Windows 7 Corrupt copies of files appearing after system update

[Jesswood87]

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone more knowledgeable than me can help me with a problem with Windows 7 Home Premium. This morning I finally allowed my laptop to do its system update and restart (after a day or two of postponing), but when it was completed I noticed some weird issues. Corrupt copies of (many) various files and applications have appeared, which cannot be opened (a message tells me they can't be opened because they are corrupt). A '$' has also appeared at the start of the names of all of these corrupt copies. In most cases, the original file is still there, and can be opened, but if I delete a corrupt copy and then open the original file, a corrupt copy appears. As my entire PhD work is contained on my computer I'm a little nervous..! (Obviously I'm not doing a PhD in computer science) I've tried doing a system restore to before the update, but it didn't complete - when my computer restarted a message told me it had failed to complete and that I should disable my anti-virus protection and give it another go. That sounded a bit suspicious to me so I didn't do it, and now I'm running a Norton scan. As I said, my original files *seem* to still all be there, but I'm not really happy with all these corrupt copies appearing all over the place.
Any ideas? Many many thanks to anyone with any suggestions..!
Jess

 

[kemical]

Hi Jess,
to be honest it wouldn't surprise me if your issue was down to Norton. It used to be a great bit of software but over the years it's become ever more invasive to the point where we do not recommend using it. Also your pc was telling the truth when it said the restore didn't complete probably because of the Anti-Virus application.
Try this:
Remove Norton using this removal tool:
https://support.norton.com/sp/en/uk/home/current/solutions/kb20080710133834EN_EndUserProfile_en_us
Use MSE in it's place as this is ultra stable and coupled with Malwarebytes is hard to beat (plus they are both free)
MSE
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/security-essentials-download
Malwarebytes:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/

Once your covered try the restore again. I doubt you'll need to disable MSE so just go ahead.

To try and repair any corruption you may have within Windows itself you can run a system file scan. Open the start menu and find command prompt, right click on it and run as administrator. Type:
sfc /scannow
Press enter and await results.

 

[Mike]

Disable Norton like Ross says. Its mostly garbage and scareware.

 

[Jesswood87]

Thank you both so much for your help, I will try what you suggest! I'm really grateful for your assistance, fingers crossed that sorts things..!
Jess

 

[kemical]

Your welcome Jess, post back if the above doesn't help.