# Problems after system refresh



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

Hi All,

My Dell Inspiron laptop has been getting really sluggish recently, so I decided to do a system refresh. I backed up all my music and photos etc on a hdd just in case, but they survived intact. I was running windows 8.1

I've got three main problems (so far) My browser bookmarks have gone. I use Chrome. I've managed to find the file in windows.old/user etc etc which says bookmarks, renamed it to bookmarks.html but I can't import them into Chrome. If I open the file, I can see all the information is there.

Secondly, my main user account has no permissions, no control panel or anything. I've unhidden the admin account, logged in there and tried to change permissions, but it says I'm already an admin, but still no access to anything. I was a full admin before the refresh.

Thirdly, the only reason I did a refresh was the promise of a list of applications that would be gone so I could reinstall these easily, but I can't find it. There's nothing on the desktop under my account, or under any of the others, including the hidden admin account. It would make it so much easier to get back to normal if I had this.

I would appreciate any help you could give.

Thanks,

Dom

P.S. Just noticed I have no sound, a message about no Conexant driver or something, when I hover over the speaker in the system tray there is a red cross and a message "No Audio Output Device is installed"


----------



## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

What happens when you try to import from the HTML you found? For future reference there's an excellent product called Xmarks which lets you sync your bookmarks across all browsers. If most of yours are in IE, might as well import them.
Unfortunately the Refresh in Windows 8 isn't the same as a Repair Install in earlier versions. I recommend using the "Custom" settings to better protect what you want. Refresh otherwise removes all apps and installed programs. Open IE and click Removed Apps. Don't reinstall Programs until completing Windows Update.


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

In Chrome when I try, absolutely nothing happens. I tried in IE as well, and I get the message "Some settings were not imported successfully"

I can't find the Removed Apps thing, I don't understand what you mean.

Dom


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

View attachment Bookmarks.txt


I've attached a text document of the html file I rescued from windows.old if that's any help.

Thanks,

Dom


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Try this: Restore Bookmarks in Chrome - Computer Repair - Seva Call Blog but change the path to C:\Windows.old\Users... etc


----------



## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Do you see an IE icon on your desktop saying Removed Aps?
If it's there, that's your answer to "thirdly"


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

spunk.funk said:


> Try this: Restore Bookmarks in Chrome - Computer Repair - Seva Call Blog but change the path to C:\Windows.old\Users... etc


That's great, worked perfectly, thanks very much.



> Do you see an IE icon on your desktop saying Removed Aps?
> If it's there, that's your answer to "thirdly"


Nope nothing like that on the desktop at all


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Glad to hear you got it sorted. Please mark this thread Solved in the Thread Tools at the top.


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

spunk.funk said:


> Glad to hear you got it sorted. Please mark this thread Solved in the Thread Tools at the top.


That's only one of the problems fixed. I still don't have a list of programs that windows deleted, or my main user account having permissions.

Thanks,

Dom


----------



## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Take Ownership of a File or Folder
ALSO: Takeown


----------



## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

What method did you use to *"refresh"* your Windows8? Did you perform a *SYSTEM RESTORE*? Did you use the *WindowsRE and Windows disc* that came with your computer? Did you use *FACTORY RECOVERY DISCS* that came with your computer or ones that you created with a *MEDIA CREATOR* program on your computer? Or did you use the *HIDDEN FACTORY RESET PARTITION* built into your hard drive?

It sounds to me like whatever you did, you did it incorrectly. :facepalm:Tell us more about the exact procedure you attempted, and we can tell you how to correct it.:smile:

If you lost your Windows Owner account permissions, drivers no longer installed and working, you definitely have a failed *WINDOWS RESET or WINDOWS REFRESH. *

This type of problem can very often take several days to figure out and correct through our Forum method. It takes a lot of skill and patience to do so. :ermm:

If you are in a hurry, like many of my Customers they can't be without their computers for more than a day; you may wish to take your backup data and your computer into your local repair shop and have them assist you with a correct reinstallation/rebuild and pay them to do so.:smile:

If you decide to proceed, post back answers to my questions, and we'll attempt to guide you through the various tests and repairs necessary.

Best,:thumb:
*<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>> :yltype:*


----------



## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

The very fact Windows Old is there suggested you did a reinstall but without a format but it also sounds like it didn't go well so again what exactly did you do?


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

Hi,

I swiped in from the right, went to settings, general and then about half way down there is an option which says "Refresh your PC without affecting your files" The computer is working in so far as I am on the internet posting this, I've sorted out itunes, office and so on, there's just a couple of strange things going on, like the missing file which tells me what programs I need to reinstall and the permissions thing with my user account. I can still access control panel etc if I change to the admin account, but my user account is an admin account so I shouldn't (and never had to previously) have to do that. I've fixed the soundcard issue, and sound is now working, and I've recovered my bookmarks thanks to a previous post.

Thanks

Dom


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Go to Search and type *CMD*, right click the *CMD *results and Run As Administrator. In the Elevated Command Prompt type *SFC /scannow* and press enter. This will replace any missing system files.


----------



## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

DrPips: The IE desktop icon I mentioned would only list the missing apps which is a word you used earlier. Missing Programs are up to you to reinstall from DVD or download. As above, Spunk's suggestion should take care of missing OS files. A suggestion which I'm sure you realize now is not to undertake a computer task unless you're fully informed of the possible pitfalls.


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

Corday said:


> DrPips: The IE desktop icon I mentioned would only list the missing apps which is a word you used earlier. Missing Programs are up to you to reinstall from DVD or download.


This is taken from the windows support website for the Windows refresh feature.

Warning

Applications you’ve installed from websites and DVDs will be removed. Applications that came with your PC and apps you've installed from the Windows Store will be reinstalled. Windows puts a list of removed applications on your desktop after refreshing your PC.

That would suggest to me everything I've installed, such as microsoft office, virus protection etc. Anything I've installed from a DVD or a website. An application is a program in the truest sense of the word.


----------



## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

You are correct as aps are programs by definition. Unfortunately the Warning applies as written by MS. Not getting the list after the reinstall indicates something went wrong in the process.


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

spunk.funk said:


> Go to Search and type *CMD*, right click the *CMD *results and Run As Administrator. In the Elevated Command Prompt type *SFC /scannow* and press enter. This will replace any missing system files.


Done the scan, it says everything is ok.


----------



## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

And you still have account ownership permissions on your main user account. This indicates to me that 1 of 2 things happened. (1) The *REFRESH* which is done from the hidden *RECOVERY PARTITION* on your hard drive I mentioned did *NOT* work correctly; or *(2)* You have a failing or faulty hard drive. 

The best way to do this would be to test your hard drive at this point. You can do this procedure to do this:
*(1) Test your HARD DRIVE.* On a PC that's 5 years old or older as is yours, it is *VERY* likely your hard drive is failing or has failed. :facepalm: _Hard Drives are the #1 failed component in both desktops and laptops across all makes/models.:nonono:_ Download the free *SEATOOLS* drive diagnostic from the link in my Signature below and run *BOTH* short and long tests on your drive. If *SEATOOLS* returns any errors your drive has *FAILED* and must be *REPLACED.  *If this is the case, you will need to start Data Recovery to get all your Personal Data copied off that drive onto external media._[Also, if you have a *Toshiba, Hitachi, or HGST drive*, *SEATOOLS *won't test those drives so you will have to go to WD's website wd.com and download the appropriate diagnostic, either DLG or HGST to test those 3 types of drives. Additionally if you have a SSD boot drive, you will need to download *TRIM* via google to test SSD drive]_.

************************************************************************
If your hard drive returned errors in any of the tests above, SEATOOLS, DLG, HGST, TRIM, then that could be the reason your laptop still isn't working correctly.:ermm: If your hard drive passes all tests, then it could be the *REFRESH process itself* as I said earlier. One thing I've notice with the laptop manufacturer's when they use the *REFRESH with saved files option*, it doesn't do a good job of fixing everything as it only overwrites system files and not the MFT or other Windows indexes on the partition.:nonono:

This means in layman's terms that the partition can still be scrambled as can the Windows registry. The best way to fix this, is to make sure all your data is backed up to external media and then reuse *REFRESH* _but do a complete reset to factory condition._ This will format the entire hard drive, wipe out partition tables, and any other hiding nasty viruses as well. It will repartion the entire drive, and reinstall all programs that came with your laptop from the factory. This will absolutely fix your Account Permissions problem. :smile:

It's up to you whether you wish to do this, but if you've tried to create a new Admin account and it's working, then the *REFRESH* process did not do a proper job, and trying to take ownership of the existing account usually won't fix this type of problem. Sometimes that can be done, but it sounds like you have a corrupted registry. That is unless it turns out your hard drive failed any of my above tests and you had to replace it.

<<<BBJ>>>


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

BIGBEARJEDI said:


> The best way to do this would be to test your hard drive at this point. You can do this procedure to do this:


I'll set it running that tonight. Thanks for your help. In the meantime I've noticed something else, although I don't this is a new thing, something that's just become more prominent. 

Whenever I go to a website, before the site loads up with the dark blue circle swirling round (in Chrome) there's a faint grey one going round at first, sometimes just for a few seconds but sometimes indefinitely and the webpage doesn't load. It's really slowing things down and driving me crazy. Could that be part of the same problem? I have tried in Internet explorer as well and the same thing happens.

Dom


----------



## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

Very likely; browser loading problems can be difficult to isolate. In the meantime, visit *SPEEDTEST.NET* and test your Internet connection speed to your computer. If you are getting like 2MBPS download speed, but you are paying for 25MPBS download speed and you *REMEMBER* getting 25MBPS download speed before your computer started acting up; it's very likely your Windows is scrambled beyond repair or a nasty virus has attacked your Windows networking files.:facepalm: Also, not easily repairable! 

If you have access to another computer in your home, or have a friend or family member with a laptop. Hook up the other computer to your Internet or your friend or family member's laptop and run *SPEEDTEST.NET* again. If it's like 20-25MPBS (hypothetical here; your Internet speed will be different depending on your locale and the amount of money you pay each month to your ISP for either low, medium, or enhanced high-speed broadband Internet), that points the finger directly at your faultering computer, like you recall on that other computer, your computer is definitely sick and needs to be rebuilt as I said. Once you rebuild your computer by doing the *WINDOWS RESET or WINDOWS REINSTALLATION*, and the problem abates, you're all set to go! :dance:

If the problem doesn't abate, you most likely have suffered a hardware failure, and tha't most likely to come from your hard drive, since as I have said, it's the #1 failed component across *ALL* computer, ALL makes/models, both desktops and laptops. 

<<<BBJ>>>


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

Ok, so my broadband speed is fine, around 25Mbs download and 10 upload as it should be. Tested against my ipad and the results were similar (slightly better on laptop). I tried the HDD test and it wouldn't find a drive. I burnt the file from your link to a CD and booted from CD, the program opened, but wouldn't find anything. My HDD is a ST1000lm024, so a Seagate drive.

I'm also noticing something else. Every now and then I get a message saying the Catalyst control centre has shut down, and sometimes when I restart I get a blue screen saying the thread is stuck in device driver.

What should I do next? 

Thanks,

Dom


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Go to Search and type *devmgmt.msc*, Right click the *devmgmt* results and *Run As Administrator*. In the Elevated *Device Manager*, Expand *Display*, and write down the ATI/AMD video device model number. 
Go to Search and type *appwiz.cpl *and press enter. In the Program and Features, uninstall the *ATI/AMD Catalyst Control Center *software and Restart. The computer should load with the default VGA driver. 
Now go to the AMD download drivers site Download Drivers Type in your make and model # of your video card, or click to have the web site detect your card and download the driver for Windows 8 and install it. You do not have to install the whole Catalyst Control Center software just the video driver. 
If *Seatools* is having a problem finding your *Seagate *HDD, then it is on the road to failing or has already failed and needs to be replaced. 
You can test this theory but going to Search and type *CMD*, Right click the *CMD *results and *Run As Administrator*. In the Elevated *Command Prompt* type *chkdsk /R* and press Enter. Now type a *Y *for Yes, and restart the computer.,* Check Disk* will start at next bootup. This may take a long time. If it hangs or fails, then the HDD needs to be replaced.


----------



## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

Thanks for the assist on this, Spunk!
<<<BBJ>>>


----------



## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

Hi Dr.,
while you are going through Spunk's recommend procedures, another thing that occurred to me is that many people who have never burned an ISO file to a CD before, you'll need to use a special burning program such as *IMGburn* *also free in link in my signature below* to properly prepare the CD to be able to boot and run the *SEATOOLS* program. Copying the files over using Windows Explorer or other burning programs may not produce a CD with the correct Image structure on it which is required to boot and run *SEATOOLS *program. :nono:

If you are sure you did this correctly, you can test this theory by taking it to another computer in your home (you mentioned you had a table to test your SPEEDTEST.NET; but that probably does not have a CD/DVD drive); you may need to take it over to a friend's house or a neighbor or family-member to test your *SEATOOLS *boot disk. It should only take like 10 min. to do this. 

Here's the upshot of this little test:
*(1.)* If the *SEATOOLS disk* works on a different computer than the one you are testing; as Spunk indicated that hard drive has failed and must be replaced!  _It could well be the cause of all the weird lost bookmarks and account owner permission issues you have been encountering. _New hard drive + Windows reinstallation=all you problems solved!:dance:

*(2.*) If the *SEATOOLS disk* does *NOT* work on a different computer(s); then you probably made the disc incorrectly.:facepalm: You will need to make sure that the hard drive on the borrowed computer for this test is *NOT* one of the following (_WD, Toshiba, Hitachi, or HGST, or any SSD drive_). If your borrowed computer has one of these *SEATOOLS disc* may or not boot; so test is inconclusive. If you can find a friend with a computer that has an actual Seagate drive in it, then this would be the best, since *SEATOOLS* will always work on Seagate drives since they are the manufacturer of the program and the drives.:smile: If you cannot find a suitable computer to test this disk, you can also go to your local Computer Store and ask them if you can test your disk on one of their computers with a Seagate drive (I've done this before at chain stores like MicroCenter and BestBuy). 

They may charge you $20; but you'll know if your *SEATOOLS disk* is made right. Sometimes, they may just give you a free copy of one of the *SEATOOLS disk* that the Tech has on his bench. You may want to throw him a Starbucks GiftCard if he does that!:grin: Most places will charge you *$45-$90 US *or so to test your drive; which is another option you have if you can't get *SEATOOLS disc* to work or borrow one. Techs can test your drive and determine if it's failing or failed and needs to be replaced. They will then give you an estimate of a suitable replacement drive, cost, and labor to install/replace it in your existing computer. This will probably be *$130-$175* or so parts and labor. 2-3 times that if outside the US.:ermm: Hard drives in most cases can be replaced by the end-user (you).:wink:

Let us know how it goes.

Cheers!<<<BBJ>>> :thumb:


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

spunk.funk said:


> Go to Search and type *devmgmt.msc*, Right click the *devmgmt* results and *Run As Administrator*. In the Elevated *Device Manager*, Expand *Display*, and write down the ATI/AMD video device model number.
> Go to Search and type *appwiz.cpl *and press enter. In the Program and Features, uninstall the *ATI/AMD Catalyst Control Center *software and Restart. The computer should load with the default VGA driver.
> Now go to the AMD download drivers site Download Drivers Type in your make and model # of your video card, or click to have the web site detect your card and download the driver for Windows 8 and install it. You do not have to install the whole Catalyst Control Center software just the video driver.
> If *Seatools* is having a problem finding your *Seagate *HDD, then it is on the road to failing or has already failed and needs to be replaced.
> You can test this theory but going to Search and type *CMD*, Right click the *CMD *results and *Run As Administrator*. In the Elevated *Command Prompt* type *chkdsk /R* and press Enter. Now type a *Y *for Yes, and restart the computer.,* Check Disk* will start at next bootup. This may take a long time. If it hangs or fails, then the HDD needs to be replaced.


Ok, so it's been stuck at 12% for an hour. What should I do?


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

> If it hangs or fails, then the HDD needs to be replaced.


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

Sorry, I mean in the short term. Am I ok to restart the computer and try and save as much as I can.

Could you recommend a HDD to replace it with? Do you think an IT technician at the school I teach at would be able replace it? When it's done, will it be roughly as fast as when I first got the computer?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your help

Dom


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

When a HDD hangs on Check Disk, that means it has too many bad sectors and should be replaced. You can wait it out, and see if it every completes, but you really need to replace the HDD. You can stop Check Disk and You can use an Ubuntu Live CD to boot the computer and you can browse the C: drive for the disc and save your files to a USB HDD. Unless you can boot into Windows, then just hook up a USB HDD and drag and drop your User files to it.
We suggest replacing the HDD and reinstalling Windows and your programs, you then can restore your files. 
Once you have a new HDD and a Windows disc or Recovery CD, An IT technician at your school could replace it for you or you can do it yourself, it's not hard. You can go to Youtube for videos on how to replace your HDD. 
Once you install a new HDD and install Windows etc, you will have a laptop that is returned to just like the day you bought it. 
Any 2.5" SATA HDD can replace the HDD you currently have. You can probably upgrade and get a larger capacity, for more storage space.


----------



## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

Thanks for the assist, Spunk.:smile: Good advice there Dr. for you.:wink:

I *ALWAYS* recommend *WD drives*; probably didn't hurt that I worked there for nearly 5 yrs. and helped design many of their early drives and controllers. :wink:

Good luck!:thumb:
<<<BBJ>>>


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

I ended up falling asleep while it was still stuck at 12%. When I woke up this morning the computer had reset. I've found what I think it the log file for the Check Disk.

+ System 

- Provider 

[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-Wininit 
[ Guid] {206f6dea-d3c5-4d10-bc72-989f03c8b84b} 
[ EventSourceName] Wininit 

- EventID 1001 

[ Qualifiers] 16384 

Version 0 

Level 4 

Task 0 

Opcode 0 

Keywords 0x80000000000000 

- TimeCreated 

[ SystemTime] 2014-11-10T23:45:04.000000000Z 

EventRecordID 3561 

Correlation 

- Execution 

[ ProcessID] 0 
[ ThreadID] 0 

Channel Application 

Computer Dom 

Security 


- EventData 

Checking file system on C: The type of the file system is NTFS. Volume label is OS. A disk check has been scheduled. Windows will now check the disk. Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ... 818688 file records processed. File verification completed. 3146 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ... 924722 index entries processed. Index verification completed. 0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered. Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ... Cleaning up 7419 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9. Cleaning up 7419 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9. Cleaning up 7419 unused security descriptors. CHKDSK is compacting the security descriptor stream Security descriptor verification completed. 53018 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... 37649792 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed. Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ... 818672 files processed. File data verification completed. Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ... 90403413 free clusters processed. Free space verification is complete. CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap. Windows has made corrections to the file system. No further action is required. 960564223 KB total disk space. 597830776 KB in 253244 files. 167776 KB in 53021 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 952015 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 361613656 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 240141055 total allocation units on disk. 90403414 allocation units available on disk. Internal Info: 00 7e 0c 00 57 ac 04 00 64 62 08 00 00 00 00 00 .~..W...db...... a9 6d 00 00 8a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 .m.............. Windows has finished checking your disk. Please wait while your computer restarts. 


I don't understand any of that, but I presume it confirms that the drive is broken. I'm using it now in windows, and it doesn't seem too bad, but I'll look into a new drive.

As regards replacing windows, I bought my computer from Dell and it didn't come with a disk with windows on, I presume it's all stored on this hidden partition, so how would I reinstall windows when I get the new drive? Or shall I be a real rebel and run Ubuntu instead of windows? All I use the computer for is download managers (SABnzb, Couch Potato, Sickbeard, uTorrent) browsing web, and using MS office (is there an ubuntu version of this?)

Thanks again,

Dom


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

> 0 KB in bad sectors


 All you need to know from the log file is in this quote above. In other words, if you had any bad sectors, it has moved the data off of them and _Fixed _your drive. 
We still suggest replacing your HDD when you have the time and money, as this HDD may last a few months but it will eventually fail. 
As for Windows, Manufacturers do not give out Discs anymore they suggest that you burn your own recovery CD when you first get your computer. 
If you replace your HDD, you can contact Dell and they may be able to provide you with a recovery CD for a few dollars. Or you can buy one off of Ebay or Craigslist.


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

spunk.funk said:


> As for Windows, Manufacturers do not give out Discs anymore they suggest that you burn your own recovery CD when you first get your computer.
> If you replace your HDD, you can contact Dell and they may be able to provide you with a recovery CD for a few dollars. Or you can buy one off of Ebay or Craigslist.


Can I not make my own from my computer as its working now? Is this easy to do?


----------



## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

How to Make an XP Recovery Disk | eHow
In the future, stay away from P2P sites. Your computer will stay a lot cleaner.


----------



## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

DrPips said:


> I ended up falling asleep while it was still stuck at 12%. When I woke up this morning the computer had reset. I've found what I think it the log file for the Check Disk.
> 
> + System
> 
> ...


----------



## DrPips (Mar 6, 2010)

Thanks very much for all your help guys. Really appreciated. Computer seems to be running much better now, so I'll get some recovery disks and wait for it to fail. In the meantime, I'm setting my computer up to sync to my NAS on a nightly basis all my documents and photos so when it does die, I won't lose anything.

Thanks again,

Dom


----------

