PC WhizzKid
New Member
I am new here
Hello there,
I am new to these forums, but have a lot of experience of Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
Hello there,
I am new to these forums, but have a lot of experience of Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
I am new to this forum
- Thread starter PC WhizzKid
- Start date
Hi to everyone in this forum. I joined this forum a couple of days ago, mainly to see the type of problems (if any) members are having with the Windows7 operating system, and to see if there is any mention made of the problem that has recently started with my system. After having a quick look I have seen similarities, but not exactly what I am experiencing. Amongs the no doubt many experts amongst our members there might be someone who can steer me in the right direction to solve this problem (short of formatting my drive etc). I recently purchased the 3-user Windows7 Home Premium upgrade package, which I used to upgrade my Vista Home Premium Installation on the Desktop computer (I also have a laptop with Windows7 HP installed, but no problems there sofar). About a week or so ago I started having problems where when I left the computer unattended for a while, when I came back the icons on the desktop had disappeared (leaving the background image) and I had no access to anything short of restarting the computer. Upon restarting all was back to normal but then sometime later the same problem came back....ad infinitum. I have not as yet timed the interval between the occurance of the problems which I'll attempt to do next. I have been wondering if this could possibly have anything to do with the message that Microsoft posted about shutting down systems every two hours unless a certified copy of Windows was installed (which I have done and activated). Sorry about the longwinded post, but I am hoping someone out there can help. Cheers....Schwartz
Mitchell_A
Essential Member
Hey, welcome to the forums 
It's most likely caused by the fact that you did an upgrade, clean install is the best way to go
However, you can try this:
Link Removed - Invalid URL
It's most likely caused by the fact that you did an upgrade, clean install is the best way to go
However, you can try this:
Link Removed - Invalid URL
Thanks for your suggestion. Unfortunately I purchased a retail upgrade version so a clean install was no option. There is no need to rebuild the icon cache as the main problem is a semi shutdown of the system which still shows the desktop and background image (a scene in Australia) but minus the icons and minus the ability to run the computer via the start button. In fact I have to restart the computer each time, which is a real pain in the neck. If all else fails I may have to resort to formatting my drive (I have a complete backup of all my own data on an external drive, which is renewed every month). The part that would be the biggest pain is the fact that I would have to re-install Vista+Service Pack1 first as a clean install, to enable me to install Windows7. Cheers
Mitchell_A
Essential Member
Well if worse comes to worse, check this out:
Link Removed due to 404 Error
Could you check the event logs to see if it's explorer crashing?
Link Removed due to 404 Error
Could you check the event logs to see if it's explorer crashing?
Hi Mitchell_A, thanks for all the info you provided. I have copied Thurrott's lengthy and in depth workarounds for doing a 'clean' install with my upgrade version of Windows7 Home premium. I'll certainly make use of his good advice and reps to you (don't know how to do that officially) for putting me on the right track. Just for your information I have also installed one of the copies on my HP laptop using the same procedure as with my desktop, without any problems. Cheers
Mitchell_A
Essential Member
Glad to have been of assistance
To add to a users reputation click the small snowflake/star shaped button beside the "Share With Facebook" link in any of that users posts.
I'll happily return the same reputation to you.
Don't hesitate to post back with any further questions.
To add to a users reputation click the small snowflake/star shaped button beside the "Share With Facebook" link in any of that users posts.
I'll happily return the same reputation to you.
Don't hesitate to post back with any further questions.
Mitchell_A
Essential Member
I've given you some in return, cheers
And why would you do that for someone asking for help. Just proves my original posts and blogs about abuse of the awards system!I've given you some in return, cheers
Mitchell_A
Essential Member
They were quite friendly and provided any necessary information, why don't they deserve to be rewarded?
I'll check out your blog post
I'll check out your blog post
If you feel, as a moderator, that this is correct procedure, then I have serious problems with this site.
"To add to a users reputation click the small snowflake/star shaped button beside the "Share With Facebook" link in any of that users posts.
I'll happily return the same reputation to you."
"To add to a users reputation click the small snowflake/star shaped button beside the "Share With Facebook" link in any of that users posts.
I'll happily return the same reputation to you."
I would actually ask that you use the "Did you find this post helpful" button. It is the exact same thing as using reputation. It is 100% the same, but it marks the post as being useful or not. You should also rate threads a lot. If many people did this, there'd be a much better way to gauge the truly good stuff, hmm?
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