One Giant Catastrophe

[Guest]

I'm not sure what I should even title this thread because today has been such a disaster.

I'll sum up this up as quickly and as detailed as possible.

Last week I downloaded a piece of software called "Respondus Lockdown Browser" which is a browser I needed for an online course so I would be incapable of cheating. So I downloaded it and got it running fine, I was able to take quizzes and turn in assignments just fine, but then I noticed after I closed it, the only options on the actions pane were "Lock" and "Log off". No "Shutdown", no "Restart", no "Switch User". Just those two. I tried accessing the task manager and then I got an error saying that it was disabled by the administrator, which is incorrect give that I AM the administrator.

I uninstalled the browser and followed online tutorials to get my other actions back via the registry. I though it was all going to be fine after that, but when I went onto Chrome to browse the internet, it was slow as hell, taking (I shit you not) 10 minutes to load a google search.

So after putting up with all of this bullshit, I just decided to restore the system to an earlier time. Funny enough, the latest two restore points were the installation and uninstallation of the Lockdown browser. I decided to load the soonest one before that and Windows prepared to restart and set up the restore point. I walked away for about 10 minutes because it was taking so long, and then I come back to see a blue screen yammering-on about a start-up error, telling me to restart the computer. I restarted the computer and ran start-up repair, and then when I got to the desktop it said the repair was unsuccessful. After that I noticed that the system wasn't restored at all, so I repeated the process, and once again it led me to start-up repair failure. So I've given up on the restore point and I'm left with a computer that's convinced this software is still there (and it once again limits me to "Log Off" and "Lock") and dial-up-tier browsing speeds.

However, the real cherry on the shit sundae here is that I'm on my desktop now and I'm also getting slow internet speeds here. I have the same software on here, but I'm afraid to touch it. None of my room mates are having trouble with their internet speeds.

Any recommended courses of action?

 

[NathanRx]

Hey there,
So a few questions before I can get you on your way,
1. Are you able to access the desktop of the OS at all?
2. How many times has it blue screened, if more than once, is it at a particular moment? (for example, does it only blue screen when you open the specific application? etc.)

But some good news for you, because this sounds like a software error causing your problems, it usually means that whatever happens your computer should come out working with a full format and clean install (but we'll keep that last resort)

EDIT:
You being limited to only the two options of "Lock" and "Log Off" does sound like a registry issue, in which if you follow the below steps, it finds any damaged registry files and restores them to their original Windows state

1. Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
sfc /scannow
The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

 

[Guest]

Hey there,
So a few questions before I can get you on your way,
1. Are you able to access the desktop of the OS at all?
2. How many times has it blue screened, if more than once, is it at a particular moment? (for example, does it only blue screen when you open the specific application? etc.)

But some good news for you, because this sounds like a software error causing your problems, it usually means that whatever happens your computer should come out working with a full format and clean install (but we'll keep that last resort)

Yes, I can access the desktop just fine.

The blue screen happens every time I try to do a system restore. It says something along the lines of "start-up error" and then I'm prompted to restart the computer and run start-up repair, which always fails.

 

[NathanRx]

Attempting a system restore while on safe mode should work,

however

after a little research I have seen that this program is absolutely tearing many students desktops to pieces, I cannot believe its being supported by an education system, anyway

I would try the steps I put up before about restoring registry files OR run your computer in safe mode, try a system restore then and if it works, obviously remove the program immediately,

EDIT: Oh holy sh*t I may have just found an answer, was your computer by any chance shut down while respondus was open?
could you just try this for me,
open up the respondus browser, and when it opens up, shut the program down properly, Im not aware of how you exit the program but there should be a proper way such as "File>Exit Browser" or something or other

 

[Guest]

Attempting a system restore while on safe mode should work,

however

after a little research I have seen that this program is absolutely tearing many students desktops to pieces, I cannot believe its being supported by an education system, anyway

I would try the steps I put up before about restoring registry files OR run your computer in safe mode, try a system restore then and if it works, obviously remove the program immediately,

EDIT: Oh holy sh*t I may have just found an answer, was your computer by any chance shut down while respondus was open?
could you just try this for me,
open up the respondus browser, and when it opens up, shut the program down properly, Im not aware of how you exit the program but there should be a proper way such as "File>Exit Browser" or something or other

Alright, I'm doing the system restore in safe mode atm. I can't open and close the browser because I deleted and uninstalled it.

 

[NathanRx]

Right this is good to hear, please let me know if it works

Also

If unsuccessful I do recommend re-installing respondus opening it and then closing it again, because when in the browser it stops you from performing certain operations such as a direct shut down or opening task manager, and when the browser isnt shut down properly these restrictions can/usually will continue to be in operation where as if closed down properly the operations are restored back to its able state,

 

[Guest]

Right this is good to hear, please let me know if it works

Also

If unsuccessful I do recommend re-installing respondus opening it and then closing it again, because when in the browser it stops you from performing certain operations such as a direct shut down or opening task manager, and when the browser isnt shut down properly these restrictions can/usually will continue to be in operation where as if closed down properly the operations are restored back to its able state,

Yeah, the damn system restore gave me the blue screen and start up repair process again.

I'll see if I can re-install the browser, close it properly and then properly uninstall it.

 

[NathanRx]

I really hope this solution does work,

If not,

there are two more options but really they are delving into the realms of last resorts

1. Providing you have a windows 7 disc, bootable usb drive etc, boot from that device and select "repair computer" this will restore the OS but maintain your personal documents

2. VERY LAST RESORT move your personal files over to to an external drive and format your hard drive clean and start again, then moving your files back over.

I'm sorry I cannot help you further, however this really is the fault of Respondus and a formal complaint should be made on your behalf, who knows they may fix it or reimburse you in some way

 

[Guest]

I really hope this solution does work,

If not,

there are two more options but really they are delving into the realms of last resorts

1. Providing you have a windows 7 disc, bootable usb drive etc, boot from that device and select "repair computer" this will restore the OS but maintain your personal documents

2. VERY LAST RESORT move your personal files over to to an external drive and format your hard drive clean and start again, then moving your files back over.

I'm sorry I cannot help you further, however this really is the fault of Respondus and a formal complaint should be made on your behalf, who knows they may fix it or reimburse you in some way

I don't have the disc, so I guess option 2 is my only choice.

Do you think I could sue?

Spoiler

I'm only joking. Or am I?

 

[NathanRx]

Unfortunately option 2 also requires a windows disc, you should be entitled to one though since you have a legit copy of it already installed, maybe look on the windows website for a download that your entitled too, but needless to say Respondus are definitely at fault here and have caused damage to your system, their website even acknowledges that sometimes these errors happen with their browser. Its plain ridiculous, I'd be straight on the phone to them

To be honest I think this thread needs more attention, the amount of people suffering from this problem is ridiculous

Sorry I couldn't resolve the issue, I tried my damned hardest *sigh*

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately option 2 also requires a windows disc, you should be entitled to one though since you have a legit copy of it already installed, maybe look on the windows website for a download that your entitled too, but needless to say Respondus are definitely at fault here and have caused damage to your system, their website even acknowledges that sometimes these errors happen with their browser. Its plain ridiculous, I'd be straight on the phone to them

To be honest I think this thread needs more attention, the amount of people suffering from this problem is ridiculous

Sorry I couldn't resolve the issue, I tried my damned hardest *sigh*

Well thank you for your time anyway. Where did you read about people having issues?

 

[NathanRx]

The Microsoft forums are full of them,
here's a link to a few right here,

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/shut-down-button-disappeared-windows-7-home/4e990d23-a1ba-4a94-90d3-baa980989f19

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f10/solved-respondus-browser-has-messed-my-comp-up-199711.html

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110407070625AAJd7F7

EDIT: Out of sheer curiosity, because I think you haven't managed to turn your computer off correctly yet (because of the missing button) you can use
[start => run => c:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe -s] - To shutdown
[start => run => c:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe -r] - To restart

Who knows a simple clean boot may do the trick but either way it stops you having to keep "cut shutdown"

or maybe

and this is just me brainstorming, but Reinstall respondus, start it up, close it properly and use the restart command above to restart it and it may just work