Glitches in my Administrator Account - not in other accounts

Nisko said:

I want to try the tutorial - but I have a question: I have MANY custom icons on my Desktop. Will they revert to the standard icons?

I don't know. The author of the tut may, @Brink .....

Hello Nisko, :)

No worries. Rebuilding the icon cache will not affect your custom icons.

OK, rebuilt the icon cache but that didn't help. I also tried two other accounts and I have the same problem (I can't do anything with the drop down list. Right clicking on the icon will bring up the drop down list but, after a few seconds, the screen goes black for a couple of seconds - and then the icons and wallpaper appear again. I wonder if the wallpaper is corrupted.

This one is a tough nut!!! It started when W10 first came out and I installed it on top of W7. I've been struggling with it since then. I'm too old and have too many programs so I don't want to consider a clean install. A System Restore would be of no help. I haven't tried a NEW user account (ADDENDUM: I JUST TRIED A NEW USER ACCOUNT AND THAT DIDN'T WORK)- but have tried existing user accounts and that doesn't work. I've performed more than one repair install - no luck. I've tried ShellExView from NirSoft to try and isolate a badly acting startup program and that doesn't work. I've tried a clean boot - doesn't work. Tried sfc /scannow - no luck. TRIED DISM - RESTORE HEALTH - DIDN'T WORK, Other people on the 'net have had the problem - but their solutions haven't worked for me. I'm persistent - any idea where to turn to next? I'm willing to try...........

MAYBE GREAT NEWS!!! I JUST TRIED TO BOOT IN SAFE MODE. THE ERROR I'M DEALING WITH DOESN'T HAPPEN IN SAFE MODE. DOES THAT PROVIDE A CLUE AS TO WHAT TO DO NOW - GIVEN THAT I'VE TRIED ALL THE METHODS ABOVE?

Nisko said:

This one is a tough nut!!! It started when W10 first came out and I installed it on top of W7. I've been struggling with it since then. I'm too old and have too many programs so I don't want to consider a clean install. A System Restore would be of no help. I haven't tried a NEW user account (ADDENDUM: I JUST TRIED A NEW USER ACCOUNT AND THAT DIDN'T WORK)- but have tried existing user accounts and that doesn't work. I've performed more than one repair install - no luck. I've tried ShellExView from NirSoft to try and isolate a badly acting startup program and that doesn't work. I've tried a clean boot - doesn't work. Tried sfc /scannow - no luck. TRIED DISM - RESTORE HEALTH - DIDN'T WORK, Other people on the 'net have had the problem - but their solutions haven't worked for me. I'm persistent - any idea where to turn to next? I'm willing to try...........

MAYBE GREAT NEWS!!! I JUST TRIED TO BOOT IN SAFE MODE. THE ERROR I'M DEALING WITH DOESN'T HAPPEN IN SAFE MODE. DOES THAT PROVIDE A CLUE AS TO WHAT TO DO NOW - GIVEN THAT I'VE TRIED ALL THE METHODS ABOVE?

Good morning, Nisko. The line above in blue.... that app has absolutely nothing to do with startup programs.

This excerpt from your post:

It started when W10 first came out and I installed it on top of W7. I've been struggling with it since then. I'm too old and have too many programs so I don't want to consider a clean install.

That was 2+ years ago. There were, and still are, known problems (I can't list them all), installing W10 on top of Win 7. That migration path caused lots of problems for lots of people (again, far too many to try to list).

Booting into Safe Mode without getting the issue says something that is starting up is messed up. Don't mean to sound glib about it, but that's it. You've got something starting/running that is just not right. Yes, you could disable everything, then go thru each and every entry enabling one at a time, and re-boot to see where it fails. It could be one, or a combination, or conflicting apps. It would be, at best, a hit-and-miss trial-and-error process. Miss one step and you have to start all over again.

I realize what you do not want to do, but you've been at this now for 2 days. Honestly, you could spend another 2 weeks with this approach, and be no better off.

2+ years of fighting with a Win10 over Win 7 install just is not worth it.

Bite the bullet. Clean install. Get it over with. I don't recommend clean installs as a fix-all for every post on TF, but in your case it seems prudent.

The choice, of course, is yours.

TC

Nisko said:

Thank you all for the help and direction. I am earning something - so there is a real plus side for me. I want to try autoruns next. Can someone please recommend a site with the best instructions on how to use autoruns efficiently? If this doesn't work, I'll consider a clean install. Thank you again (I hope all of you get this message!!!).

This is the official link. There is an overview and some usage there also. And related links.

Autoruns for Windows - Windows Sysinternals | Microsoft Docs