Win 7 has stopped launching applications. Help!

lowlylowlycook

So my computer has a problem that is perplexing me. Most apps refuse to launch. After a quick loading cursor there is just nothing.

The apps that seem to work.
snap shot
minesweeper, solitare
console -- including running, say tracert
notepad
MSE
Windows Help
Task manager

Apps that don't
Anything I've installed -- at least I can't think of an exception to this
Internet Explorer -- but at one point a window was opened by another application but couldn't connect. Which is odd.
Windows Media Player

Fixes I've tried
Safe Mode
Rolling back to several previous restore points.
System Repair form the install disk -- said no problem. Seems to only check boot problems.


Anyone have something to try before I go to reinstall? In particular, I glanced at the event logs but didn't see anything that obviously corresponded to the programs failing to launch but I'm no Windows expert. Any advice on exactly where to look would be appreciated.

iTunesIsEvil

If you haven't already, see what happens if you set UAC to the lowest (least restrictive) setting. If you've already got it there, try turning it up a notch, rebooting, and turning it back down again.

TetraNitroCubane

This isn't a solution so much as a diagnostic, but I'd suggest downloading Sysinternal's Process Explorer. Run the program as Admin, and take a look at what's running in the background. You're likely to see somewhere between 30-50 programs/services depending on what you've got going, but pay attention to what's running underneath (daughter to) Explorer.exe. Leave Process Explorer open and then try to launch one of the problematic programs. Does Process Explorer show that the program is still running, even though you can't see it actually doing anything? Or does it open, and then immediately shut down?

If it's just hanging and not launching, it might be something hardware related. If the programs are closing as soon as they open without generating an error in the event viewer, it may (possibly - not certainly) be something like a trojan or other infection. A lot of times malware is designed to kill new processes on launch to prevent scanners and other tools from operating. Again, just a possibility.

lowlylowlycook

I should have thought about that but it didn't help.

Zell

lowlylowlycook wrote: »

So my computer has a problem that is perplexing me. Most apps refuse to launch. After a quick loading cursor there is just nothing.

The apps that seem to work.
snap shot
minesweeper, solitare
console -- including running, say tracert
notepad
MSE
Windows Help
Task manager

Apps that don't
Anything I've installed -- at least I can't think of an exception to this
Internet Explorer -- but at one point a window was opened by another application but couldn't connect. Which is odd.
Windows Media Player

Fixes I've tried
Safe Mode
Rolling back to several previous restore points.
System Repair form the install disk -- said no problem. Seems to only check boot problems.


Anyone have something to try before I go to reinstall? In particular, I glanced at the event logs but didn't see anything that obviously corresponded to the programs failing to launch but I'm no Windows expert. Any advice on exactly where to look would be appreciated.

All the programs that are working are 64 bit and all the ones that aren't are 32 bit, also all 64 bit applications use DEP. Not sure if that's any helpful to you but something to think about.