Unusable Applications in Windows 8

keefe

New Member
Messages
7
Hi
I upgraded to Windows 8 about a month ago, and quite frankly I have never had so many problems on my previous operating systems (95, 98, 98SE, 2000NT, XP Home, XP Professional) as I have on this.

I have had to completely reinstall Windows 8 three times now due to things going wrong, such as;

1. 'Change PC Settings' became inoperative after a few days, nothing happens when I click on it.
2. The 'Desktop' Tile all of a sudden disappeared from the main start-up apps.
3. Some of my Desktop Shortcut Icons have turned blank just showing just a 'White Paper' Icon.
4. Some programs when I launch, say the I don't have Administration Rights to access the program, when I do have admin rights.

I notice looking through the posts in the forum that these problems come up very often, I have tried to fix them following other users advice but no joy.

I have the latest drivers, this includes my Graphics Display driver which is the latest version.

So whats going on with Windows 8, its the worst version of windows I've came across, when are the techies going to do something about these common problems, as I'm defiant to reinstall it all again which takes me all day due to the amount of software I have to reinstall.

Hope you can give me some good advice how I can fix these ongoing problems.

Kind Regards
Keith
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 upgrade
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ACPI x86-based PC
    CPU
    Intel Core Duo 7500 2.94GB
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5G41T-MLX
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Ge Force 9600
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox 10.0.2
    Antivirus
    Panda AV Pro 2013
You mean, you install Windows 8 and these things continually occur? I am wondering, how you installed it, as an Upgrade, as a fresh install, and if Fresh, what kind of install disk was it.

Your Desktop Tile may have just been hidden, you can get to it from "Show All Apps" which you can get to by Right-Kliking the Metro Window.

But the things that seem to be locked out, that sounds like two things: Your Activation has failed, or, your Hard Drive has developed Read Element Failure, which WILL happen from just one forced shutdown, you have to scan the whole drive using a program that can read the hard drive and fix errors - CHKDSK cannot do this, as you need to check the whole surface and all partitions within it.

Down beneath my Sig Pic, there is a link for Hiren's Boot CD - Download that and burn it, boot to it, and get into "DOS PROGRAMS" - There are many Hard Drive Tools, I use three different ones: GWscan, which will read and repair your WHOLE drive - Western Digital WDIAG, which is the same program but made for WD drives - and ViVard, which can read and repair the whole drive if there are too many errors for GWscan or WDIAG to repair. Use one of those programs and check your Drive integrity.

After that, Boot to Hiren's Mini XP and do a FULL CHKDSK from there using a command prompt - CHKDSK c: /x /r

WHen you are done with those, reboot to Windows 8, and see if the Auto Repair runs and finalizes, it shoud run one more short CHKDSK and boot, see if your blanked out tiles and features come back.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Hi
Many thanks for your quick response and informative information.

My Windows 8 is a Downloaded Upgrade and the license is activated.

I have right clicked on the Apps, but there's No 'Desktop' tile there !

I have done system scans and a hard drive scan using; 'System Mechanic' which came up OK.

I will take your advice and download the boot files and put on disk, I will let you know of any further developments.

Kind Regards
Keith
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 upgrade
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ACPI x86-based PC
    CPU
    Intel Core Duo 7500 2.94GB
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5G41T-MLX
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Ge Force 9600
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox 10.0.2
    Antivirus
    Panda AV Pro 2013
Hi
I downloadeded "Hiren's Boot CD" as instructed, my Antivirus detected it as a Virus !!

Keith
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 upgrade
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ACPI x86-based PC
    CPU
    Intel Core Duo 7500 2.94GB
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5G41T-MLX
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Ge Force 9600
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox 10.0.2
    Antivirus
    Panda AV Pro 2013
umm... i have got some help for you :)

problem 1. for the change PC settings problem, boot with your windows 8 installation disc and do an automatic repair, it will find out any problem with your HD, Errors in your OS and will hopefully diagnose it.

prob.2..... it is just the way XweaonX said

prob.3 the desktop icons have turned out to be blank because they are not configured with an default program... like... if you consider windows 8 the default image viewer is your bitmap image viewer(modern app), many people have changed that config. like me to windows photo viewer(desktop app) so to see if any app has been given the default launcher.... to configure this.. right click on the file and use open with.... option
the other reason behind this maybe, the extension of the file has been compromised. like, consider a pic with PNG format. if in case when you change the extension to anything which doesn't suit the app, the app may not work..!! .... so for this make sure what kind of the file was it before you had windows 8 and rename the extension , for this right-click on the file and move to ir's properties, to see what is it's extension

problem 4. this is so because you haven't merged your microsoft account with your PC, you see...... you cant even delete windows.old Folder if you haven't merged a Microsoft account.
Done.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 pro with WMC x86 & windows Blue preview x86 with Windows 7 Ultimate SP1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    custom-build PC
    Motherboard
    INTEL DH55PJ MOTHERBOARD
    Browser
    google chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky Pure 3.0

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 pro with WMC x86 & windows Blue preview x86 with Windows 7 Ultimate SP1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    custom-build PC
    Motherboard
    INTEL DH55PJ MOTHERBOARD
    Browser
    google chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky Pure 3.0
Check your hard disk with crystal disk info and look for s.m.a.r.t. errors, also, give windows memory diagnostics a try, if both come clean, perform a real clean reinstall and avoid crapware like system mechanics, which usually end up screwing more than fixing problems.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Lenovo Mahobay
    Memory
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG L192WS
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900@60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Pro
    Seagate ST31000524AS
    PSU
    Corsair HX620
    Case
    Thermaltake V4
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster Hyper212+
    Keyboard
    Dell SK-8115
    Mouse
    Razer Copperhead
    Internet Speed
    100Mbit up/dn
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    MSE (Built-In Windows 8)
coming again... i forgot to tell you a point :mad:
change PC settings may not work if you have bad display drivers.. update them dude... :thumbsup:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 pro with WMC x86 & windows Blue preview x86 with Windows 7 Ultimate SP1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    custom-build PC
    Motherboard
    INTEL DH55PJ MOTHERBOARD
    Browser
    google chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky Pure 3.0
Sorry to rain on your parade guys, but nothing happens without a cause, even in the windows. You have to do something for things like that to happen. It maybe funny but since last November i have done a lot to my W8 and it's still ticking like Swiss watch. Experimented up and down with it and only once or twice had to do repair and even that only because of hardware problems caused by excessive OC. In the mean time a lot of people asked for advice on their systems and very occasionally I was able to replicate their problems. Never had such stable OS yet and went thru most of them since '80s.
Most of those problems came from using various "Do it all system fixers" and excessive registry cleaners. So do not use them there's almost everything in the windows and W8 does not "dirty" itself nearly at all. A good uninstaller like Revo can get rid of most leftovers from programs, on disk or in the Registry. To fix most problems that "appeared by themselves" a quick System Restore would do.
"God Mode" for win7 works on W8 too and gives you tens of system settings and utilities in a click of the mouse button. Another common mistake is that people indiscriminately disable various "Unneeded " Services or some "Fixer " program does it for them. Again, do not disable any unless you know exactly what they are for and what re precautions it brings. There's a tab on the properties on each one called "Dependencies" which will tell you what will happen if you turn them off. Most of them in W8 are "start and stop" and will not waste memory and processor cycles when not in use.
That stuff about Admin rights is not exactly clear. Yes you can be Administrator on your system but there are various degrees of it. Onthe menu on the right mouse button there's a "Run as Administrator" which rely means Elevated Administrator Rights, so when some program tells you that it needs Administrator rights to run, use that, usually helps. The third degree is "Take Ownership" for a file, folder or even whole disk but requires a registry change, so use with caution.
That "Desktop" tile is really not needed at all, you can always bring cursor to the left bottom corner and see miniature desktop or app that's open on it, that's what I do, or, push Windows button on the keyboard. If you want to bring back proper tile for it, it is also on the All Apps in Metro. right click on it and mark "Pin to Start".
I successfully removed "windows.old" folder by starting to erase it and when it said that it can't remove some files I chustjumped over it and when the rest of them was deleted, restarted computer and after that was able to delete the rest.
As for the icons that turned blank, it happens when they get associated with a particular program and than you get rid of it, they still didn't fix that problem but at least there's no "Hide icons when not used" from the desktop, like in XP.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Hi Guys
Many thanks for all your help and advice you've given me, I have tried all that Salim96 advised me to do, I refreshed windows with a boot application on a memory stick, it fixed the problems with the 'Change PC Settings' and I managed to get the 'Desktop Tile' back.

All was working fine until this morning, I started Windows and I'm back to the two main problems again, there's No 'Desktop Tile' when I right click in Apps and 'Change PC Settings' does not respond !

Yesterday I was reinstalling the programs that 'Refresh' removed, every time now I install 'Firefox' (latest Version 21.0) it works fine until I reboot my PC, then the shortcut and the main application file turn into a White Paper Icon. When I click on this to launch it comes up that I don't have permission to access this file.
I have now reinstalled Firefox 4 times on top of the original program, when I do this it works fine until the next reboot or start up.
I have even right clicked on the main application and checked permissions, I have 'Full Control' over these.

I have also done a full scan of my drive with an up to date Antivirus, no problems found there.

So to sum up guys, it looks like I'm stuck with the missing 'Desktop Tile' and inoperative 'Change PC Settings' until Microsoft comes out with a fix for this.

Regards
Keith
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 upgrade
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ACPI x86-based PC
    CPU
    Intel Core Duo 7500 2.94GB
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5G41T-MLX
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Ge Force 9600
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox 10.0.2
    Antivirus
    Panda AV Pro 2013
Hello Keith, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Since you were dealing with a virus originally, did you do a clean install to format and start fresh? To me that's the only true way to help make sure the virus was eliminated. If you didn't, then you might consider.

If you did, then the tutorial below may be able to help with the missing desktop tile on your Start screen.

In addition, you might see if going through all the troubleshooting steps in the tutorial below may help with "PC settings" not working since it is part of the modern UI (Metro) system.

Hope this helps some for now, :)
Shawn
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hello Keith, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Since you were dealing with a virus originally, did you do a clean install to format and start fresh? To me that's the only true way to help make sure the virus was eliminated. If you didn't, then you might consider.

If you did, then the tutorial below may be able to help with the missing desktop tile on your Start screen.
In addition, you might see if going through all the troubleshooting steps in the tutorial below may help with "PC settings" not working since it is part of the modern UI (Metro) system.
Hope this helps some for now, :)
Shawn

oh my bad, didn't thought of it. the virus might be the reason too... the virus even after refreshing gets powers from the windows.old and if not that there would be any system directory. so please follow brink's method of clean installing. which would thoroughly wipe the virus out of your PC .
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 pro with WMC x86 & windows Blue preview x86 with Windows 7 Ultimate SP1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    custom-build PC
    Motherboard
    INTEL DH55PJ MOTHERBOARD
    Browser
    google chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky Pure 3.0
Hiren's Boot CD may show up as a virus, it has a bunch of programs that use methods that are detected as virii, but it is safe as long as you use it carefully. We are not suggesting to use any of those programs, just the Disk Scanning programs.

If you have No Desktop, I'm wondering if you have Windows 8 RT?

Also, which Antivirus are you using, I use both Windows Defender and ESET NOD32 6, neither of those detect Hiren's as a Virus.

You may want to open a command prompt, and run "SFC /SCANNOW" to see if any of your system files are being overwritten or deleted. As CountMike says, nothing happens without a reason, you may have a seriously bad program installed, Babylon Toolbar, Ask Toolbar, any Conduit toolbars even though those are the safest. Sometimes, malicious programs get installed simply by clicking on an ad on a website. It is starting to sound like this is the case.

1) Delete all of your AV Programs. 2) Install Eset NOD32 - Not the smart security, just the AV. 3) do a full scan on your system drive and see what it finds.

After you do that, download both TDSSKILLER and Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit and search for rootkits and more Malware. Both are free, Google them for Download Locations.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
From your latest post, Keefe, it does sound like you may have a virus. Have you merged your Local Account into a Microsoft/Skydrive account?

It sounds like you are having Admin problems, there is another recent post with a link, I'll pull it up and find you a link to download something to try.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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