Windows 7: Win 7 isn't working right AT ALL

Man, can somebody please tell me they have Windows 7 64-bit working properly, and make me feel a bit better about buying it? At the moment it looks like I'm stuck with a bunk OS and am out $200. I'm not happy at all.....

Here's a summary of the main problems I'm having:

System restore doesn't work - I make a save point, but it doesn't see it when I try to restore. I had XP Pro before 7, and the restore function didn't work on that OS either.

IE 8 32-bit doesn't work, it freezes after viewing a page for about 20 seconds. The 64-bit works fine, but I want to use the 32 bit if I can, mainly because I use roboform and that doesn't work on the 64 bit browser.

My surround sound only works if set up as a 2 speaker system.

No video files will play at all. Regardless of the type of video, they give the same error "server execution failed"

I use Impulse, from Stardock, which is basically a service like Steam. Impulse runs, but only minimized, it won't come up to the desktop. I had the 32-bit version of 7 installed, and it worked fine there.

There's more, but this is all I can think of atm. I've been working on this sh*t since last Saturday, and am starting to burn out. I need to make a list of the problems so I don't forget what they all are. So far I've installed Windows 4 times; apparently there's a lot of software it just doesn't like (like office 2000 & the zonealarm I have), where loading just frags the whole system and forces a reload.

I would really appreciate some help here. Thanks!

Have you tried disabling each of these programs in MSConfig and re-enabling one by one to see if its a specific program? I have installed stuff that wouldn't seem to affect IE, but it caused IE to fail so I uninstalled program. I havent seen any of the other issues your seeing though.

Welcome Scott2010

I have 5 computers with Windows 7 x64 installed. Your problems are not typical of x64.
We may have to get the entire SevenForums Guru Team involved here.
Thanks for filling in your specs. Which version of x64, Home, Pro, Enterprise, Ultimate ? have you tried installing ? Did you do clean fresh installs ? Which of your HD's ? Are you doing a dual boot with your old XP-Pro ?

Have you browsed our tutorial sections yet ?

We thrive on a Trial & Error challenge here at SevenForums.

So this will not be a Mission Impossible

Hi Scott,

64-bit 7 runs great. I'll second that your problems aren't the norm. Right off the bat two things jump out at me: 2GB of RAM running a 64-bit OS, and Zone Alarm.

While you can run a 64-bit OS with only 2GB's, it's less than ideal and Zone Alarm is notorious for crashing... as well as not being very effective: Results and comments - www.matousec.com. You should uninstall that asap.

Windows 7 x64 is perfectly fine. If it was the problem, how would so many people be running it without issue? Let's focus on what could be causing the errors, rather than the OS itself (except for one point).

1. System Restore is a joke, and is one of the first things I disable on any system I use, going back to the XP days. I keep my data backed up properly, and if I would need to spend more than two hours fixing the OS, I'd just as soon as rebuild. System Restore rarely works, leaving you with the same options remaining anyway. Why bother?

2. It sounds like you have a corrupt plug-in installed with IE8. You should have a shortcut for it using no plug-ins on your start menu. Give that a shot. The IE8 x64 version shouldn't be used. I delete the shortcuts for it and don't bother with it.

3. Are you using up to date drivers and/or a sound card that is fully compatible?

4. Again, sounds like a corrupt or missing plug-in for the browser. Do any files play that are stored on your computer? Have you installed any third party codec packs?

5. Did you verify their x64 compatibility, or look into a separate x64 version of the software?

6. Office 2000 should run fine, but honestly, it is ten years old. If you haven't bothered to get a newer version, why not just use Open Office? It is free, and will be much more compatible/feature similar to the newest version of Office than 2000 is.

7. Why even bother with Zone Alarm? You have a very good firewall built-in to Windows 7, and if you combine that with a hardware based one, usually a router, you are fine. You don't need third-party software firewalls anymore.

Have you run any memory testing apps, such as Memtest for 24 hours? How about any hard drive diag tools from the drive manufacturer's website? If you reinstalled several times and still have the issue, that points to either a faulty software driver or app that you keep installing, or a hardware issue.

Did you properly install Windows 7 on the XP computer?
Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 - Help & How-to - Microsoft Windows

I say format the hard drive and do a clean installation.

Man, I had this big update all typed out, answering most of the questions posed, and after I hit submit, IE said it couldn't display the web page & I lost all of it... bummer.

Anyway, I wiped the drive and did a fresh install to just start over. All I've done so far is update windows, got my bluetooth kb & mouse working, and created an image file. So far IE 32-bit seems to be working fine, and those vids play, so I'll be taking baby steps from here, loading one thing then checking everything. Hope the image backup works better than the restore. *knocks on wood*

I should've pointed out I wasn't upgrading from XP, but doing a full install of Win 7 Home Premium. Something I'm loading isn't sitting well with this system; probably a driver since I never even managed to finish getting all the devices working.

Oh, about ZA, I only loaded it after the first installation (Today's install was my 5th), and after it zapped the os I haven't loaded it again. Same with office, it fragged my second install so I haven't tried it again. I'll check out Open Office instead, you know I never even heard of that.

As far as my level of expertise, I worked in computer support for about 10 years, but that was about 5 years ago and the company I worked for had outdated systems. So my knowledge is definitely outdated. When I built this system, about 3 years ago, I never even heard of dual-core processors, water-cooling systems (water in a pc? ack!), and SATA drives. I had some catching up to do, still do I guess

I'll be back later with an update on how it's going... I'm very anxious to find out what exactly I'm loading that's been fragging the system.

Thanks guys!

Make sure you have the latest BIOS version, then reset your CMOS: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

Test your RAM using memtest86 for 5-6 passes or overnight.

Test your HD using maker's full diag/repair CD scan: Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

Once you clear your hardware, clean reinstall from boot after zeroing your HD to rule out infection. Use drivers given by installer and optional Windows updates except for missing drivers or where there are performance issues pinned to driver.

Don't tweak Windows 7 beyond normal settings.

Update: The only things I had left that were common across the last installs was to update the video & sound drivers, and dl the rest of the critical Windows update, about 21 or so I think. So I imaged the drive first, then dl'd the updates...

Now, my video cards are are knocked out in device manager, giving this error:

Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source. (Code 52)

Also knocked out are a mass storage controller, saying the driver isn't installed, and a mysterious 'unknown device'.

I restored from the image, and all those updates are gone, but the devices are still knocked out. My next step may be to do another restore, but select the option to reformat the partition as well. If that works then I'll just install the updates a few at a time and try to narrow it down.

I may keep messing with those drivers first and try to fix them, but what can I do about the unknown device?

Edit: Just restored from the image, redoing the partitions and all, and it still failed to restore those devices back to normal. Dammit.... Guess I'll try and fix 'em manually, starting with the video cards since they should be easiest.