Win98 Multimedia Problem

Hi All... I started my machine (Win98 fully updated) and experienced:
loss of mouse, display auto changed to 640X480 resolution that could
not be changed. Prior to this the PC had been flawless and no known
changes had been made prior to the problem. The following was tried:

1. Device Manager: No problems found.
2. Registry Checker: No problems found.
3. Full virus scan (Avast fully updated): Nothing found.
4. Scandisk : Nothing found.
5. Spyware Doctor (fully updated): A few low risk cookies found.
6. SFC: Nothing found.

I have resolved the above noted problems but during the process, I
discovered the following (which were all fine the last time I used
them):

1. First time each session the opening of Control Panel causes Explorer
fault in Kernel32.dll. I cannot identify a cpl file which causes this.
However, running mmsys.cpl will not do anything even after a new copy
is extracted.
2. The Multimedia and Sounds icons are missing in Control Panel.
3. DirectX sound tests fail (Error codes Ox88780078 and 0x80004005).
4. Real and Windows Media Players do not work. Microsoft help for the
error codes state they are working on the problem.

What I've tried:

1. Ran Sound Blaster's Diagnostic Utility (Dos based): All Passed
2. Uninstalled and reinstalled Windows Multimedia: No improvement.
3. Reinstalled DiectX: No improvement
4. Uninstalled sound card drivers and reinstalled: No improvement.

Any and all ideas welcome...