Windows 10: All browsers (and many other applications) stopped working except IE

I have been building and working with computers for over 20 years and am completely stumped and perplexed by the issue I'm experiencing.

My computer was functioning normally, it was powered down for the day and restarted in the evening.

Every time I attempt to open Firefox, it would immediately crash. When it does manage to open, nothing will load and none of the drop down menus or buttons have any effect. Microsoft Edge will not even get that far; the process shows in Task Manager, but no window opens and no icon is displayed on the task bar. Same for Chrome.

I noticed the same behavior with Spotify and Steam. The only browser that functions normally is Internet Explorer.

The system was otherwise performing normally and many other programs are fine, including the Office suite, File Explorer, Audible, etc.

So far I have: released, renewed ipconfig, flushed DNS, restarted services, tried the app troubleshooter, run the DISM tool, ran a system file checker scan, performed a clean boot, uninstalled all browsers, reinstalled all browsers, run the network diagnostic tool, run full virus and malware scans, "cleaned" the registry, performed a system restore to 7 days before and 14 days before... nothing made a difference. All my drivers and firmware including BIOS are up to date.

No minor or major changes had occurred with the computer in the past few weeks, and it had been over 10 days, so I was not able to roll back the latest update. The computer had been running stable without issues for years.

I then made a USB windows boot drive and reinstalled the OS. The problem persists.

I then removed all my SSDs, inserted a fresh, formatted SSD and installed Windows 10 on that. The problem persists.

I don't know what else to try and this point. Any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you,

BK

PS - here's my build, if it helps:

W10 Pro: 20H2 19042.631
Intel i7 5960x
Asus Rampage V Extreme
RTX 3080
32gb G.skill RAM
currently installed SSD: Samsung 950 evo

:)

 

How to STOP/DELETE the new EDGE Browser ?

Having just tried to get this to work and failed like you:
I looked through the "Choose Default applications by protocol" list and found one entry that let me change the default from Edge to Edge Deflector:
MICROSOFT-EDGE
URL:microsoft-edge

and now my searches with Winkey open in Chrome with Google Search (I have Chrometana Pro installed also)
HTH, Tim

 

Show windows side by side has stopped working in W10?

Hi Mary,

For better assistance, verify the following information:

• Were you able to check the response of Vinodh.V posted last August 5, 2015?
• Did you perform the suggested troubleshooting steps provided on this thread?

If the recommended solutions did not work for you, we suggest creating a new thread since some troubleshooting steps may no longer be applicable to your issue.

We're looking forward to your reply.

 

Passwords Plus - "Application has stopped working"

I have been using this application, Passwords Plus, for a long time - since XP and Palm.

It worked well with Win10 until last week, when I started getting the message above ("Application has stopped working").

I have gone to the company's website, DataViz, and their solutions have not worked.

When this first happened, I checked their website for solutions. They acknowledge this as a common error. Solutions tried are:

• They suggested right clicking the program icon and running as an administrator
  
• editing permissions on the Security tab for the "Documents" folder, to allow all permissions.
  
• Next they sent a reg file, asking that this be added to the registry
  
• then they asked me to re-install the program.
  

None of this has made any difference - the program still crashes on opening.

Questions:

• Has anyone else encountered & solved this error?
  
• Any suggestions for things to try?