icons dissapear on some sort of random basis

ChrisKlein · 23 May 2012

Arc said:

Actually factory restore is as good as a new installation.

I could live with having to reinstall all programs but does Factory Restore erase all data,video,musci and stuff by formatting the HD?

Arc · 23 May 2012

ChrisKlein said:

Arc said:

Actually factory restore is as good as a new installation.

I could live with having to reinstall all programs but does Factory Restore erase all data,video,musci and stuff by formatting the HD?

That is why a repair install was suggested. As you have a windows activation key, you can download the windows 7 iso from the digital river , the version should be the same.

Before performing the repair install, read the tutorial thoroughly at first.

FliGi7 · 23 May 2012

Before you go through a whole repair install, try launching an elevated command prompt and running "sfc /scannow" to see if it finds any corrupted core Windows files. It could be as simple as some corrupt files that it can fix.

Have you installed any themes, theme modifiers, or windows component modifiers on your machine?

ChrisKlein · 23 May 2012

FliGi7 said:

Before you go through a whole repair install, try launching an elevated command prompt and running "sfc /scannow" to see if it finds any corrupted core Windows files. It could be as simple as some corrupt files that it can fix.

might worth a try,does it? Ill do that straight away

FliGi7 said:

Have you installed any themes, theme modifiers, or windows component modifiers on your machine?

no..nothing..I always maintain my OS as vanilla as a fresh baby ass

Arc said:

That is why a repair install was suggested. As you have a windows activation key, you can download the windows 7 iso from the digital river , the version should be the same.

Before performing the repair install, read the tutorial thoroughly at first.

ah..ok...that sounds better now :)...one last question if you dont mind...could there be a language issue as my win7 is a german version ?

Arc · 23 May 2012

In that case, you are to search for home premium German. It is available there, I hope.

Edit : about SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker , it works nice, and solves a large number number of issues. You must have a try.

But, previously I have experienced that usually there is no such fix for your current issue

karlsnooks · 23 May 2012

Chris,
Language will make not difference.

What can cause your problem is the use of one of those super-duper cleanup and speed up your computer programs.

Think back--When did this problem begin to appear? Here the idea is that when you first started using your computer, before you ever installed any software then your system was working. This means you have, either directly or indirectly, caused this problem.

With all of the "corrective measures' that you took, I'm not surprised that you have problems.

Let's see if we can get you back a working system without having to do a factory restore.

Win 7 automatically, without you doing anything, creates System Restore Points.

The idea now is to choose a restore point before this problem started appearing and see if the problem can easily be fixed.

As stated, you have System Restore Points UNLESS you have used a super-duper cleanup,speedup your computer program that did you the "favor" of deleting them.

Here is how to restore using a System Restore Point:

RESTORE TO A PREVIOUS SYSTEM RESTORE POINT
1) WIN | type SYSTEM RESTORE | ENTER | NEXT
| Choose a different restore point radio button | NEXT
2) Show more restore pointscheckbox (lower left)
3) Highlight the desired restore point
4) Scan for affected programs(lower right)make a note of affected programs
5) CLOSE | NEXT | FINISH

WIN = key with the wavy Microsoft flag on top.
==============================================

ChrisKlein · 05 Jun 2012

Arc said:

you cannot reinstall or repair install using those recovery disks;

Turns out that you can

However this highly depends on the manufacturer of the PC.
The german MEDION AG delivers a so called "Recovery Disk" with Desktop PCs but the naming is misleading cause these discs are full fledged Win7 discs.
Once I figured this out it was just a question of throwing the disk in. I was even given the option of RepairInstall but I used the chance to make everything new and fresh...so I clicked Install instead.
An automatic backup of all my data was stored in WindowsOld and after 20 minutes I had a fresh Win7 Install...No hardware check, no serial and no activation hassle...everything automaticly activated while the PC was plugged into internet during install.
This was the quickest and most painless system restore/reinstall I ever witnessed.
Now I laugh about myself cause I thought this would going to be a pain in the ass as often in the past but as I say. It really depends on how customer friendly and restricitve the PC builder is and these germans are exemplary.
Anyway,thnx for bothering with this thing. It really turned out unfixable and it doesnt seem to be related to the registry as I reverted back to a registry file long before the problem started...

karlsnooks said:

Win 7 automatically, without you doing anything, creates System Restore Points.

I stated clearly that I tried system restore but it gave an error on each of the existing restoration points and the action was never finished..so I reverted back to an older registry file but to no avail either...

anyway...fixed with complete reinstall