A few upgrade issues.

[Teekz]

Hello, all. Last night I performed an in-place repair upgrade on my PC with Windows 7 Ultimate x64, to repair some errors which could not otherwise be fixed.

All seems to have gone well with the upgrade (aside from the fact that I need to reinstall a few drivers, which is to be expected. ), except I seem to have run into one bug which has confused me.

Basically, when I right click an icon on the taskbar, none of the buttons on the "Tasks" menu works. For example, IE9 has "Start InPrivate Browsing" and "Open new tab", Google Chrome has "New Window", etc. I have tried multiple programs, some of which were pinned to the taskbar, others which were not, and none of the buttons seem to work.

I use these menus quite often, so would like to restore functionality to these buttons if possible. A clean installation of my OS would have to be an absolute last resort for me, as I have a lot of program files etc which I don't have the time to reinstall.

Just to clarify, I upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 to Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1, so I didn't change OS.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom.

 

[Teekz]

Update - I just ran "sfc /scannow" in an elevated command prompt window. Alas, no integrity violations were found. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[Wallonn7]

Hi Teeks.
Use Taskbar Context Menus - Enable or Disable tutorial.
This order:

1. "Disable_Taskbar_Context_Menus.zip".
2. "Enable_Taskbar_Context_Menus.zip"

Hope that helps.
Let us know the results.

 

[Teekz]

That didn't help, as that disabled the right-click menu on the actual taskbar. My problem is with the right-click menu of programs. I've posted a screenshot of the right-click menu for Google Chrome, and circled the buttons that aren't working in red. It's the buttons in the Tasks section that don't work, for all of the programs I have tried so far, not just Chrome. Sorry if I worded it badly before.

 

[Wallonn7]

All seems to have gone well with the upgrade (aside from the fact that I need to reinstall a few drivers, which is to be expected. )
( ... )
Just to clarify, I upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 to Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1, so I didn't change OS.

You reinstalled Windows over the previous installation. I got it wrong?
Have you used a slipstreamed Windows 7 SP1 DVD? See below. Source.

 

[Teekz]

Yes, I reinstalled the same OS using the upgrade feature on the installation DVD, essentially reinstalling it whilst leaving my programs etc intact, as explained in the following tutorial: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

I didn't use a slipstreamed DVD, I used a retail SP1 DVD.

 

[Wallonn7]

Some programs have an option to repair the installation - Uninstall or change a program - the old add / remove. Have you tried it? If no, unpin them before do it.

 

[Teekz]

Yes, I've also tried entirely uninstalling and reinstalling a program, but the buttons still do not work. It seems to be an error with Windows, more than with any programs.

I think I might try another repair upgrade tonight, just in case it fixes it this time.

Do you have any more ideas?

 

[Wallonn7]

No. I ran out of ideas. Sorry.
Well, unpin any program before do a repair install again.
Good luck!

 

[gregrocker]

Did you try uninstalling Google Chrome then reinstalling it after a reboot?

In this case I think it would be good to use Revo Uninstaller in Advanced mode so you can get any residual registry keys Chrome leaves behind - it's not that great of a download citizen.

Revo Uninstaller - How To Completely Uninstall Programs

If this works then we can work on IE9 next.

There can be anomalies with Repair Installs, which in the past I've only been able to solve with the clean reinstall. It transfers settings but has to sort corrupt from customized which enters a grey area.

 

[Teekz]

I tried uninstalling a different program, then reinstalling it, and the problem still occurs. Plus, Chrome and IE9 are just examples that I gave, every single program which I've tried so far (quite a few) all have the same issue, which leads me to believe that it isn't an error with any specific applications. I plan to try another repair installation tonight, to see if the same bug happens again. Any other suggestions are appreciated, if you have any.

 

[Teekz]

Right, I've done another repair upgrade, this time unpinning everything from the taskbar beforehand, just in case it made a difference. Alas, the problem still occurs.

A clean installation must absolutely be my last resort, it's really not an option at the minute.

So, does anyone else have any ideas? Perhaps it could be a permissions error, or something to do with the registry? My best guess is as good as anyone's.

If you mean a system restore point, a repair upgrade deletes them all, unfortunately.

 

[Brink]

Hello Tom,

You might see if resetting the jump lists may be able to help.

 

[Teekz]

Unfortunately the buttons still don't work after trying that and then restarting, Brink.

Although, before I didn't know that they were called jump lists, and also didn't know that they were the same buttons as in the start menu. I tried the jump list buttons in the start menu, and they don't work either, in case that helps give an idea on what the issue may be.

Thanks for all the help by the way, everyone. It really is appreciated, as always.

 

[gregrocker]

It's likely going to be registry keys then.

Clean reinstalls are nothing to be afraid of, especially when the goal is to get a perfect reinstall from which you can save a baseline Win7 backup image so that you never have to reinstall again.

Here's how: Reinstalling Windows 7

 

[Teekz]

I will perform a clean installation at some point if I have to, but I just can't at the minute. I have a lot of program files which I use on a regular basis (A-Level work, etc), which will take a very long time to reinstall. I'd rather just live without the jump lists for a while, if that's what it takes.

Thanks for all the help, guys. I'll report back here if I make any progress with the situation.

 

[Teekz]

Just a few updates, I performed a clean boot, and the problem still exists, so I don't think it's a program causing the issue. Also, I created a new Administrator user account, and the problem exists within that account as well, so it's not to do with my user profile.