My week in review.
I had a guy bring his laptop (Win 10) because he couldn't get Chrome to open. I tried opening it through both the taskbar and desktop icon. Also went to program folder and tried to open it that way. It just wouldn't open. So I decided to reinstall it. Did not work. So I decided to reinstall it again only this time I uninstalled the version that was on there first.
When I'm uninstalling problem programs I like to use Advanceduninstaller - www.iobit.com/en/advanceduninstaller.php
Be sure to uncheck the install Advanced System Care option on the install screen if you don't want that program installed.
So I ran the uninstaller, then did the powerscan to get rid of any leftover bits and finally went to https://www.google.com/chrome/ and downloaded and reinstalled Chrome. That did the trick.
Then a couple wanted me to look at their Win 7 laptop. They first claimed it couldn't go online but they had a more serious problem. Everything was extremely slow. You double click to open a program and it would open a few minutes later. The first thing I noticed was that they where using AVG from 2012 and Spybot was running in the background so I assumed it was a security program conflict and I slowly but surely uninstalled them both.
But it did not work. I managed to get the taskmanager open to see what might be hogging the memory or the CPU. They have 6 GB on a quad-core system. The CPU cycles where less than 1% and the memory use was constant at 1.6 GB - when you get the taskmanager open click on the Performance tab.
Tried System Restore, didn't work.
So onto next option. Checking the hard drive and then memory. Everything checked out fine. Then I decided to use a procedure that I wrote about before. Replace potential corrupted registration database. https://davescomputertips.com/how-to-fix-a-corrupted-registration-database-that-stops-a-computer-from-booting/
or here: Feb62011.html
But that bought about a BSOD with the error message CRITICAL_SERVICE_FAILED. So I had to reverse that. That's why it's important to back up those files and not just delete them. After a couple hours trying to figure this thing out I was planning on trying a factory reset or reinstall Windows (they had the DVD). But I decided to try one more thing first, go into the Event Viewer and see if I can isolate the file or program causing the problem.
note: all screen shots are from my system nor theirs.
So; Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer. I noticed a number of different files with errors associated with this account and then it struck me. One more thing I can try, create a new account and move their pictures and whatever over to the new account. I created a new account, booted out of the old into the new and everything is working just fine.
Finally a guy bought me two laptops to reset. Both where Compaq's so I assumed this would be easy and you know what they say when you ASS U ME something. To reset a Compaq you usually keep pressing the F11 key while starting it up and you'll get taken to the Restore Factory Settings Options.
If you want to reset another brand of laptop read here: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/laptop/factory-reset-laptop-image-3462995/
Basically here are the keycodes:
One laptop reset perfectly, no problems. The second, the reset option wouldn't work. I tried different key combinations, nothing. Sometimes you can start the reset process within Windows itself. On my Acer desktop I have a program called Acer eRecovery Management that allows me to start the reset from within Windows.
This laptop was originally Windows Vista upgraded to Windows 7 so I didn't expect any recovery software. And I ws right. So I just created a new account, deleted everything from the old one, and finally deleted the system restore points so that if a new user had to use system restore they would not end up with someone elses account information back on the system. I don't know for sure but I assumed they where going to sell them.
My week in review.