M
MaxwellDwyer
This is about Windows system restore (and somewhat windows update), system performance and reliability. If you want to go straight to the problem, scroll to the "The problems" paragraph. Everything before that is preamble for extra information.
An introduction:
So I've put myself in a predicament through bad decision making. My computer has a Windows installation which has lasted me for the past ~3 years, and it's very important to me because it has years of customization and settings tweaking, history, and with the way I've installed things, what I've chosen to install and how I've configured them, my computer has always kept the same speed. This is how I've made it over the last 3 years.
Leading-up-to reasons:
Just recently I downloaded a select few mods for a game and they required Java. You know, Oracle Java, the one you download with the first link in Google Chrome after searching "java". So I downloaded Java and the mods for the game, and after I did the stuff I wanted to do in-game, I did my best at uninstalling them. Problem was, some of those mods ran an installer which installed them, but didn't have an uninstaller for me to use, and didn't show up in the control panel installed programs list (because they weren't programs), meaning an uninstallation had to be manual. Java, which I really should've known better in installing, could be uninstalled though the control panel installed programs list, but made other changes to the system which didn't go back after I'd uninstalled it using the control panel list, such as changing the desktop icons for some things I had on desktop to Java's teacup icon, or not deleting folders in certain places.
So, I'd saved what I needed the game mods for on a USB drive and ejected it. Now I had to put the system back to exactly the way it was, but I didn't know how to. The installers for the mods potentially made other changes to the system I didn't know about, and the icons changed by Java and the other files uninstalling Java didn't delete, which pertained to Java, I didn't know how to deal with. And after this is where I made an even larger mistake than installing the aforementioned mods and Java in the first place.
Problem-creating actions:
To deal with all this, I decided to do a System restore. Before I ran the Java installer, I made a restore point, just in case. Because I hoped restoring to this point would fix everything (since the things I wanted to keep were on the ejected USB drive), I'd decided to do it, and that's what I did. This messed up a lot.
The problems:
When I did the system restore, the system said it wanted to reboot, and I let it after bookmarking all my Chrome tabs that were open. The computer decided to then do a windows update that was in queue, even though I'd paused updates for the next week or two. It then said it was reverting the registry (I can't remember the exact order of update and registry reversion), and I immediately started having problems once it began starting up again. Past the BIOS delay screen, when loading Windows it took about 6 times longer than it usually does. Upon the login screen, it's the same deal with the sign in time, with an almost instant login time going to a very slow one. When I got onto my desktop, more problems. The icons on desktop still had the Java icon, everything seemed slower, applications like Google Chrome weren't loading, and somehow my computer FORGOT MY 2TB HARD DRIVE, and displayed it as a folder with the name of the volume. Here's a list of the problems:
- Boot time MUCH slower
- Sign-in time MUCH slower
- System Restore didn't even fix anything, such as the shortcut icons replaced with the Java one
- Applications weren't opening (Google Chrome) or were opening much slower (Windows Explorer and general)
- Somehow the system no longer recognized one of my hard drive volumes (I have 4 drives/volumes, this HDD is one)
So, I really need to put the system back to the way it was, including restoring the speed and reliability it had. What can I do about these problems? Is there a way to revert the system to before loading the Restore Point? Of lesser importance, how to I put the desktop icon back to the blank paper it was? How can I deal with programs maybe not loading? Is there ANY way of restoring the OS's speed that it had? Could Windows Update occurring during the System Restore have caused problems, and could this have been prevented, given it did it automatically due to a restart? I haven't touched the system since, and have left it plugged in, power supply on, until I get information from this forum, because i'm at a loss of what to do in this situation, and I need to get it back to the way it was desperately. Thanks for the help.
Continue reading...
An introduction:
So I've put myself in a predicament through bad decision making. My computer has a Windows installation which has lasted me for the past ~3 years, and it's very important to me because it has years of customization and settings tweaking, history, and with the way I've installed things, what I've chosen to install and how I've configured them, my computer has always kept the same speed. This is how I've made it over the last 3 years.
Leading-up-to reasons:
Just recently I downloaded a select few mods for a game and they required Java. You know, Oracle Java, the one you download with the first link in Google Chrome after searching "java". So I downloaded Java and the mods for the game, and after I did the stuff I wanted to do in-game, I did my best at uninstalling them. Problem was, some of those mods ran an installer which installed them, but didn't have an uninstaller for me to use, and didn't show up in the control panel installed programs list (because they weren't programs), meaning an uninstallation had to be manual. Java, which I really should've known better in installing, could be uninstalled though the control panel installed programs list, but made other changes to the system which didn't go back after I'd uninstalled it using the control panel list, such as changing the desktop icons for some things I had on desktop to Java's teacup icon, or not deleting folders in certain places.
So, I'd saved what I needed the game mods for on a USB drive and ejected it. Now I had to put the system back to exactly the way it was, but I didn't know how to. The installers for the mods potentially made other changes to the system I didn't know about, and the icons changed by Java and the other files uninstalling Java didn't delete, which pertained to Java, I didn't know how to deal with. And after this is where I made an even larger mistake than installing the aforementioned mods and Java in the first place.
Problem-creating actions:
To deal with all this, I decided to do a System restore. Before I ran the Java installer, I made a restore point, just in case. Because I hoped restoring to this point would fix everything (since the things I wanted to keep were on the ejected USB drive), I'd decided to do it, and that's what I did. This messed up a lot.
The problems:
When I did the system restore, the system said it wanted to reboot, and I let it after bookmarking all my Chrome tabs that were open. The computer decided to then do a windows update that was in queue, even though I'd paused updates for the next week or two. It then said it was reverting the registry (I can't remember the exact order of update and registry reversion), and I immediately started having problems once it began starting up again. Past the BIOS delay screen, when loading Windows it took about 6 times longer than it usually does. Upon the login screen, it's the same deal with the sign in time, with an almost instant login time going to a very slow one. When I got onto my desktop, more problems. The icons on desktop still had the Java icon, everything seemed slower, applications like Google Chrome weren't loading, and somehow my computer FORGOT MY 2TB HARD DRIVE, and displayed it as a folder with the name of the volume. Here's a list of the problems:
- Boot time MUCH slower
- Sign-in time MUCH slower
- System Restore didn't even fix anything, such as the shortcut icons replaced with the Java one
- Applications weren't opening (Google Chrome) or were opening much slower (Windows Explorer and general)
- Somehow the system no longer recognized one of my hard drive volumes (I have 4 drives/volumes, this HDD is one)
So, I really need to put the system back to the way it was, including restoring the speed and reliability it had. What can I do about these problems? Is there a way to revert the system to before loading the Restore Point? Of lesser importance, how to I put the desktop icon back to the blank paper it was? How can I deal with programs maybe not loading? Is there ANY way of restoring the OS's speed that it had? Could Windows Update occurring during the System Restore have caused problems, and could this have been prevented, given it did it automatically due to a restart? I haven't touched the system since, and have left it plugged in, power supply on, until I get information from this forum, because i'm at a loss of what to do in this situation, and I need to get it back to the way it was desperately. Thanks for the help.
Continue reading...