Solved Windows Eight various problems

[sparkie415]

I hope someone can help, daughter brought her laptop around last night with a few little problems as follows
1, Control panel opens just blank
2,.Windows store will not open at all.
3. No sound from laptop speakers.
4 Just runs really slow on start up.
I have been trying to solve the above all day with limited results.

Ran malware bytes 9 Pups detected and removed.
Ran system mechanic , Loads of system clutter removed, 28 start up items disabled, files re aligned .System mechanic got stuck on checking over drivers.Ran scan again same result stuck on driver check ,I left for over an hour.
Ran Avast scan all ok
Ran Dell system detect this also got stuck and would not complete its cycle.
Ran Dell Diagnostic check . This did complete and all was found to be OK (including the audio?)
Followed various tutorials on here and Microsoft re. the blank Control Panel and the windows store problem.But all ways ran into trouble half-way..through the tutorials
Tried running cmd promt elevated level for sfc /scannnow but it would not run.
Tried to download two Dell drivers but only one would install.
Tried to do a system restore. Created a restore point for six months ago but it would not run.

Laptop does run a lot faster now but all other issues remain.
i am thinking of making a back up of all her photes and iTunes account and carry out a factory reset and start again.
As regards the audio problem , the mute button is not set on mute, the 0-100 volume shoes 72 but red x still shows speakers muted .

Forgot to mention Windows Update will not run

Machine Dell Inspiron 3521 running windows 8 64 bit
Regards and thanks

 

[Ztruker]

You should have a backup of her data no matter what you do. Ideally an image backup to an external USB hard drive is the best way to go. Macrium Reflect Free is a good program to do the backup with.

Once you have that a restore to factory is the quickest way to get everything working again for sure.

 

[broe23]

To further check. Go to READ & RUN ME FIRST Malware Removal Guide (incl. spyware, virus, trojan, hijacker) - MajorGeeks Support Forums Also run CCleaner a couple of times for Registry fix at the end of the cleanup (use Desktop mode). That should do it. I use Clonezilla to make disk images on our NAS. That was my wife's laptop and mine have the full install up to aprox 2 to 3 months when I run it.

 

[sparkie415]

Thanks for all the advice, carried out a Dell factory reset, all problems disappeared. Everything running as it should be (fingers crossed).

Once again thanks for advice and help.