Where do I start?

[taylor1277]

with trying to fix my laptop, I am having problems mainly with drivers. I think. Is there any program that I can use that will fix windows, I am using Windows 8.1 64bit. I think I had to put all that information when I joined. I really don't have the money for an expensive program. Just suffered from OHS. Can someone please help. I ran Malwarebytes Antimalware and it says that I don;'t have any viruses as of now.

 

[mrjimphelps]

Can you be more specific as to what problems you are having? Is the computer slow? Is it crashing? Do you have print problems?

There is no way that anyone can suggest a solution if we don't know what the problem is.

 

[taylor1277]

Thank you first of all for asking this question. >>> "Can I add be more specific?" Yes. Well, the problem that I am having seems to be driver issues. I tried to reinstall my Bitdefender VPN it says driver error. I tried to restore my computer under system restore. And it says pretty much the same thing. I can't revert my system. I go under Device Manager and disabled drivers to update drivers, it says that I have the latest drivers. I try and connect with my Bluetooth headphones they come back and say there is a driver error. If I look under Bluetooth now it says they are paired, but I can't connect to them. Almost seems as though everything is working on Windows but when I need to connect also say the printer. I get no connection like there is a wall somewhere on my system that is blocking devices. I had a problem also with Windows update but I found a program called FixWU. And that worked, what I did was deleted an update that I had just previously gotten from Windows Update and when I ran it again it re-registered and I downloaded it. It is a lot to read but it mostly has to do with drivers. I am looking for a program that is strong enough to read drivers, even if they are corrupt and can disable them and reinstall them. I am presently looking at this website and dong these things and I am also looking into the recovery software they have. System Restore did not complete successfully – Fix for Windows 7
This is where I am the present time.
Oh and under Device Manager the only driver that has a yellow caution is Ethernet Controller. I am on wifi. And one other thing that I tried to disable and it won't I have 7 unknown devices under Network Adapters. Tried to uninstall them, they won't so I disabled them all. If you have any more questions, please ask I will answer. I thank you and all who can help. It is always greatly appreciated.

 

[mrjimphelps]

One possibility is that you are logging in with very little rights to do things on the computer. You need to log into Windows with Administrator rights in order to do driver maintenance tasks. (I don't think this is the case, but it could be.)

Another possibility is that you have a damaged Windows install. You could do a clean factory reset on your computer - this would wipe your hard drive clean and put Windows back the way it was when the computer was brand new. There is likely an option for this on your computer. Or, you could order the eRecovery Media from Acer: eRecovery Media | Acer

I strongly suggest that you order the eRecovery Media for your computer. Even if you don't need it right now, you might need it in the future. If your hard drive ever crashes, there won't be any way to do a factory restore except with the eRecovery Media. And make a copy or two of the eRecovery Media when you receive it, because you can get only one copy from Acer.

 

[taylor1277]

Well since we last chatted, I have fixed my windows update. I also have gotten my antivirus up and running where it doesn't shut off, of Autopilot. I have Bitdefender 2018. I will have to see if system restore is working after I get off here.
In response to your last comment. I always run everything I do in Run in administrator. I am also sure I am running Windows 8.1 in administrative too.
That is the thing I am trying to avoid. It seems to be the easy way out running a clean install. Doing a clean reinstall means I have to go back and spend hours and days putting all the programs back on my system. And then saving all my photos, documents and whatever else to another drive. I want to avoid this. I'm sure someone has come out with a program that will scan and correct drivers, even if it by force. I did it with Windows Update. By using FixWU. A program I found online.
1.) Can I uninstall all the drivers under device manager? and then run windows update? Won't this reinstall all the drivers? I will look into getting a disk from Acer. Will they only give me one copy of the Recovery Disk?

 

[mrjimphelps]

If you want to avoid having to ever do a clean install, you need to begin immediately to do backups of your system. I suggest you get an aftermarket backup program, such as Macrium Reflect Free, along with an external hard drive (say, 2 TB in size). Install Macrium, and create the emergency boot disk. Then do a complete backup of your hard drive.

Do regular backups, so that you can easily recover if something happens. For example, if your hard drive crashes, you will be out of luck if you don't have a current backup available to restore to the new hard drive.