DirectX not working on new Pavilion Elite e9290f with Win 7

[adubca]

Just bought a brand new Pavilion Elite e9290f. While mine is not suffering from the BSOD issues of earlier builds of this model - I have another issue that I haven't seen reported elsewhere, which is that I can't get ANY game that uses DirectX to run on this machine. 

Problem:

-Any game that uses DirectX will not load.

-All games from Stream try to install Directx and hangs. 

-All non-Steam games won't launch.  No error code - just nothing.

System Specs:

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_rtm.090713-1255)

BIOS: BIOS Date: 10/29/09 10:04:56 Ver: 5.24

DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260

Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um

Driver File Version: 8.17.0011.9562 (English)

Driver Version: 8.17.11.9562

Driver Attributes: Final Retail

Driver Date/Size: 11/20/2009 18:34:54, 11775080 bytes

What I've already tried:

-Ran the dxdiag untility in 32 and 64 bit modes - both report that DirectX is working properly.

-Downloaded and installed the Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtime update.

-Downloaded and installed the most recent video driver from NVIDIA.

-Disable antivirus

-Disable Firewall

-Run without unsigned drivers allowed

-Run from safe mode

Thus far, none of this has helped.  Its a brand new machine with nothing else installed on it other than Office and Outlook.  I'm a knowledgeable user who over 25 years PC experience and have built my own machines - and I'm totally stumped.  Any ideas would be most appreciated.

[cnfrisch]

Try the following.  Type CMD in Windows 7's Search programs and files box and right-click on the CMD icon that appears and select Run as administrator.  In the resulting Command Prompt window type SFC/ SCANNOW and press the Enter key.  This process will check the integrity of the operating system files and replace any missing or damaged files.