Solved Issues with Windows 7

[Toraurn]

Hello, I thought perhaps some people with more experience in this matter might be able to assist me in the following matter.

When I pressed change to change what to open a file with, so I could use notepad, the properties windows completely froze, it wouldn't respond. As I tried to close it, I restarted explorer.exe, but the frozen properties was still there. When I tried to restart from the menu, it would just hang at that point, and I had to manually restart from the restart button, instead. Before that, when I clicked to open the file with option... it would not pop up. Additionally, when I open up the start menu after having had to close or restart exolorer.exe , I could not even open things on the right menu like my computer, or even Control Panel, for that matter.

I even tried system restore, but all that did afterward was load to nothing but a blank screen. Even restarting, it did the same thing, so I had no choice but to completely delete the whole partition where Windows 7 was installed and install Windows 7 again. After all that time spent installing Windows 7, checked if the issue would arise again. It didn't. Some time later, when updates after Windows Service Pack 1 were installed (had to power cycle as it stopped at 30% at stage 4 for the Service Pack 1 Update, and even had to power cycle again when Windows Update had stopped at another percentage), the same problem had occured again. I was thinking it was some Windows update that might or might not have caused the issue, but which one, I am not certain which it could be.

I have done a SFC /scannow, but everything showed it was clean. Even an Error check, from before I decided to reinstall Windows 7 had done nothing, either. I have even done a virus scan using Avast, and it has come out clean, so it can't be infections of any kind, all things considered. Even CCleaner wasn't able to fix the issues, despite fixing any registry errors that occured.

Computer update also stopped at 30%, it was still loading, but would not go beyond that, leaving me to have to restart the computer, a third time during updates.
This issue has begun to wear at my patience, and I would like to see what the issue might happen to be, that could possibly be causing the issues.

List of the things I have done to try and fix it.
Fully Deleted and remade Partition for drive C.
Reinstalled Windows 7
SFC /scannow
Virus Scan
Error Check on Drive C
CCleaner

I might have done all that I can, but any help would be appreciated, and I do apologize if this might be in the wrong section.

 

[kado897]

It could be a problem with your RAM. Try this tutorial. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html

 

[Golden]

Hi,

Do you know which Windows Update it is having problems with? Do you know whether Service pack 1 has installed. I'll ask Niemeiro, our update guru, to visit this thread when he gets a chance.

Regards,
Golden

 

[Toraurn]

Hi,

Do you know which Windows Update it is having problems with? Do you know whether Service pack 1 has installed. I'll ask Niemeiro, our update guru, to visit this thread when he gets a chance.

Regards,
Golden

It gave me the message saying it had installed successfully. After the next batch of updates was when the problem started, so I might need to check after the Memtest is finished, to figure out which of the updates might be the cause of the issue.

 

[gregrocker]

Follow these steps to get a perfect reinstall, after wiping the HD with Diskpart Clean command to clear the boot sector of any corruption: Reinstalling Windows 7

In the future when you get a hang, rightclick on the task bar to open Task Manager, order Processes under CPU by clicking on its tab to see if it is being jammed, then rightclick on Process to determine the Service responsible. You can also close the hung Application easier from Task manager.

Then work through these troubleshooting steps using the logs, System Resources, hardware tests, etc. to gather clues and regain full performance.

 

[Toraurn]

Okay, so far, what I did was the Memtest, which showed no errors, at all after seven passes. Right now, reinstalled Windows 7, so I can start fresh and see what might come up that could gradually start causing the issue to arise again. I also did try the Diskpart to clean the HD, but says it couldn't because it was being used, so I went with the DVD installation method, instead.

After the first patch of installations, and restarting without a hitch, I opened up the event viewer, and came across one error at 7:33am, Event ID 7023.

The General Tab saying "The Windows Modules Installer service terminated with the following error: %%16405"

 

[kegobeer]

Do you have any other applications installed?

 

[Toraurn]

All I have installed are Nvidia Graphics Driver 275.33, and NVIDIA update 1.3.5 as displayed in the Programs and Features, as well as the batch Windows Updates and Security Updates that installed.

And three optional updates, KB2607576, KB976422, and the driver update for Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20).

Installed Security Essentials, which I had to restart, which in turn also ended up installing six updates I held off on. But I am doing a full scan with it right now to see if anything might occur. Restarting went without problems.

Also in the event viewer, I got an error message from Kernel-EventTracing saying Session "" Failed to start with the following error: 0xC0000043, and in the Event data, ErrorCode 3221225539.

 

[gregrocker]

How is performance?

Have you gotten driver updates via optional Updates? Are there missing drivers in Dev Mgr?

As given in the steps for a perfect reinstall, install your Programs slowly over time to watch how they affect performance - and keep freeloaders out of Startup.

 

[Toraurn]

How is performance?

Have you gotten driver updates via optional Updates? Are there missing drivers in Dev Mgr?

As given in the steps for a perfect reinstall, install your Programs slowly over time to watch how they affect performance - and keep freeloaders out of Startup.

Performance so far is good. Only Driver update so far was for motherboard, which I mentioned earlier.

Only missing driver it would appear would be for the display interface for my G19 keyboard, according to Device manager.

Finished the scan using Microsoft Security Essentials, also checked Startup and saw the Microsoft Security Client in Startup, and hiding all services in the Services tab, the NVIDIA Display Driver Service and the NVIDIA Update Service, both of which are running.

Did a scan with MalwareBytes, and all came clean. It seems everything is all clean for the most part.

Installed Updates for Windows 7 KB971033, KB982018, KB 2505438, KB2529073, KB2506928, and KB 2492386, and Security Updates KB2585542, and KB 2532531. Computer restarted without any problem, and turned back on, and fully configured. A USB Composite Device was suddenly found, also on my computer.

Checked if any problems would occur, by right clicking an empty text file, and going to Open with, then right clicking and going to properties to click change what program to open with. So far, so good.

Checked Event Viewer, and so far, only seven events, two of which are warnings : Event ID 2 from 8:45am, and Event ID 7023, from 7:33am.

 

[gregrocker]

You don't need those Nvidia services; they'll reappear every time you update Display driver. Same with Adobe Reader and Java.

 

[kegobeer]

Not all events are bad. Anytime you see something in the event log, you can google it and read about it.

 

[Toraurn]

Made a Repair Disc before installing Service Pack 1, to see if any issue may occur like stopping in the middle of it, like last time when it stopped at 30% on the fourth stage of its installation. However, this time it loaded successfully with me having to intervene. Afterward, I decided to burn Seatools Diagnostic into a CD so I could check the C drive for any issues. I passed out in that time but the diagnostic said passed when I woke up from my nap, so all is well with that drive.

Update :Now I have some updates that need to be installed. Going with just a small number, at a time, starting with updates KB2545698, KB2547666, KB982018. Needed to restart, which it had done with no problems, at all, so far.

Update 2 : Next updates, the security updates : KB2539635, KB2572077, KB2656356. Installed successfully, and did not need to restart.

Only two more updates remain now of importance, Security Update for .NET Framework 3.5.1 on Windows 7 SP1 x86 (KB2518869) and update for Windows 7 (KB2529073). Installed, and needed to restart, which it did without question, booted up fine and everything.

Decided to test what I usually did by clicking the change button inside the properties of a text file, and while it took maybe half a second, it did open up to which to use to read the text file with. Afterward, it just did so at the click of a mouse. It also too that same half second when I right clicked, moused to open with, and clicked "Choose default program", which afterwards, it just came with the click of a mouse.

Update 3: Now checking the Updates, One important update, Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile for Windows 7 x86 (KB982670). Installed it, which it did with success, did not even have to restart.

Downloaded and installed CCleaner, Ran the Cleaner, then ran the Registry part and cleaned out Missing Shared DLLs, one Unused Registry Key called migwiz.exe, which I decided to untick. I let it save a backup before cleaning all the selected issues.

Now, that the updates are settled, I decided to plug my USB flash drive and get three installers that I have used, first of which, I will be installing Firefox, and uninstalling Microsoft Security Essentials to replace that with Avast AntiVirus, and Spyware Doctor.

Firefox installed without a problem, which I had expected. Was wanting to push IE aside completely.

Before I uninstall Microsoft security essentials, I thought I would scan everything with it, one last time before removing it and replacing it Avast, which would soon be followed by Spyware Doctor.

Update 4: After some thought, while I considered Spyware Doctor to be useful, I hadn't thought much of it conflicting with Avast in the time I had the program so, I decided I am going to just reinstall Microsoft Security Essentials, and give it a chance to prove its worth, to see it it will be just as good as Spyware Doctor, that and to give my computer some proper breathing space.

Update 5: I now have the programs I would normally use on my computer installed, bar a few remaining ones, Microsoft Office Home and Student. Restarting works fine, as does booting up to Windows. I checked properties, right clicking, and going to open with on the new text file I made, and even going to properties and clicking change, it works as it should, with no issue, at all.

And checking for latest updates, there are now four Security Updates, and two Updates. Two of these being updates for Microsoft.NET Framework 4 (KB2468871, and KB2533523) additionally, security Update for Silverlight (KB2617986), and Security Update for Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package (KB2538243).

I have installed just four of these updates, the two updates, KB2468871 and KB2533523. And Security Updates KB2617986 and KB2538243. Restarted with no issue, and even booted to the OS and to the Desktop. No problems were seen, of yet.

Checked for more updates and only four more important ones are there, the Security updates: KB2518870, KB2539636, KB2572078, KB2656351. Updates were successfully installed. Didn't even need to restart. Or anything. Decided to restart the computer, just in case, however. And presto, doesn't seem to have any issues, at all, yet.

Update 6: Installed Microsoft Office and Home 2010, updated it and all. I think everything just might be back in working order, aside from some issues according to what Event viewer informs me of. No other issues, no more hanging when I go to certain files and test using the "Open with..." or clicking change in the properties window. Anything that comes up, that might be of importance, I might not be able to fix, I'll let you know. I'd like to thank the people that helped me in resolving the issues I was facing.

 

[gregrocker]

Let us know how it goes. You can mark your thread Solved at top when ready.

 

[Toraurn]

Well, everything is in order. Not one problem has been encountered, aside from the fact, dealing with what Event Viewer is telling me, related to MSE. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Golden]

Magic! Good work mate.

 

[gregrocker]

What is the MSE Error? Is it repeated?

You can usually get quick fixes for these errors by googling their text and identifying numbers.

 

[Toraurn]

Yes, this seems to occur, after Windows has booted up. Event ID 3002.

Here is what it tells me.

Microsoft Antimalware Real-Time Protection feature has encountered an error and failed.
Feature: Behavior Monitoring
Error Code: 0x80004005
Error description: Unspecified error
Reason: The filter driver requires an up-to-date engine in order to function. You must install the latest definition updates in order to enable real-time protection.

I am under the impression it has something to do with Microsoft Security Essentials, and even when I have updated it and kept it up to date.

I have MBAM free version, Avast and MSE running. Doesn't seem like it's really affecting any performance, however.

When I check MSE, it says my computer status is protected.

 

[gregrocker]

I would not run MSE and Avast both - one or the other.

Make sure if you keep MSE you have the latest version, not just the latest updates.

 

[Toraurn]

Uninstalled MSE completely. Restarted computer, then went to check the Event Viewer, and the error didn't show, which is good.