Internet Explorer and Google will not open

rocknroller said:

Internet Explorer and Google will not open
Hi, I am running win 7 ultimate w service pack1 on an Asus board with 2x2gb ddr2 ram.
Apparently some type of software problem has occurred because I cannot get Internet Explorer or Google to open. Also there is no audio.

The following is what I can see:
1. The machine will boot (1 beep) up into desktop but only a few of the icons are responsive. Most of them say "https://www.the named site.com (application not found)
2 I get a error message under AsVistaAudioControl saying "Get interface IMMDevice failed" which I assume to be related to the audio issue.
3.As to the other issues I think that a repair/install is probably the easiest and best solution as I have found the following information on your site:

How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7
Published 02 Feb 2009

I have been running the win 7 program for about 2 years and it is activated but I do not know where the installation disc or key is.

I need to save all of my files, programs, etc. that have been accumulated so the repair/re-install needs to be done while maintaining these files.

The machine will connect to the internet but the only way I can access it is through another browser named "Torch". I can type in what I am looking for and usually get to the site I need, but the Torch browser seems to be loaded with a lot of junk such as babylon, which is worse tham a plague.

I would really appreciate any help I can get as these problems are playing havoc with me.

Thanks very much.....rocknroller (Lamar Bailey)

Sometimes it helps to go back to the basics. Malware can cause the issues you've described. You might want to give Windows Defender Ofline a try. This is a free standalone, bootable malware and virus remover from Microsoft that performs an offline scan (before the computer even boots into Windows.) It checks for and removes viruses, rootkits and other advanced malware. Two important considerations:

1. The bootable disk should be created on a machine that is known to be without malware. If the disk is made on machine that does have malware, the disk and/or scan won't work right.
2. The machine used to create the disk must be the same architecture as th infected machine. ie: if the infected machine is running a 64-bit version of Windows 7 then the machine used to create the disk must also be 64-bit.

Windows Defender Offline

By design, a Repair Install will preserve your user accounts, data, programs, system drivers, etc. Once the Repair Install is finished, you'll have to revisit the Windows Update site. Microsoft recently released a Windows 7 hotfix rollup which installs the first 90 or so Windows 7 updates. Once the rollup is installed you can visit the Windows Update site for the remainder of the updates.

A hidden Patch Tuesday gem: A Windows 7 hotfix rollup

My personal suggestion: do not use the automatic update feature. If an update hoses your computer you wont have any idea which one it was. I start with the critical updates. Manually select he first 5 or 10 to install and keep track of their KB numbers. After installing, reboot and make sure the computer is working OK. If it is, install the next group, reboot, check the computer. Keep doing this until all critical updates have been installed. Then move on to the important updates and manually install in groups of 5 or 10. If an update causes problems, you'll know exactly which group the update is in. Uninstall all of the updates in that group and install just one at a time. Reboot after each update. They'll either all install without issue or you'll know which update is the problem. Save it for last.

Step 4 of the Repair Install tutorial in your original post has a link to obtain an official installation disk ISO. Download and save the ISO file to your desktop. (If I remember correctly it's about 3GB so it will take a while to download. And your blank disk will need to be a DVD.) Right-click the saved ISO file. Depending on which burning software you're using, you should see a prompt to "burn to disk", or "burn disk image", or something similar. Once the burn is finished you will have a full install Windows 7 w/SP1 disk.

Burn Disc Image - ISO or IMG file

As to the Product Key (the 25-digit number needed to reactivate with Microsoft) there's another free tool called Belarc Advisor. It should be able to retrieve that Key along with a lot more info about your computer.

Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit, for software, hardware and security configuration information on your computer. Software license management, IT asset management, cyber security audits, and more.