So, my computer gave me a delightful little message telling me that The Instruction at 0x00000000 referenced memory at 0x00000000. This is something to do with a BSOD which happened a week or so ago because Windows 7 did something which caused Windows to crash. I did a system restore when it happened, but apparently Windows didn't fix itself very well. Thanks Windows. The problem seems to be win32k.sys. I looked to try another restore, but I've only got one system restore on my computer, and that was slightly yesterday slightly. Around about eight O'clock too. So it wont make a bloody difference to anything. tldr; Windows has killed itself, and now I'm probably going to have to reinstall it because it managed to delete system restores which I needed. I swear this bloody OS does this crap on purpose. Anyway, anyone got any advice? I heard that installing Windows 8 wouldn't effect personal data, but the downside to that is that I'd then be using Windows 8. *Shudders*
Windows 7 crashes itself and sometimes deletes its own files for apparently no reason. It's a shame that Windows XP is not supported anymore. XP was the best OS in the technical way.
Windows 8 alone is fine, really. I have no issues with it. 8.1, less so. I don't suggest you go for that.
Upgrading doesn't effect personal data, but wanting to reinstall 7 will. Are you not able to grab all the data you want onto an external or something, and then start from scratch with 7, if that's what you'd prefer to run? As from personal experience 8/8.1 is fine to use and not as bad as what many think or suggest. I have had issues with 8, none with 8.1.
I guess switching to Windows 8 would be the easiest route. I do have a spare Hard drive on my old pc which I guess could become useful if I chose to reinstall Windows 7, but it's just effort. If possible though, I'd much rather try and fix my current OS. But I guess if it's not possible, then bleh. Funny story- My old school gave me a free copy of Windows 8, but I wasn't so keen on it. I decided to just continue using Windows 7. MUG. The copy I was given wouldn't work now, because it could only be used for about a year
Well, its all really up to you then. I'm not sure if its possible to fix your current installation fully, but if you want to keep with 7, then it'll be easiest to get your files over to your spare drive and format your current one, and reinstall on there. Its really not that difficult to do, just perhaps a little time consuming, especially if you have lots of personal files.
If you think any system files are damaged the safest thing I might try is run sfc /scannow from the command prompt to see if it finds anything. Also, if you boot into the Windows 7 installation media there is a recovery option called Startup Repair which will look for damaged or missing system files and grab new ones, if this is the case.
Doesn't Startup Repair require the disk? Because I didn't receive the disk for Windows when I got the PC, unfortunately. Is there another way to use boot Startup Repair? Sorry, and thanks.
Installation Media == Installation Disc And no, well at least, not now. If you have another PC lying around with the same type of Windows 7 (32 bit, 64 bit) as yours and is stable, you can create your own repair disc and can have that tool and some others. But otherwise, no because that's how it grabs new copies of the files. Is this some OEM PC with a Recovery Partition? Maybe they have included the ability to do the same or something similar.
My other PC uses XP, because XP is rad. I use Windows 7 64-bit on my main one, which is having the issues. I suppose I could just get a friend to create me a repair disk. At the moment, my computer seems to be starting up alright without error messages. I've restarted it a few times, to see if the problem pops up any more, and it seems to be doing fine other than being more sluggish than usual. I guess that could be in part due to the heat. If I do experience another issue within the next few days, I'll see about using System Repair to try and fix the issue. Thanks
No problem. Just a fair warning though, back up your personal stuff before you attempt any of the recovery processes and know that it also might not find any "problems" to fix. I've had it work only a handful of times, but if it does find something it usually turns out okay. On a side note, if this is something recent and you don't recall changing any system settings maybe you've picked up some sort of nasty malware along the way. If the PC is working okay-ish now I'd maybe give https://www.malwarebytes.org/ a try with its free on-demand scanning version. It's not an antivirus replacement, but can supplement. Good luck.
It wants you to switch to Windows 8... It's the only logical explanation. Just like Google is forcing their control over your life by making you use a Google+ account for everything...
Oh boi. I'll keep that in mind, and backup everything of importance on my other computer. And thanks, I'll give that a try. Thanks again, bro! You're awesome! It's funny because the only way they can get people on Google+ is by forcing people onto it. I never really use Youtube accounts or anything like that, so I've pretty much avoided it. The only google product I really use is Google Chrome. (inb4 "To continue using Chrome, connect it up to your Google+ account. Don't have one? Sign up Here!")
Bit late to the party here but I have to say I've never had a major problem with Windows 7 and I've been using it (heavily) on my Desktop for the past ... Gah, I don't even know... 3-4 years? At least! Since before EP was around definitely. I've experienced problems with Vista, and my sister's Windows 8 laptop seems to quite frequently decide that it doesn't want to do this, that or well, anything really. But nope, Windows 7 I've never had any major problems with (touch wood...).
