Posted on 07/12/2013 8:39:09 AM PDT by publius911
Windows had no updates for a few weeks. Yesterday there were somewhere around 17 that kicked in with automatic update.
My Win 7Pro desktop handled it apparently with no problem; my laptop was something else.
The laptop is running Win7 premium and has always updated with no problem. This time, I left it running overnight and it would turn itself off. The following morning after it booted, it went through the configuring process, I got a cursor, but there was no taskbar. Pretty much nothing can happen without a taskbar, either logging in, starting the browser trouble shooting or anything else. I do a have a cursor, but nowhere to go.
Two questions. Anyone else had a problem with recent Win7 updates?
Anyone experienced before a "no taskbar" condition?
Yes I am logged in.
There is an outside chance (although I did not see it) that my cat walked on the keyboard while the laptop was unattended.
Any help from the gurus or geeks would be appreciated.
I need to go out for about an hour, but will check in to see the words of wisdom and the jokes when I return.
Windows key in the lower left. Does it pull up the program list?
Run virus check if you can. Type in MRT (Microsoft Removal Tool) form your search and try to run it.
First line of defense, restart in safe mode, wait until the help screen about safe mode appears (if you can get into windows in safe mode), then restart normally and see if it works. Sometimes updates get a little wonky. How long have you had the laptop and how long do you run it per week?
This sounds eerily familiar to a HD error (bad sector write) during updates on a laptop I just repaired - eventually the HD just died and had to be replaced.
same thing happened to mine after that update last night-I turned it off and turned it back on and it’s fine...
My update yesterday hung up too. I just cancelled and did a retry. Right click in the taskbar area and select properties. You get a taskbar property window which may have some hints for you. Blaming this on a cat is unacceptable.
“There is an outside chance (although I did not see it) that my cat walked on the keyboard while the laptop was unattended.”
*
Ridiculous. Cats don’t walk on keyboards at night...they play World of Warcraft online.
My experience: Same (pile of updates, lengthyish reconfig on next restart)
No cat. Some things are a little....hinky....but I do have cursor et al. Google chrome (browser seems to work a little worse, IE (which I never use except for this test) works better but I still hate it and now hate it slightly more.
Just giving you some color; I have no fix suggestions.
No taskbar/start menu is usually a sign that “explorer.exe” did not start or crashed. You can manually start it by hitting “Ctrl-Alt-Delete”, starting Task Manager, then going to the File menu and clicking “New Task (run)”, typing in “explorer.exe” and hitting Ok. Or just restart the computer.
If it keeps failing to start, you probably need to roll back the updates. To do that, either restart in Safe Mode, or restart to “Last Known Good Configuration”. Then go to Control Panel > Programs > Installed Updates and right-click and uninstall the most recent ones.
Do a System Restore to a time before the updates. (Windows creates a restore point before doing updates so use this)
Install the updates one by one until the system behaves incorrectly. It is probably one of the .NET framework updates.
Reboot. Slowly tap the F8 key as it’s booting until you get a start up menu of options.
Select the “Last Known Good Configuration” option. That will roll you back to your pre-update state and try again.
If it doesn’t boot into anything, you might have a corrupt kernel or hive in the registry. Try the “Last Known” option first and let us know if that works.
Did you try rebooting after the first boot?
Thank you for that fast reply. I checked this thread before going out the door. Yes, I hadn't thought of that magic Windows button. I tried it and while perusing the list to guess what to try with the list that popped up, I found the problem. Now all I have to remember is how to solve it.
I have the taskbar as normally hidden, and it had relocated itself to the right edge of the screen, and "hidden" until I nudged the cursor up there. Got to remember how to move it back, now.
Thanks for the tip, and thanks to everyone else who responded that I have not read yet.
Going to do that now, but the problem is pretty much solved.
Freepers are great!
I apologized to her (in this case.)
But to be fair, she is usually guilty!
dooooh!
you should have had PCMatic.com
I never allow automatic updates.
I think what may have happened is that your laptop may have gone to sleep while the update was still underway, so that it failed to complete. Others have made good suggestions about recovery.
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