Many problems since upgrading from 7 to Windows 8

Hi,

I have an old Toshiba Satellite L640 (Intel i3 2.27 GHz, 4 GB Ram, 64-bit) and I was about to throw this thing in the trash it was becoming so slow. It has been infected with some malware/virus that specifically attacks browsers, hijacks them, steals ram, etc. It was getting to the point to where I could not really use it and had tried AdAware, CCleaner, Malware Bytes and none of them fixed it. Well I upgraded to Windows 8 thinking that a new OS might do the trick - and it did to a certain extent - my RAM/cache usage is a million times better.

That problem has been fixed, but now I have other problems:

My wifi printer (Canon PIXMA MX-8800) no longer works.
My computer no longer detects the battery.
IE now asks me to "Open", "Save", "Save As" every web page I visit.
The browser hijacker is still there in Firefox and IE (fbdownloader.net) but not in Chrome.
None of my browsers want to display PDFs.

Any help, specifically on the printer would be much appreciated.

Note: I did not do a clean install from boot because I have a couple programs I don't know where the CD & cd-keys are.. so I'm trying not to lose them... I'm sure that would be the ultimate solution, is there a way for me to secure my programs and documents and then start with a clean format and install?

dude, upgrading an OS is a very bad idea, lots of driver and software incompatibilities. now what you did is just REALLY bad, upgrading an infected system. Who knows what damage to the OS and its core files those malware has done?

Do a clean install, get updated drivers and experience the difference

to the

makes me wonder why you didn't just do a factory restore ,using either the recovery partition or the recovery disks you were prompted to create when you first bought the laptop

Because I think he or she wanted to save the few (or more) programs that he or she acquired, you know, somehow. You know?

rltrdc said:

Note: I did not do a clean install from boot because I have a couple programs I don't know where the CD & cd-keys are.. so I'm trying not to lose them... I'm sure that would be the ultimate solution, is there a way for me to secure my programs and documents and then start with a clean format and install?

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Since I can't tell yet which country you call home, everything I've looked for is United States, which is where I live.

Try Belarc Advisor; it may or may not give your license keys for your programs, but it's worth a try. Belarc - System Management For The Internet Age. Software license management, IT asset management, IT security audits and more.

The thing is, at this point in time, you know why we're told not to install a new OS over an old one, but then there's no one here who hasn't "learned the hard way" for a variety of reasons and at least once, myself included several times over.

Had you installed over a perfectly tuned Windows 7, I'm pretty sure everything would be running fine, including most of your drivers. With that said, and because I can't know how old your printer is, it could be that it isn't compatible with Windows 8; otherwise, the drivers should have been installed. I couldn't find a Canon Pixma MX-8800 printer in Canon's support pages, so I couldn't check to see if there are Windows 8 drivers.

Overall, though, the best advice I can give you is to start over with a clean installation of Windows 8. Hopefully, you have a physical upgrade DVD (or an ISO) and product key for Windows 8.

The computer isn't going to work properly with all that malware on it, and who knows what it's doing . . . Look at what happened to Target! If it happened to them, worse can happen to us as individuals. I got caught up in that Target mess because I bought an external hard drive on sale; I was lucky that my bank caught it before my account was emptied . . .

Good luck!

popeye said:

to the

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Mostly everyone will tell you to blow up the install and start fresh. Upgrade installs of Windows that will be flawless will only happen when mostly everything is all WinRT based, not Win32. That causes all sorts of issues. Basically, it's like jacking up an older house off its original foundation, pouring in a new foundation, and setting the house back on top of it hoping it sets down nicely and doesn't settle.

Friends don't let friends upgrade Windows, only fresh installs.

But that isn't too difficult to do, it will just require some time to backup all your data onto something external, a bootable USB drive with a clean image of Windows 8.1, and the list of programs you have and use. It will also be prudent to check Windows 8.1's compatibility with your printer. Also, since it's not detecting a battery installed that means one of three things: 1) your battery is shot 2) your battery contact fins on the laptop are dirty 3) a driver screwed up somewhere from 7 to 8.

To save licensing info for those programs, check through the settings of them, like from the Help dropdown menu and the About page or some such. If you have an email registered with those programs, the developer may be able to help you with that.

Since this is most likely a Windows 7 PC, I suggest you do this.

Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums

Another Ditto to the other Ditto's.