windows essentials download changed live mail. now it has black panels

[todd706]

i was using windows live mail on an hp pavilion dv8 laptop running windows 7 home premium 64bit.
i wanted windows movie maker so i downloaded windows essentials and opted to just download movie maker but it changed windows live mail also. now live mail has a different look (uncustomizable and unnecessarily big ribbons) but the real problem is live mail occassionally crashes (some panels turn black). how can i go back to my old version of windows live mail and still keep windows movie maker?
also need to ensure i dont lose any of my live mail emails, contacts, folders, settings, etc.
thanks for any advice,
todd

 

[Anak]

Hi todd706, welcome to 7F!

There may have been a Visual Studio Runtime corrupted in Windows Live Mail (WLM) when you installed Windows Movie Maker (WMM).

There is the possibility of a repair, and two ways to do it. You will not have an option to pick, and choose what to repair it will repair every Live program on your machine.

You should strongly consider backing up your contacts, accounts, and messages either though WLM How to Backup Windows Live Mail Accounts, Contacts and Messages or a third-party like KLS Mail Backup - Freeware Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, Thunderbird, Firefox backup

Okay, let's get started!

Option One
Go to: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features, and scroll down to, and right click on Windows Live Essentials. You will have the option to either uninstall/change, click on that pop-up.

• You should see a new window open that will allow you to either uninstall or repair Windows Live, click on the Repair Button then continue. It will take approximately two minutes to complete.

• When done the repair will ask you to restart your machine, do so after you close the repair window, and any other programs you may have open.

Option Two
If you see Run... Listed when you click on the Start Orb: it is usually at the bottom of the right hand panel. If you do not see Run.. I can tell you how to place it.

Type or copy/paste this CMD into the box to the right of Open:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Installer\wlarp.exe​

• Click on OK, and wait a few seconds.

• Depending on your user account settings you may see a User Account Control box open, asking if you want this program (Windows Installer) to make changes to your machine, click on Yes.

• You should see a new window open that will allow you to either uninstall or repair Windows Live, click on the Repair Button then continue. It will take approximately two minutes to complete.

• When done the repair will ask you to restart your machine, do so after you close the repair window, and any other programs you may have open.

You may also want to consider running http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html after you do the repair, run it three times with re-starts in between each run even if each run reports no problems.

 

[todd706]

thanks for the detailed steps. i did all of them but still have the problem.

any other ideas?

the only reason i got windows essentials was for movie maker. i am considering finding another free movie making software and uninstalling windows essentials.
will my windows live mail program go back to the format it was previously?

thanks again,
todd

 

[Anak]

Your welcome.

Since the repair did not work, and you are considering removing Windows Essentials (WE), I would try doing a http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html, that should take the worry out of whether or not your WLM will revert back to its original state. It will also remove WE. Just pick a time, and date to before you installed WE.

If you haven't already, make that backup of your contacts, accounts, and messages.

There has been much discussion about the newest version of WMM not being as good as the older WMM6 because Microsoft (MS) stripped a lot of functionality out of it.

As for alternatives to WMM for windows 7, do a search with those terms, and you will find a lot of alternatives even some that are open source.

Here are some that I found:
Windows Movie Maker Alternatives - Better Than Windows Movie Maker
list of free movie maker downloads
Movie Maker | Open Source Alternative - osalt.com

 

[todd706]

thanks again for the info but i am still stuck with the problem.
i tried restore but there was no restore point prior to when i downloaded essentials. so i tried uninstalling essentials but then i had no windows live mail at all. i downloaded essentials again but llive mail still gets the black panels. still hoping for resolution.

 

[Anak]

I am out of ideas. Have you seen this thread starting at post #7 ? http://www.sevenforums.com/browsers-mail/139427-live-mail-black-panels.html

Also: 5 Ways to Repair a Black Screen in Windows Live Mail 2011 | Computer Tips

Do a search for: live mail. now it has black panels