Windows 10

[GlytchMeister]

I'm gonna restart the laptop and see if it still works now...

Well, the laptop is still functioning, but the error is still there. DAMMIT.

I tried to update the NVIDIA driver but the installer fails, and it won't tell me why.

...

Ok, so I downloaded a new nvcpl.dll file. That let me run GeForce, though I still got an error. It is also allowing me to download and install a new driver via GeForce. The laptop is restarting as I type.

...

Restarts are taking a very long time. Makes me nervous.

...

Aaaaand now I have to go to work, and the laptop is still booting up.

[AmriloJim]

Let's verify the location of oleaut32...

Here's how to display hidden files and folders.

Open Folder Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Folder Options.

Click the View tab.

Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and then click OK.

Then, rather than extracting to windows\system32, extract to a non-critical location and copy just the one file to system32.

[Warrl]

À propos of nothing... back in the Win3.1/Win95 era, I was working at the Canon Printers Helpline. I once ran across the following error:

"The following error occured:
The printer driver installed successfully."

That made me laugh, as it seemed to imply that Windows did NOT want it to install correctly, so the fact that it did was an error...

Similarly apropos of nothing... back in my mainframe days... I was going through an IBM error messages manual (volume 2, I think - yes, it was in two volumes) and happened to notice that for some error code I no longer recall, one of the pieces of text that could be produced was "Non-acceptable error."

Now first, that's rather less than informative.

And second, it implies the existence of acceptable errors.

[GlytchMeister]

AAARRRGGGHHH

My wifi adapter just stopped working again, I'm still getting the error, and boot times are really, REALLY long.

BAD

Fuck it, I'm gonna back up my files, make sure I can re-install MS office, then nuke my computer from orbit with a fresh W10 installation.

[AmriloJim]

I'm in the same boat... my backup on the Toshiba L645D laptop is running now... but I'm going one step further... I'm taking this one to a factory reset to see if I re-initialize the LCD, then upgrade (again) to Win10.

[GlytchMeister]

...ugh.

So I reinstalled W10, and now my audio is borked. I have a little speaker icon with a red x on it. And when I troubleshoot, it tries to update the driver, and fails for some unknown error.

I've uninstalled it and I'm working on reinstalling it manually now. Dammit.

[GlytchMeister]

Ok, I fixed the audio. Everything seems to be working fairly well. I also updated the graphics driver without a problem.

After the reset, I made a very awesome discovery: HP had a MASSIVE amount of bloatware and crap on my computer. When I first ran PCDecrapifier on this laptop when I first got it, I didn't remove a lot of it because I didn't know what most of it was. Several pages of stuff.

Man, I really should have done this a LLOOOONG time ago.

Now, I just ran PC Decrapifier again after the reset, and nothing came up except one-drive. I've never seen that happen before.

I'm a very happy techie right now.

Also: Ninite is awesome.

[GlytchMeister]

*grrrowlll*

iTunes broke my computer. It broke it so hard it couldn't even start up correctly. I just tried to restore to before I installed iTunes, BUT I GOT AN ERROR THERE TOO. It then said the restore failed and nothing was changed...

BUT IT DID. AAAAAAA.

I am now restoring to just after I nuked my computer, in an attempt to remove whatever unholy influence iTunes is currently exerting on my computer.

I am *this* close to taking the damned thing out back and SHOOTING it.

[GlytchMeister]

NOPE

Great. Now I gotta REINSTALL WINDOWS AGAIN

GOOD JOB ITUNES

I HATE YOU.

[GlytchMeister]

Oh, and it's always gotta be unspecified errors. That's just handy dandy. Great. So not only is my computer BORKED, there's no possible way for me to troubleshoot the problem.

Awesome.

System Restore is blatantly lying to me, saying it failed to restore and thus didn't change anything when it CLEARLY DID. So one of my most reliable, go-to-able fixing methods is now apparently less reliable than duct tape on a drive shaft.

Yay.

Brb gonna go nuke my damned laptop again.

[Alkarii]

It makes me wonder if there's some sort of code in Windows 10 meant to keep you from using any software made by Apple.

Either that, or iTunes has been changed to causes Windows to go tits up. Though I think the first one is more likely. Probably illegal, though I don't know that that would actually stop either company from trying.

[jwhouk]

I had issues with iTunes when I installed WinX. They didn't crash it, though.

[GlytchMeister]

I'm just not gonna install iTunes until I get my laptop working for a while.

I'm gonna be friggin' methodical about this. Finish W10 reinstall setup? Restore point. Install something? Restore point. Change a setting? Restore point.

The moment I encounter a bug, BOOM. Restore. If I encounter a bug with Restore itself? B-KAM, take it out back and shoot it, reinstall Windows.

I'm pissed, and now it's personal. I'm gonna get my laptop working exactly how I like it or go insane tryin'.

[jwhouk]

That has been the mantra with most sites regarding WinTen - Backup, backup, BACKUP before you start installing.

[GlytchMeister]

Oh, ya. I have a few good backups with all my documents on an external hard drive. I don't care about installing and reinstalling programs, that's no big deal compared to re-creating some of these documents from scratch.

(Including but not limited to books, multi-page spreadsheets, autoCAD drawings, etc.)

As long as I have those safe and sound, I'm ok. If my documents are lost, I don't even know, man. I'll lose my cool for sure.

[TazManiac]

One thing I want to mention; both for GM, and the random forum reader, is the importance or Rebooting following any medium to major procedure; even if the app/driver/update doesn't require/specify doing so it's a good idea to methodically Restart following any type of OS Patch or App Install, Driver Upgrade...

[GlytchMeister]

One thing I want to mention; both for GM, and the random forum reader, is the importance or Rebooting following any medium to major procedure; even if the app/driver/update doesn't require/specify doing so it's a good idea to methodically Restart following any type of OS Patch or App Install, Driver Upgrade...

That might be part of it. I used Ninite to download and install a whole bunch of programs all at once. I'm gonna do it the long way next time, and will reboot after every single installation... As well as set a restore point before each installation.

Because I ain't playin' no more.

[Dave]

That might be part of it. I used Ninite to download and install a whole bunch of programs all at once. I'm gonna do it the long way next time, and will reboot after every single installation... As well as set a restore point before each installation.

Because I ain't playin' no more.

It might also be worth the following:

• Completely reformat the disk before starting... at least, delete the existing partitions, and create new ones. This will force Windows to reinitialize its filesystem from scratch, removing any latent FS damage which may have occurred.
• Periodically during your install cycle (ideally, after each reboot) run the WIndows filesystem integrity checker. Make sure that the filesystem hasn't been damaged by problems during the previous install. Filesystem rot can be pernicious and can cause all sorts of errors down-stream (long after the actual damage occurred).

[GlytchMeister]

It might also be worth the following:

• Completely reformat the disk before starting... at least, delete the existing partitions, and create new ones. This will force Windows to reinitialize its filesystem from scratch, removing any latent FS damage which may have occurred.
• Periodically during your install cycle (ideally, after each reboot) run the WIndows filesystem integrity checker. Make sure that the filesystem hasn't been damaged by problems during the previous install. Filesystem rot can be pernicious and can cause all sorts of errors down-stream (long after the actual damage occurred).

Hmm...

1) when I reinstalled Windows the first time, I didn't have it wipe the drive. It just removed files. It said "use this option if you intend to keep the computer." It was the faster option, so I used it. THIS time, I had it wipe the drive, which is supposed to be if you intend to let someone else have the computer, as it makes it harder to recover deleted files. Is that enough?

I hope so, because I don't want to have to put Windows on an external drive, format the in-laptop one, and then put Windows back on the computer and go through the process of reactivation and convincing Microsoft I'm not a pirate.

I don't have partitions on my hard drives. I tried that once on an old computer and it completely bricked the poor thing. Totally dead. I don't know what happened, and I don't want to try to find out.

I can, however, use ccleaner to wipe all of the free space on my drive before I do anything else. How about that?

So, the process will be this:

Run WFIC
Set restore point
Install ccleaner
Reboot
run ccleaner and registry checker, then wipe all free space
Run WFIC
if good, set restore point
Change registry values for telemetry and Windows Defender
Reboot
Run WFIC
if good, set restore point
Update/repair/install audio, video, wifi adapter drivers
Reboot
Run WFIC
if good, set restore point
Install next program
Reboot
Repeat last four steps until done

When done, reboot, then run every single maintenance program:
AVG
Windows Update
Malware bytes anti-malware
Glary Utilities
Ccleaner
Auslogics disk defrag
WFIC
Set restore point


Sound about right?

[Dave]

1) when I reinstalled Windows the first time, I didn't have it wipe the drive. It just removed files. It said "use this option if you intend to keep the computer." It was the faster option, so I used it. THIS time, I had it wipe the drive, which is supposed to be if you intend to let someone else have the computer, as it makes it harder to recover deleted files. Is that enough?

It's a good next step! I don't know how thorough a "wipe" it would have done, though. If it left any of your files or documents intact, then there's always the chance that it also left some of "residue" in the System directories or Registry which might hang around and cause problems in a subsequent install.

I hope so, because I don't want to have to put Windows on an external drive, format the in-laptop one, and then put Windows back on the computer and go through the process of reactivation and convincing Microsoft I'm not a pirate.

With luck, you won't have to. Unfortunately, sometimes, you really do have to nuke the entire previous installation from orbit and start over from scratch. Some virus and malware infections can be so persistent and uncorrectable that you have no other choice, and some forms of system corruption can be as bad.

I don't have partitions on my hard drives. I tried that once on an old computer and it completely bricked the poor thing. Totally dead. I don't know what happened, and I don't want to try to find out.

I can, however, use ccleaner to wipe all of the free space on my drive before I do anything else. How about that?

Can't hurt! I'm not at all sure it would help, for the short of corruption in concerned about, since that would be corruption or cruft residue within existing files, not in the free space.

So, the process will be this:

Run WFIC
Set restore point
Install ccleaner
Reboot
run ccleaner and registry checker, then wipe all free space
Run WFIC
if good, set restore point
Change registry values for telemetry and Windows Defender
Reboot
Run WFIC
if good, set restore point
Update/repair/install audio, video, wifi adapter drivers
Reboot
Run WFIC
if good, set restore point
Install next program
Reboot
Repeat last four steps until done

When done, reboot, then run every single maintenance program:
AVG
Windows Update
Malware bytes anti-malware
Glary Utilities
Ccleaner
Auslogics disk defrag
WFIC
Set restore point


Sound about right?

I would do a full reboot after installing each driver. To be safe, I would consider actually removing any third party driver completely, reboot, then install a fresh copy... don't depend on the existing version (it might be damaged) and don't depend on "repair" or "update". Purge it completely and install afresh... that's the best way to make sure that both the driver and its configuration data are clean.