either.