Can't Partition Hard Drive or Upgrade OS

roadapple · 29 Nov 2015

Up until this morning, this 2½ yr. old laptop functioned perfectly.

I had AVG (paid version) for the past year. The subscription ran out and I was getting a message every 10 minutes telling me I needed to enter the License Key or purchase a new one. I uninstalled the program via the Control Panel and was still getting the message. AVG support suggested I used their Removal Tool, 2015 version 64-bit, which I did.

Also when I Right click on the start button and then Left click on Computer and then click on Properties I don't get the properties screen I always got. This AVG Removal seems to have totally screwed up my computer to the point where I can't do anything.

After that and rebooting the message didn't come up but my Office 2010 was totally not working, not even listed in the installed programs list any longer. I tried to reinstall Office 2010 and got an error message telling me to install MSXML v 6.10.1129.0 and when I went to MS it told me to update my computer. I've done all the updates the computer would do, but there are several it says "failed". It gives me a long list of 32-bit updates to install and it won't install any of those either. Also my Internet Explorer quit working. I tried installing Chrome but it tells me that Windows needs an update, which I can't do.

I then tried to upgrade my Windows version to a Win7 Ultimate version I have and I get an error message "Windows could not retrieve information about the disks on this computer".

Since running the removal tool several things are not working on the computer. I can't "restore" the computer.

I even tried to get into Disk Management to Partition my HD and when I click on Computer Management (in Admin tools) I get this error message "This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Please install a program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Programs control panel".

I also tried to install Belarc to get a readout on the innards of the computer and it won't install. I do have an active and working internet connection though.

I've cleared every program on the computer that I installed and it still not operating correctly.

What can I do?

Thanks!

Scott N.

cmmtch · 29 Nov 2015

Hi roadapple (Scott) Welcome to sevenforums :)

When you say you can't restore the computer do you mean doing a system restore to an earlier date? That would be my first suggestion.

Try the methods listed in this tutorial System Restore

Since you have Win7 install media you should be able to boot from it and restore from the "system recovery options" menu.

Once you've gotten that done then use Revo uninstaller Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Uninstall Programs to remove an installed program you don't want. I've used for years with no problems, it's a great tool for removing all traces of a program from your computer.

Good luck

edit: I know this didn't answer your topic question, but the computer has to get back to a usable state before anything else.

roadapple · 29 Nov 2015

When I go to system restore and choose a point I get the following error:

System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer's system files and settings were not changed.

Details:
An error was detected in the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). The problem occurred while trying to contact VSS writers. Verity that the Event System service and the VSS service are running and check for associated errors in the event logs.

cmmtch · 29 Nov 2015

Try this one to see if anything changes System Restore General Troubleshooting to Fix Issues

If no change/resolve problem then this Repair Install

Sorry for just posting links to tutorials, but the people that wrote those know far more than I do about various problems with Win7. I thought about sfc /scannow but wanted to see if maybe booting into the system recovery before actually booting into windows might work. Can't remember for Win7, but I think it can fix issues found in scannow without the cd inserted.

In the end you might end up doing a clean install of Ultimate to move beyond this issue, but you may be able to recover from what sounds like an uninstaller doing more than just uninstalling the desired program.

I'll ask the obvious, if you had one you'd probably have used it, but do you maybe have a backup image around somewhere?

roadapple · 29 Nov 2015

I was able to boot from a Win7 install CD and I'll see how that goes after it's all installed. I have to install the drivers, etc. as well.

Thanks for your help!

Scott N.