programs stopped working

[bigchainring]

So I've been using Windows 7 for a long time because it's fast, seems to use resources efficiently, and doesn't think for me. I know that security updates and such have stopped a long time ago, but I still want to use Windows 7 if at all possible. Recently I have had a problem, and I've tried a couple of things, but it still seems to be a problem. Here are the symptoms. One day suddenly the icons did not show their regular pictures of the programs. It's like the program associations stopped working. But then I clicked on the icon to run a program and the message I got was something along the lines of 64-bit does not compute with 32-bit. And programs that previously worked, such as LibreOffice and Firefox, when I clicked on the icon again to launch the program it did not work, gave me the same error, and asked if I wanted to delete the icon. It seems none of my programs are working. I've tried deleting the icon cache and restarting windows. I've tried restoring to a previous point in time. Neither of these seem to work. I know using Windows 7 runs a high risk of getting a virus or malware, and I'm wondering if there is a specific way or test I can do to figure out whether I have malware or a virus, or if it really is an issue of 32-bit versus 64-bit suddenly, which seems strange because I have been using the two programs mentioned previously for a long time in the Windows 7 environment. Any suggestions of one or two things I could try before I do a full rebuild would be appreciated. Ty.

 

[Aardvarkly]

I wish I could help but no. I am in a similar situation. In the past month or two a few things I have used for years suddenly don't want to play. Missing or strange icons was only the beginning of it. Then links received in Thunderbird wouldn't work. Theyjust result in an error message. Something along the lines of "unable to perform the function because the user does not have the required permission". Then CCleaner stopped working and will not re-install. Now I find Belarc Advisor doesn't work, and won't reinstall even direct from their own website.
The situation is so dire I have tried setting up another PC with Linux. It is hopeful but a real pain in the butt in other ways.. No way to access any hardware info, like what is installed, or any issues, etc. And the people at the Linux Mint forum treat you like a fool if you don't have their level of understanding. Useless. Generally speaking I think we are being bullied into doing everything on a smartphone so we can more easily be force fed advertising.