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I generally like Windows 7 but I have some issues with it that are REALLY annoying and I am hoping someone has a few answers:

First, here are the specs on my system: Win 7 Home Premium 6.1.7600 Build 7600, Compaq-Presario, AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core 5400+ 2.8mz.I bought the machine last fall with Vista OEM install. I couldn't take Vista and upgraded to Win 7.

1) My font folder is chocked full of oriental fonts that I never asked for, wanted or installed. Some are large font collections. When I try to delete them Win7 tells me these are system fonts and I can't. There are about 40 of these.

2) Whenever I try to do a "Save As" from an Office app (Word, Excel) and click on the Desktop icon the app crashes.

3) I have a simple shortcut on my desktop that I cannot delete. When I try I get a box sayind "preparing to recycle" and it is an infinite loop and just will sit there till the end of time.

4) Sometimes when I am simply navigating up from a document folder to My Docs up to User folder Windows 7 will tell me I don't have authorization to do so, yet this is my computer, I am the only user and I am set up and logged on as Administrator with full privileges.

One other point: Are there Windows 7 updates or bug fixes I can get? One thing is that my computer is NOT on the net and I never put it on the net (I have a separate computer exclusively for internet access) - so is there something I can download to give my any available fixes.

If you can manage to give me some helpful advice on this I will be really appreciative.

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  • What edition and build of Windows 7 are you using? Is it 32- or 64-bit? Is it an OEM install and if so, whos? You can use MSINFO32.EXE to get the edition, build, etc.
    – BillP3rd
    Aug 23, 2010 at 0:00
  • Win 7 Home Premium 6.1.7600 Build 7600, Compaq-Presario, AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core 5400+ 2.8mz.I bought the machine last fall with Vista OEM install. I couldn't take Vista and upgraded to Win 7 which is much cleaner/leaner (but is driving me crazy on points above).By the way, I have a really clean machine. Not on internet, just an internal NW, single user.
    – FosterT
    Aug 23, 2010 at 0:39

4 Answers 4

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In the order asked:

1) The fonts that are installed are part of windows. While you can "hide" them, only some software support that feature. (source)

2) Crashing apps generally mean that something is corrupt. I would try a repair or an uninstall and reinstall of the App. I would recommend not using old versions of office (pre 2007) since they may unstable in the new environment.

3) Depending on where the shortcut is actually located it may require a UAC user rights elevation. If you have not turned off "Admin Approval Mode" then it may be sitting there, waiting for you to approve the delete.

4) There are special folders called "junction points" spread out in windows 7 which you can not access. These special folders are actually shortcuts that point elsewhere on the system. This was added to support legacy software that tries to access those locations. I just ignore them and try not to use old software. (source)

Finally, if you are looking for a way to update your system offline, WSUS Offline is the way to go. It'll allwo you to download all the updates for a Microsoft product and packages them into an ISO file. You then burn it and run the installer on the offline machine. It's free, easy, and it works great.

Hope this helps

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  • Thanks very much this definitely helped a lot. I successfully downloaded and installed the updates and I understand the fonts issue now. I also disabled EnableLUA in the registry. A lot got handled except that I still have 1 folder and 1 shortcut that no matter what I do I cannot delete, move or change the name of. I think I want to reinstall Win7 but just need help on 1 more point: how do I do this without losing all my settings, programs, etc.
    – FosterT
    Aug 25, 2010 at 2:34
  • The point of a complete system wipe is that it removes everything on your computer. If the shortcut and folder are created by windows at boot, then a system wipe will not get rid of them. What's the path to the objects you want to delete and what are they called? It could be that the files are being locked by an open process or service. Depends on what you are looking at.
    – Doltknuckle
    Aug 25, 2010 at 16:09
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Windows 7 is picky about permissions, especially files generated by another user or computer. You may have to 'take ownership' of the file you want to delete. Below is a How-to-geeks link on how to add this function to your context menu.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/add-take-ownership-to-explorer-right-click-menu-in-vista/

I know it says Vista, but, it works equally well on Win7.

Also, your oriental fonts might be from language packs installed by Automatic Update.

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  • Tks v much. I am downloading the takeownership fix. My machine is not (never has been) connected to Internet. I use 2 different computers and the Win 7 one has never been on line - and no one else has ever used it. I would swear that over time there are fonts showing up on this computer I have never installed and some of them, when you select them, don't even actually change the font - they just stay as Times Roman or Arial. I have used Windows for 20 years and am not a novice - and I have never seen this before!?!? I have virus software with uptodate defs.
    – FosterT
    Aug 23, 2010 at 18:32
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Since, I'm not allowed to just comment, I'll have to "Answer", but did you do an Upgrade from Vista or did you do a fresh Full install?

If you upgraded, then more than likely the ghost of Vista is trying to take its revenge on you.

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  • Thanks - I think you are right - I think I may have the ghost of Vista past haunting me. Now, one last Q: How do I reinstall Win 7 - so I get a clean fresh full install - without having to reinstall every program and reset up all my settings and desktop, etc?
    – FosterT
    Aug 23, 2010 at 22:34
  • Unfortunately, there's no answer to that... If there was someone would be a millionaire. But, a fresh install of 7 really doesn't take long. If I were to sit down and do it, it would take me about 2 hours from start to finish, including programs. Basically, you'll have to just take the leap and do it because when you have a fresh install you won't have to worry about the issues you're having now. Just make sure to save your browser bookmarks...
    – Gup3rSuR4c
    Aug 24, 2010 at 7:28
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I believe I remember something very similar happening to me when I first tried to install Windows 7. It took me three tries. On the first two tries, Windows 7 kept freezing up, I was getting weird errors, it was a crazy mess. Very bizarre. On the third try it seemed to have installed properly and I haven't had any problems since.

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