Windows 10: Applications crash and stop responding as soon as they're opened

Mm, problem is we have really no idea what kind of problem we're chasing.
Given you can't run programs, I'm assuming you wouldn't be able to do an in-place upgrade repair install.

See if you can create a new user for test purposes- log in as that user and see if there's any change.

Also download Appcrashview (free) and see what info that gives on any of your program crashes. Post anything that may help.

 

Created a new user, and programs still opens and crash right away. I downloaded AppCrashView, but it doesn't open. I opened it while having Task Manager opened, and it appears in Background Processes, but disappears after a few seconds.

 

Mm, of course. Can't get used to progs not running, sorry! Ok, have a look at Reliability History and explore the red x's related to program crashes.

Do you have a full backup? How difficult would a clean install be?

I've found a comparable case, and the resolution was what I suggested- re-associate exe files. (Tutorial, post #6)

 

I followed the instructions in the given link you provided in post #6, and both options still didn't solve the problem.
The problem may not be exe files, because the only exe's that work are Chrome, Adobe and Sony applications.
I don't think I have a full backup, but my only concern about a clean install is what data would be compromised.

 

Ok, a very good way to deal with that, assuming your disk is ok, is to use disk imaging. We constantly urge users to use this routinely, as I think I said- had you done so, you could have restored your PC to a previous working state quite quickly.

In this case, if you create an image of C:, then you have everything available, regardless. Files can be copied from a disk image.

E.g. Macrium Reflect (free), Aomei Backupper. (Macrium is the more reliable; Aomei B. has a much simpler GUI).

If you have data partitions on the same disk, leave them there. You only need to delete the partitions comprising Windows when you clean install. And make sure you have the license keys for any programs installed safe.

Clean Install Windows 10 Windows 10 Tutorials

 

So I have to re-install Windows 10? Sorry, my knowledge on this is minimum.

 

Why not first try an in-place upgrade repair install - which keeps progs and data -that's basically
-log in as normal
-using a Win 10 iso or a Win 10 bootable disk with the same version of Windows, run setup.exe from that

What does it do? You get a new set of system files, the first version of the current major build; all services are set to default (which can fix some problems) and some registry settings are set to default.

What can't it do? t can't fix user profile corruption - which is not your problem.

It keeps all programs and data and most settings.
I suggestyou may as well try this and see what happens. If it helps- great!But if your problem is not just corruption but a virus, it won't. And we still don't know that. I hope you've taken my advice above and run some AV scans, and checked your disk. I've seen no sign of that yet...

First make sure you have full backups. You would need to do that before doing a clean install which would mean deleting everything on C: (and some other partitions Window creates but that don't contain your data).

Here's the procedure:
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade Windows 10 Tutorials

If you have a friend who's more familiar with these things, you may want to see if they can help.

 

I've downloaded the programs to perform AV scans, but I don't have a USB stick near me, but I'm looking for one so I'm still in the process of performing an AV scan. As far as starting an in-place upgrade install, everything i need is in that link, correct?

 

Here's an easy thing to try: create another admin-user account. See if you still have the problems there. If so, you know it's system wide. If not, you can delete your current profile opting to keep the files (they end up on your desktop-- takes a few minutes after you click "delete", so be patient). As always, you can never quite trust computers-- so you "may" want to back up your stuff first & then proceed.

I cannot tell you how many systems I've seen with your same issues-- and it turned out to be a corrupt user profile.

Cheers

 

Thanks, but I've tried that already. Turns out it is system wide.

 

I made an observation that I think is very weird. Apparently applications that are in the Program Files folder in C:/ seem to work without an issue, while the applications in the Program Files (x86) folder are the applications that crash after being opened.