Yesterday I tried to update windows the thing failed repeatedly, now I can not open anything that require administrator command. I am looking at two programs installed yesterday in the "Program" section of the control panel, and I cannot uninstall them. Suspecting that these are the virus.  I am literally sitting here waiting for advice.  Symptoms summary:   In a nutshell this is what happens:  -All administrator command in opening things tells me that it can not find the file to be opened, because the path is wrong.  -Can not delete using control panel, the "preparing to uninstall" is stuck forever  -Can not update windows, update always fails with internet interruptions  -Can not finish any anti-virus scans.  Also, the virus, I believe (because it was installed yesterday) is disguised as "Microsoft Silverlight" and when I tried to uninstall it, it asked me "do you want the following program to make changes to your computer?: silverlight_base.msi"
698
What should I do if my Windows computer seems to be infected with a virus or malware?  What are the symptoms of an infection? What should I do after noticing an infection? What can I do to get rid of it? how to prevent from infection by malware?   This question comes up frequently, and the suggested solutions are usually the same. This community wiki is an attempt to serve as the definitive, most comprehensive answer possible. Feel free to add your contributions via edits.
42726
Just been working on a new laptop today (Acer) and it was pre-installed with all sorts of crapware. Mostly games and "backup utilities" and McAfee. I had to manually uninstall about 30 apps via Vista's Programs and Features  So it got me wondering is there any way of mass uninstalling or queuing an app to be uninstalled? Through Vista/XP you need to wait for Install Shield or whatever to close before beginning to uninstall the next app. Took way more time than it should have.  Just another one of those Windows annoyances! Any help appreciated as I often need to do this when I come across a slow machine that's just been clogged with a bunch of useless apps
4651
There's a folder on my desktop called like 'example' and when I try to delete it it says "You require permission from the computer's admistrator to make changes to this folder" when checking the properties; the Current owner says "Unable to display current owner."  I have tried many solutions found online, including enabling &amp; signing into the adminstrator account, but haven't been able to fix it. My situation is extremely similar .  I can't even open the folder. I am running Windows 7 x64 Home Premium. I can't do anything to the folder because I need permission from my 'computer administrator' It's extremely weird, and I can't fix it. Thanks in advance!  UPDATE: Yes, I'm adminsitrator on my computer.
708
So, I just built my PC today, and am only using Ubuntu until I get Windows installed (sorry, guys!) But when I go to click on any .exe file, nothing happens.  It just sits there.  No error message, nothing.  I've seen other people with similar problems, but they all get an error message.  But not me... Whats going on?  How do I fix this?  Help?
53282
I recently inherited the management of a Windows 2012 server at a remote site.    I checked Windows Update and it has not been updating since March.  When I tell Windows to check for updates, it acts like it is checking, but it seems to say that for hours.   If I attempt to restart the windows update service, it seems to never be able to shut down.  My only remedy seems to be rebooting to get back to the point where I can tell Windows Update to check for new updates.    The last successful check for updates says March 20.  The last time updates were installed says March 17 (failed).  The update history shows that one update failed for March 17, a printer driver update, but the history shows 13 failed updates for Feb 17.  Not sure what else to try.
64199
One of my family members has a Windows (Vista) machine which is waking itself up from hibernation in an annoying fashion. Some investigation suggests that Windows Update is the guilty party - it doesn't happen every day, but when it does it's always at the time set for Windows Update to install updates at, and the WindowsUpdate.log file says that it's woken the machine in order to install updates.  I suspect I can fix this by changing it to not install updates automatically, but I'd really rather that I didn't have to. I would prefer if there was some option to simply not wake the machine for it, but I can't see such a thing.  Does anyone know how to stop this from happening? There are quite a few mentions of this kind of thing on the internet but I haven't found any real answers yet.
2299
I installed Windows 7 fresh and installed SP1. Now, when I try to check manually for Windows Updates it just hangs on the Checking for updates screen.    I tried running the tools in , but this did not fix the issue either:  No matter what I do it just hangs on the "Checking for updates..." screen and goes no further.
2726
Even the smallest update of one package or security patch makes Windows need to restart. Why? If an anti-virus application doesn't need it after patch update, why Windows need it after updating Security Essentials' virus-signature files? On the other hand, Linux mostly doesn't need it except when it upgrades its kernel. Note: I am talking especially about Windows 7. I don't know much about Windows 8, or the Server editions.
55701
It appears Microsoft plans on antagonizing or punishing users who want to use Windows 7 and Windows 8 by . It appears the updates that accomplishes it are KB4012218 and KB4012219.  I still use Windows 7 and with an occasional Windows 8. I have not acquired a taste for Windows 10. I don't agree to the change in the terms of service, and I don't agree to throw away my investments and purchases. I would like to permanently block the updates.  How do I permanently block KB4012218, KB4012219, and other related updates?  I've got a feeling a Hide this update in the Windows Update control panel is not going to work as expected. We know a bit about how Microsoft is going to handle things from the  malware. That's why I am looking for a way to block "related updates", too.
110549
OK, please, following you have an updated one step ahead question regarding my first question post on the title.  The question now is, how possibly get some info or tracing/debug on, which possible reason is leading to this error referring to SYSPREP.  In the net I found several posts for this, and the following link do have quite exact instructions what to look at and try, and I have also been following most of them, except maybe one-two, which I now will still follow on a next Upgrade trial in few hours.  ->   Here you have a summary of the background info for this case:   Windows 10 Anniversary Upgrade is stuck at ab. 32% done, in a minute after the second (despite named as FIRST_BOOT) restart at 30%, during the actual final update process phase, with blank grey display and power-on after an emergency power-off in a quarter or so, the Upgrade trial will got reversed and following error splash window will pop-up:     We couldn't install Windows 10      We've set your PC back to the way it was just before you started installing Windows 10.      0xC1900101 - 0x30018    The installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during SYSPREP operation  the laptop is some 7yrs old with dual-core AMD 1.9GHz 32-bit, memory 3GB, and has been working great with Windows 10 Pro (updated from 8.1) since 9 months I know there is outdatings with e.g. display driver, now run with the basic MS one, and Wi-Fi driver etc., but several of the risky devices and also software have been disabled during the Upgrade trials   I hope someone could help me some step ahead on this.
96758
I asked this same question on my original account that I no longer have access to. Yesterday when I turned on my computer a tab opened that is just a blue screen called      C\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe    I got an answer saying to disable it from startup which did not work. I got a comment that said I probably installed something that wants to run a script at startup but it is unknown is it is malicious or not due to lack of information. I got another comment saying to run a program to tell me the process and copy and paste it so here is that:      "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe"    I need to know if I should be worried about this happening every time I start my computer or if I will be fine and a solution to get rid of it would be very helpful.
107029
I think this issue has been going on for over a month now.  I boot my PC and the Adobe Updater tells me to download a new version of Flash. It sends me to  with the following information visible:     Version 11.9.900.152      Your system:      Windows, English   The Update Now button simply links to      I've cleared my cache, that didn't help. The Are you an IT manager or OEM links me to a page where I can either Apply to distribute Flash Player or Download Adobe Flash Player, the latter just sends me back to where I came from. I've uninstalled and rebooted, went to the Adobe website and clicked Adobe Flash Player under the Download menu. The Install now button again links me to  Need Flash Player for a different computer? sends me to  and the Download now button is greyed out and unclickable.   How can I update?
55150
I am attempting to install two hotfixes manually from Microsoft - one addresses the svchost.exe extreme memory usage problem, and the other addresses the slow Windows Update problem.  This system is a freshly installed Windows 7, and I have the two MSU updates saved locally to my desktop, but it is never actually finding such updates, and therefore never actually installs the two fixes.  Is there a way to force Windows Update Standalone Installer to just install the single update and not look for all the updates?
93841
When I try to delete one of these two shortcuts, a message appears saying, "If you remove this file, Windows or another program may no longer work correctly."! I don't think that it is possible to keep same named files into a single directory. Is this any malware or anything harmful for my PC?
46187
My OS keeps turning off automatic Windows updates without even logging off or restarting the computer.  Action center icon in the task bar warns me about choosing an option for Windows update as if I haven't chosen countless times already.  It started to get really annoying to keep choosing a Windows update option 5 - 10 times a day.   I really appreciate any help you can provide on this matter.  Things I have tried so far;   I have tried  suggested by . Unfortunately didn't help my case Tried following commands; reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update" /v AUOptions /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f  and then sc config wuauserv start= auto as suggested . Googling. Tried few suggestions which didn't help my case.
106061
I first installed Windows 8 Pro 64 bits OEM a few months ago. I did a clean install with the same disc and key yesterday, after installing new hardware. I remember having this very same issue with my first installation, but I am absolutely unable to remember or find what I had managed to do. I remember it wasn't one of the obvious solutions, though.  I am unable to activate Windows. In PC settings, I get "Windows cannot be activated right now. Please try again later. If the issue persists, contact your system administrator or technical support to get help." (Rough translation)  When I try to activate it through alternate methods, I get error code 0x8007007B, "The syntax of the file, directory or volume's name is incorrect." (Rough translation)  I have tried the following:   Normal method through PC settings Normal method through control panel slui 3 method (which tells me my key is correct when I type it, then an error when I try to do the activation) Running cmd as administrator and using slmgr commands
78940
I am on Windows 7.  I have some files on my computer leftover from an old version of Photoshop.  (I think... I don't remember exactly where they came from, but they seem to be Adobe files.)  There are 124 of them in a folder, which I have named "KILL."  (I don't remember what the original name of this folder is, it's been on my comptuer a long time.)  These files seem to be absolutely undeletable, as far as I can tell.  I can move them around and change the name of the folder, but deleting them is out of the question.  I also can't move them onto a different hard drive or flash drive, I've tried that.  So, let me list the things I've tried first:   A whole bunch of different "unlocking programs."  Including: IObit Unlocker, Lock Hunter, FileAssassin, and Project Kill box.  What I use LockHunter I am told: "No processes locking this file or folder have been found."  All of the other programs I've tried give me similar messages, telling me that nothing is locking the files.  Yet when I try to delete the files using LockHunter, I am simply told "Cannot delete x."  No reason is given. Tried using cmd.exe.  Even when I run a command window under administrator, it won't even let me access the KILL folder, much less delete anything.  I also tried killing explorer.exe from the task manager, and then using the cmd window.  Still can't even access that folder. Tried using safe mode in combination with these other options, doesn't change a thing. Tried changing permissions of the files using the security tab under properties.  It simply says "not inherited."  It will not allow me to change a thing. I am definitely the administrator of this computer. Tried Disk Cleanup and Defrag.  I suspected that some files must be damaged or something, but Disk Cleanup wasn't able to find any errors.  Defrag didn't help.   So, let me just say that I am not a computer expert.  But based on all the things I've tried, I suspect that this might be some hardware problem?  It seems strange that these files don't seem to be used by any processes, and yet are absolutely undeletable no matter what I do.  Is there anything else I can try?  Has anyone had any similar experience, and have any idea why this might have happened?  EDIT: Interesting recent development.  As I have toyed with moving the folder around, I moved it to the Program Files folder.  Now that it's there, it suddenly CANNOT be moved nor renamed.  It is stuck there, apparently permanently, as a folder called "KILL."  How irritating.