Anyone still running Windows 7?

Hey everyone...
I’m running into a weird issue with the date and time on my computer running Windows 7.
Sometimes it saves correctly, but other times it just forgets everything when I boot up.
My PC runs pretty much non-stop—it turns on every morning and stays powered through late into the night.
I already tried replacing the CMOS battery on the motherboard with a brand new one, but I'm still stuck with the same problem.
Any idea what might be causing this or how I can actually fix it?

Thanks...

Larry Ortiz5 said:Don't quote me 100% on this, but I'm pretty sure that Product ID you're looking at isn't actually the Product Key you need to type in during a Windows installation to get everything activated. You've got a Windows 7 disc or DVD, right? Okay... just grab this little tool and run it:

https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

Once it's installed, it should pick up your actual Windows 7 product key/CD key. Just write that thing down on a piece of paper or, better yet, snap a photo of it with your phone. Then, once you wipe the hard drive and install a fresh copy of Windows, just plug that key in and you'll be all set with activation...😁

Thanks a lot, I'll give that a shot🙂 👏

shadowpanther0 said:Hey everyone...
I'm having some trouble with the date and time on my computer running Windows 7.
Sometimes it remembers the correct time, but other times it resets every time I boot up.
The PC stays on from early morning until late at night every single day.
I already swapped out the CMOS battery on the motherboard for a brand new one, but the issue is still happening.
What else could be causing this, and how can I fix it?

Thanks...

Try clicking the clock in the bottom corner and select "change date and time settings," then head over to the internet time tab and hit "change setting." If the box for "Synchronize with an Internet Server" isn't checked, go ahead and check it, click "update now," and then hit OK. Once you reboot the next time, see if that does the trick.

Hey everyone!
I'm running into a bit of a headache with Windows 7 and could really use some advice. Everything was running perfectly until a couple of days ago... now, when I boot up my PC, I get to the desktop, but there isn't a single icon in sight—aside from the usual My Computer and Recycle Bin—and nothing will actually open. I can move my mouse around the desktop just fine, but clicking on a program does absolutely nothing. I even tried hitting Alt+Ctrl+Del to bring up a new task, but it won't even give me the option to select one. If I try to shut down the PC through the menu, it just hangs on the "Logging Off" screen forever... it's completely frozen. From what I've gathered online, a full reinstall of Windows might fix this, but I'd really love to avoid going through all that trouble if possible. Does anyone know of another way to troubleshoot this?

I managed to get this post written and uploaded a screenshot since I'm currently running in Safe Mode.

Here is what the screen looks like when I boot up normally: http://tinypic.com/r/24guh7a/8

It’s looking pretty likely that you've got a virus or some other kind of malware messing with things. You should probably grab https://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/eek/

just download it, extract the files, run the updates, and then go ahead with a full system scan. Once it finds whatever junk is hiding there, just delete it—then try booting your computer up "normally" without using Safe Mode.

It actually worked using that program you suggested. Thanks a ton!

I am a little baffled, though—why didn't Norton flag this at all?! I mean, I’m usually pretty careful about what I download, where I’m getting my files from, and which sites I end up browsing...

But hey, the issue is sorted now, so thanks again.

I can't say much about NOD32—I used it back in the day, but it never really felt like the right fit for me.
As for Emsisoft, I actually stumbled upon it a few months ago and spent some time digging through reviews from pretty much everyone. Honestly, it’s 👍If you're looking for a change, maybe try uninstalling NOD32 and grabbing Emsisoft Anti-Malware instead? It’s basically getting the best of both worlds by combining an antivirus and anti-malware into one package.

http://www.reddit.com/r/windows7

Installing Windows 7

I really need some help here. I’ve got my computer running on Windows 7 Ultimate, specifically the 32-bit version. Lately, I’ve been hitting a brick wall whenever I try to do something simple, like clicking on the date and time to sync my system clock with an internet server. Every single time I click, I get hit with this annoying error message from explorer.EXE saying Windows can't access the specified device, path, or file—basically telling me I might not have the necessary permissions. This wasn't happening before; I used to be able to open it without any drama. What on earth is going on? Why would a simple mouse click suddenly trigger a permission error like this? I'd be incredibly grateful to anyone who can point me in the right direction and help me fix this!!!

Are you logged in as an Administrator? If not—and assuming you have multiple accounts set up—you’ll need to sign into the admin account first, otherwise the system won't let you through.

I find myself relying on GOM to stream my movies, yet I’ve noticed a rather vexing pattern where older films simply refuse to launch on the first attempt; more often than not, I have to force the application to open three times before it finally decides to cooperate... I can't help but wonder why this happens. 🙂 P.s. I am currently running Windows 7.

What actually happens when it won't open? Does it throw some kind of error message or something?

Hello,

The last time I attempted to install Windows 7—which was actually my first time doing so—the system immediately started running updates right after the installation process finished. It felt like it went on forever... with endless automatic restarts over and over again.

I honestly thought my PC had fallen into some kind of infinite loop... but I decided to just let it run, and after a few hours, it finally wrapped things up. (That is, if you don't count the fact that a couple of days later, it decided it needed more updates, forcing me into another thirty minutes of waiting right when I desperately needed to get some work done...)

Now, I am facing another Windows 7 installation, but this time I don't have a reliable internet connection. I'm relying on a mobile hotspot where data is quite expensive.
Is it worth proceeding with the Windows 7 installation without those updates, or without an internet connection entirely? Does the computer absolutely need web access to pull down necessary drivers?

Perhaps someone could provide similar insight regarding Windows 8.1? Is an internet connection required for that installation as well? And how does the licensing work with 8.1—is it still possible to bypass the activation, or is a legitimate license mandatory?

You don't actually need an internet connection to run the installation itself. That said, you’ll definitely want to grab some updates once it's done. Honestly, your best bet is to find an installer that already has the latest updates integrated—that way, after you finish, there will only be a few small patches left to download...

Drew Allen77 said:You don't actually need an internet connection just to run the installation itself. However, it would certainly be beneficial to run the updates. Your best bet is to find an installer that already has the latest updates integrated; that way, once you finish installing, there will only be a few minor patches left to download...

I was wondering, how does one go about finding an installation file that already includes those integrated updates?

Windows updates are pretty much a cornerstone of computer security—mostly because they're how you patch up vulnerabilities within the OS. It’s true that sometimes an update might cause more headaches than it actually solves, but I guess it all comes down to weighing risk against laziness.

How you actually go about installing them depends on what kind of Windows serial key you're working with—assuming you even have one.

David Gomez6 said:Maybe you'd like to hear the same answers regarding Windows 8.1? Is an internet connection required for installation there? How does the whole process work with 8.1? Can it still be hacked, or do you actually need a license?

Nonsense. What license?
Microsoft's middle name is humanitarian.org

David Gomez6 said:Does anyone know how to find an installation that already includes all the updates?

You can grab a clean, legitimate version of Windows 7 Ultimate here with all the updates through April 2015 included. They have versions for Windows 8.1 available as well.

http://www.drillbell.ro/category/windows7/

Thank you all so much!

Alright, let me lay out exactly what's going on here. I’ve got an ASUS X55A laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate. It’s about two and a half years old now, and honestly, up until recently, I haven't had a single hiccup—hardware or software—the whole time. My usage is pretty basic: just browsing the web, streaming movies or shows, listening to music, that kind of thing. For anything remotely intensive like gaming, I always jump on my desktop.

But then, a few days ago, the machine decided to download a massive pile of updates, and ever since? Everything has gone completely, utterly, and frankly, infuriatingly sideways. It’s a total disaster.

Now, when I boot it up, I have to sit there for at least five minutes just waiting for Windows to load. And even after that, I’m stuck waiting another 15 to 20 minutes while all these various systems struggle to initialize. Once it finally settles, the whole thing is painfully sluggish—opening even the simplest program feels like pulling teeth.

Web browsing has become a nightmare. Every time I try to open a new tab, Firefox just freezes up for two or three minutes straight, throwing that "Mozilla Firefox is not responding" error at me, and once it finally unfreezes, the page loads at a snail's pace.

To make matters worse, the sound has vanished entirely. The system claims everything is working perfectly fine, but there's nothing. I've tried reinstalling the drivers—wiped the old ones and installed the new ones—but no luck. I even followed several troubleshooting tips I found on the ASUS support site specifically for this model, but absolutely nothing worked.

I ran scans with Malwarebytes and some other tools, and everything came back clean. No viruses, no malware.

It is beyond frustrating because this laptop has become practically useless. At this rate, the only way I could get rid of it would be to try and sell it to some kind of masochist.

So, what do you think? Should I just wipe the whole drive and perform a clean reinstall?