Windows 10: Install over Windows 7 has problems - can I reinstall over Windows 7

Did a system wide search for Explorer.EXE and couldn't find it on my workstation.

Also, I shut off Avast before I installed Windows 10. Per your suggestion, I removed Avast using Revo Uninstaller Pro - after I installed Windows 10. It was too late to use the Avast Removal Tool.

 

What tool did you use to perform the search, and do you have "show hidden files and folder" enabled?

It's been my experience that, having Avast on a system (even if disabled) during an upgrade has historically been a problem, corrupting user accounts and other things. It could be this is a part of the problems you're seeing.

Post #64 has a screenshot for grabbing a text file of your installed programs using Ccleaner. I'd like to see if there is anything that might not be playing nice with Windows 10.

No rush. *Wink

 

I used a program called "Search Everything." It check all hidden files and folders - plus system files. So, why couldn't it find Explorer.EXE? I've included the list of programs from Ccleaner in this post. Yes, I AM in a rush as I don't expect to go back to Windows 7 and this glitch in Windows 10 prevents me from completing much because of the blinking and disappearing icons.Attachment 95205

By the way, thanks again for the help you folks are providing.

 

By the way, I have a partition large enough to do a clean install of W10 if it would help you folks help me. All I have to do is format it and install from the ISO. But I'm trying, at all possible costs, to avoid starting program installation from scratch. If it turns out that you can't help me, what do you think about me calling Microsoft or Avast support?

 

Thanks for the installed programs list. Here's what I see:

Programs to be updated/check for updates (or get rid of them):
Adobe Acrobat 4.0 Adobe Systems, Inc. 8/8/2016 5.80 MB 4.0 All users
AISBackup 3.3 (446) Aquarius I. S. Consultancy Limited 9/20/2014 12.7 MB 3.3 All users
AMD Catalyst Install Manager Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 12/22/2015 34.1 MB 8.0.903.0 All users
BootRacer Greatis Software, LLC 4/25/2015 18.9 MB 4.9.0.390 Bob
Boxcryptor Classic 1.7 Secomba GmbH 3/10/2015 27.0 MB 1.7.409.131 All users
Calendar Creator 12 Broderbund Software, Inc. 4/10/2013 677 MB 12.0.1.6 All users
CDBurnerXP CDBurnerXP 7/1/2013 11.5 MB 4.5.1.4003 All users
Citrix Online Launcher Citrix 5/25/2015 294 KB 1.0.312 Bob
CyberLink PowerDVD 9.5 CyberLink Corp. 3/29/2013 88.0 MB 9.5.1.5425 All users
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12.5 Nuance Communications Inc. 1/17/2014 6.51 GB 12.50.000 All users
E-Z Contact Book version 3.1.4.26 Dmitri Karshakevich 9/12/2014 18.8 MB 3.1.4.26 All users
Font Viewer 2.0 Thinking BIG Information Technology Inc. 5/4/2013 1.00 MB All users
Garmin BaseCamp Garmin Ltd or its subsidiaries 3/5/2015 76.1 MB 4.4.6 All users
Garmin Communicator Plugin Garmin Ltd or its subsidiaries 2/27/2014 20.9 MB 4.1.0 All users
Garmin Communicator Plugin x64 Garmin Ltd or its subsidiaries 2/27/2014 31.9 MB 4.1.0 All users
Garmin USB Drivers Garmin Ltd or its subsidiaries 2/27/2014 1.11 MB 2.3.1.0 All users
Google Chrome Google Inc. 10/15/2014 487 MB 52.0.2743.116 All users
Google Earth Google 6/3/2015 213 MB 7.1.5.1557 All users
Google Earth Pro Google 3/23/2015 106 MB 7.1.2.2041 All users
Google Update Helper 3/29/2013 All users
Google+ Auto Backup Google 1/11/2014 13.5 MB 1.0.21.81 Bob
Hard Disk Sentinel PRO HDS 2/26/2015 30.9 MB All users (this caused problems in my system when set to run at startup)
i1Profiler X-Rite 3/6/2015 265 MB 1.5.6 All users
inSSIDer Home MetaGeek, LLC 10/23/2015 15.1 MB 3.1.2.1 All users
Intel(R) SDK for OpenCL - CPU Only Runtime Package Intel Corporation 5/29/2015 2.0.0.37149 All users
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Technology Monitor 2.6 Intel 4/27/2013 23.4 MB 2.6.2.0 All users
iZotope Music & Speech Cleaner iZotope, Inc. 5/26/2013 7.96 MB 1.00 All users
KeyboardTest V3.0 PassMark Software 4/28/2013 5.81 MB All users
LaCie Desktop Manager 1.5.3 LaCie 4/20/2013 13.7 MB 1.5.3 All users
LibreOffice 4.0 Help Pack (English) The Document Foundation 4/20/2013 41.1 MB 4.0.2.2 All users
LibreOffice 4.4.3.2 The Document Foundation 6/25/2015 0.96 GB 4.4.3.2 All users
LockHunter 3.1, 32/64 bit Crystal Rich Ltd 12/27/2014 7.23 MB All users
Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder Magical Jelly Bean 12/16/2014 1.98 MB 2.0.10.10 All users
MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition 8.1.1 MiniTool Solution Ltd. 7/18/2014 51.4 MB All users
Notezilla 8.0 Conceptworld Corporation 12/13/2014 16.3 MB 8.0 All users
paint.net dotPDN LLC 3/17/2015 52.4 MB 4.0.5 All users
Password Manager XP CP Lab 2/14/2014 3.2.617 All users
PDF Pro 10 PDF Pro Software 9/9/2013 97.9 MB 10.5.0000 All users
PremierColor Portrait Displays, Inc. 12/22/2015 7.79 MB 2.00.053 All users
RemoteComms driver Oxford Semiconductor 4/20/2013 6.17 MB 1.25.0000 All users
Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller Driver Renesas Electronics Corporation 1/21/2015 2.52 MB 2.1.39.0 All users
Samsung Magician Samsung Electronics 12/17/2014 82.1 MB 4.5.1 All users
ShellFolderFix 1.1.4 7/17/2015 3.29 MB All users
SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2015.SP1a SiSoftware 3/20/2015 124 MB 21.32.2015.3 All users
SmartSound Common Data SmartSound Software Inc. 5/26/2013 26.9 MB 1.1.0 All users
SmartSound Quicktracks 5 SmartSound Software Inc. 5/26/2013 98.3 MB 5.1.7 All users
SmartSound Sonicfire Pro 5 SmartSound Software Inc. 5/26/2013 122 MB 5.7.3 All users
Snagit 11 TechSmith Corporation 12/7/2015 182 MB 11.2.0 All users
Snagit 12 3/29/2013 All users
TeamTalk 4 BearWare.dk 2/22/2014 20.5 MB All users
TextAloud 3.0 NextUp.com 12/2/2013 47.5 MB 3.0 All users
TurboTop 2.7 Savard Software 6/26/2015 1.47 MB 2.7.0.1 All users
Unknown Device Identifier 8.00 Huntersoft 12/5/2013 5.01 MB All users
VirtuaWin v4.4 4/9/2015 961 KB All users
WIDCOMM Bluetooth Software Broadcom Corporation 1/29/2015 290 MB 6.5.1.4000 All users
WIDCOMM BTW Development Kit Broadcom Corporation 7/12/2015 13.4 MB 6.1.0.1506 Bob
WinMerge 2.14.0 Thingamahoochie Software 5/2/2013 4.65 MB 2.14.0 All users
X-Rite Device Services Manager X-Rite 3/6/2015 26.9 MB 2.3.82 All users

Program that is probably incompatible with your system and causing the taskbar problems (just a hunch):
True Launch Bar Tordex 8/8/2016 8.96 MB 7.3.0.0 All users
True Launch Bar: Battery Monitor plugin Tordex 4/22/2013 1.65 MB 2.0.0.0 Bob
True Launch Bar: Display Mode plugin Tordex 10/29/2014 1.02 MB 1.1.0.0 All users
True Launch Bar: Select Color plugin Tordex 3/2/2015 970 KB 1.0.0.0 All users
True Launch Bar: TLB Clock plugin TrueSoft 4/22/2013 1.43 MB 1.7.0.0 All users
True Launch Bar: Wireless Monitor plugin Tordex 4/22/2013 1.02 MB 1.7.0.0 All users

Do this instead:
Quick Launch toolbar - Add or Remove in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums


Also, please run the Apple Software Updater to make sure that program, and all Apple-installed programs are up-to-date.

Programs to uninstall
Audacity 2.0.3 Audacity Team 4/18/2013 31.2 MB 2.0.3 All users
AVG 2015 3/29/2013 All users
Brother P-touch Editor 5.0 Brother Industries, Ltd. 6/14/2015 44.6 MB 5.0.2200 All users (you have v5.1 on there, which is more current?)
Dell ControlVault Host Components Installer 64 bit Broadcom Corporation 4/1/2016 22.0 MB 3.3.14.68 All users
Dell Data Protection | Access Dell Inc. 8/8/2016 19.1 MB 2.3.00001.021 All users
Dell Data Vault 3/29/2013 61.8 MB All users
Dell Feature Enhancement Pack Dell 5/29/2015 17.1 MB 2.2.1 All users
Dell SupportAssistAgent Dell 5/4/2016 21.1 MB 1.2.2.8 All users
HiJackThis Trend Micro 5/4/2013 738 KB 1.0.0 Bob
McAfee Security Scan Plus McAfee, Inc. 8/8/2016 10.2 MB 3.8.150.1 All users
O2Micro Flash Memory Card Windows Driver O2Micro International LTD. 9/2/2013 2.57 MB 3.0.07.44 All users (you have a newer one installed)
QuickTime 7 Apple Inc. 4/17/2016 95.3 MB 7.79.80.95 All users (no longer supported)
SlimCleaner SlimWare Utilities, Inc. 12/21/2013 32.3 MB 4.0.30878 All users (not good)
SlimDrivers SlimWare Utilities, Inc. 4/20/2013 56.0 MB 2.2.28413 All users (not good)
SpyHunter 4 Enigma Software Group, LLC 8/8/2016 84.2 MB 4.19.13.4482 All users (most definitely get this off!)
SpywareBlaster 5.0 BrightFort LLC 10/12/2014 7.81 MB 5.0.0 All users
Surfing Protection IObit 4/26/2015 21.5 MB 1.2 All users (most definitely get this off!)
TrueCrypt TrueCrypt Foundation 8/8/2016 7.1a All users (no longer supported since 2014!)
Ultra Defragmenter UltraDefrag Development Team 8/8/2016 1.85 MB 6.0.1 All users (not needed in W10)



This is quite a list! *Smile There is a lot of baggage from years gone by. I recommend you have a think about getting rid of everything you haven't used in the last 6 months.

Get rid of all remants of all AV and just use Windows Defender for now. Keep the taskbar on top (not auto-hide) for now.

Some of the research of these programs may be a bit involved, so if you don't use them, get rid of them. Some are drivers, and can be checked using Device Manager, using Update Drivers>Search Automatically.
@essenbe will be able to help if you have questions; I am in and out right now because it's canning season. *Wink

 

It's quite possible to clean install on the other partition, and then install ONLY the programs that you need, then transfer your data over. But this is only a temporary thing, as it violates the EULA to have two operating systems from one keycode.

If you want to run around in circles and get nowhere fast, then do that. *Wink

 

Please also make sure you have Fast Startup turned off:


Fast Startup - Turn On or Off in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

To understand what this is/does (it was first introduced in Windows 8):
“Fast Startup (aka: hybrid boot or hybrid Shutdown) is a new feature in Windows 8 to help your PC start up faster after shutting down. When turned on, Windows 8 does this by using a hybrid shutdown (a partial hibernate) method that saves only the kernel session and device drivers (system information) to the hibernate (hiberfil.sys) file on disk instead of closing it when you shut down your PC. This also makes the hiberfil.sys file to be much smaller than what hibernate would use (often 4GB or more). When you start your PC again, Windows 8 uses that saved system information to resume your system instead of having to do a cold boot to fully restart it. Using this technique with boot gives a significant advantage for boot times, since reading the hiberfile in and reinitializing drivers is much faster on most systems (30-70% faster on most systems tested). If you have a motherboard with UEFI, then fast startup will be even faster.”

 

@Nisko, you have a Laptop correct? According to your System specs, it looks like you have 2 hard drives, is that correct also? How hard are the hard drives to remove/replace?

 

Thank you very much. One question: Is it OK to use Revo Uninstaller Pro for the uninstalls? I've got a lot of work to do - but I'll get it done as quickly as I can. Thanks again...................

 

Yes, Revo is OK. But, when you uninstall the Anti Virus software, after uninstalling each one, find the dedicated uninstaller for each to clean up the leftovers. This should help some http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...nstallers.html
@simrick gave you a good list of stuff to uninstall, check for program updates, driver updates. If you follow the list as you should, I still think a clean install would be easier and faster. If you do all the preparations for a clean install, it is not the nightmare everyone thinks. Plus, I would hope you wouldn't be installing much of the software you have on there now. Some of it is, in my opinion, dangerous.

 

I may try the clean install because I've been thinking about it and I believe you may be right. Thank you!!!

 

I think that would be a good way to go. *Thumbs

 

That's a very good decision. Let us know before you are ready and we may be able to show you how to do it so it is a lot easier on you. Just answer the questions in Post # 83 first.

 

I have a laptop.

Two drives: One is a 1TB for programs only (of course, many settings and some data is on this drive because I have no choice). It has a partition on it that is unused ~450GB. The second drive is 1/2TB and is used for data only. It has about 300GB free. I have current images for both drives - and images of both just before I installed W10 over W7.

The drives are not too difficult to replace. What do you have in mind?

 

Your system specs say one is an SSD. I would presume that would be the 500GB one. That is where your OS should go, on the SSD. If I understand you, your current OS is on the 1 TB mechanical drive. If that is correct, Move all the data from the SSD to the 450 GB partition on the Mechanical drive. Then remove/disconnect the Mechanical drive and do the clean install on the SSD. If you do the clean install while your current OS is connected, you will have a dual boot situation that will cause some issues when you want to remove your current OS. After the clean install you can reconnect your current OS. That will make them boot independently of each other, and will cause you no issues when you go to 1 OS.

It will also allow you the luxury of taking your time setting up your new OS and still allow you to use your current OS while you are setting up the new one.

Before you begin the new install, get your installation disks, downloaded installer files for the software you want to install, Your drivers plus all of your activation keys and place them on a USB drive. Once the install is completed, you will have everything in front of you and can begin installing programs and not have to go hunting for drivers, disks, downloading installer files for downloaded software. You can also set your BIOS to boot into whichever system you want to use and use the one time boot menu key to boot into the other system whenever you want to. Once the new system is set up as you want it just remove the other OS.

I hope I explained that to where you understand it. But, that is the easiest way to do a clean install. You can also take your time and plan on what you want/should install and what not to install.