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HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

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dr_andus:
I'd like to ask the community for advice on how best to fix my Win7 installation. I'd like to do a Non-destructive reinstall of Windows 7 (as detailed at this link--i.e. an in-place upgrade of Win7 from the original media), so I can keep my existing settings and data. I have never done this before. Is this my best option? Any risks?

Here is what happened. I have a roughly 5-yr old ACER Aspire M7811 PC, with Intel core i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80GHz, 8GB RAM, with AMD Radeon HD 5770 (1024MB) and Win7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1.

The other day I was stupid enough to fall for an AMD Catalyst Software Suite update (even though it failed on me a few months ago, but I was able to recover using system restore then. And even before that, ATI Catalyst Control Center was suspected of messing with my system). The installation this time failed halfway through, leaving me with a failed driver, so I just had one monitor working at some terrible, unusable resolution.

I tried to do system restore, but halfway through the restore failed, telling me that probably my antivirus software (AVG Free 2015) is stopping it, and it left me with a crippled installation of Windows 7.

One thing that was strange that in the process my system restore points seems to have disappeared, as the next available restore point was in 2012. I'm pretty sure I had some more recent ones even from the past couple of months.

There are too many things to list that went wrong after this incident, but basically a whole bunch of drivers stopped working (the sound card is not working, I can't run Dragon Naturallyspeaking, the printer is not working, I can't connect the scanner or cameras), I can't access system tools such as the Control Panel, Programs, Reliability Monitor, Windows Update etc. MS Office apps load very slowly. Some software would refuse to update (e.g. PDF Xchange Editor), saying the installer was damaged. Directly downloaded .docx files wouldn't open (though they do if I copy them over via a USB drive), and all kinds of other unpredictable, strange behaviour. I'm still only just discovering the various things that don't work.

Here is a pictorial version of the story, of what I managed to grab. (The first one is not of the actual version, but it looked like this one.)

HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?

So, my assessment is that my Windows 7 installation must be damaged and many of my drivers got wiped out. Has anyone tried this in-place installation of Win 7 from the original media? This appeals to me because I would hate to have to reinstall all my software and other data.

Any advice or suggestion would be most welcome.

superboyac:
i haven't had this same exact problem, but i have done various types of restores and installations.  I've never used system restore much nor do i have much trust in it.  What i recommend, even though it doesn't fit exactly what you have requested is this:
--copy all your non-standard directories with data over to an external drive (downloaded stuff, temp folders if you have any)
--copy your "Users" directory since this has all your software settings
--copy your program files directories (both x86 and regular)
--use the windows easy transfer feature for yet another backup (you now have 2-3 backups for settings)
--make an image of the whole OS drive if possible
--reinstall windows from scratch
--reinstall all your software
--if a particular software doesn't look right to you or annoys you in terms of the settings, replace the appdata folder of it with what you saved in the users directory

i've never found a better way than this for restoring programs and settings with a fresh install.  And i've not had that much luck with non-destructive reinstallations.  this always works for me.

4wd:
I'd like to do a Non-destructive reinstall of Windows 7 (as detailed at this link--i.e. an in-place upgrade of Win7 from the original media), so I can keep my existing settings and data. I have never done this before. Is this my best option? Any risks?-dr_andus (September 06, 2015, 05:05 PM)
--- End quote ---

I've done a few and it normally works fine, (ie. I haven't had any problem yet).

A couple of suggestions first:

* Use backup software to image your HDD first before you do anything else, (eg. Macrium Reflect, Paragon, etc), preferably using boot media rather than from within Windows.  Check the backup after it's made.
* If you can boot into Safe Mode see if you can remove the AMD Catalyst drivers and your AV program, (to stop it interfering in any other operation - the AV will cease to function after an In Place Upgrade anyway.)  This might allow the system to boot normally and you'd only need to reinstall any necessary drivers and your AV.
And FWIW, I don't use System Restore at all since I've never had it work successfully - it's always been faster to reinstall from scratch than fix the problems and crap it leaves behind.

Target:
If you can boot into Safe Mode see if you can remove the AMD Catalyst drivers and your AV program, (to stop it interfering in any other operation - the AV will cease to function after an In Place Upgrade anyway.)  This might allow the system to boot normally and you'd only need to reinstall any necessary drivers and your AV.
-4wd (September 06, 2015, 11:26 PM)
--- End quote ---

+1 for this

I've had experience with both AVG and Catalyst borking updates so I'd try this first.

and as a rule I just install the video drivers instead of the entire catalyst suite

bit:
FWIW, in this predicament I would x-fer any recently added data to a cloned backup HD, then switch to that HD, and restore the goofed one.
But in any case I wish you success in restoring your OS.

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