Issues resolving Windows Variables

[Redkyte]

Hi All,
I encountered an issue I've not ran into before and having exhausted Google I figured I would turn to tweaking.com seeing as the repair tool is so thorough!

I'm on Windows 7 Professional 64bit, I'm encountering an error (attached), when I try and run %appdata% and %localappdata%. Windows Explorer resolves the variable if I run %userprofile%\appdata and you successfully browse to the location via C:\users\.

The issue is on the back of my Anti-Virus (Managed Anti-Virus by Bitlocker) being reinstalled after it through a wobbly and seemingly messed up the registry:
Windows detected your registry file is still in use by other applications or services. The file will be unloaded now. The applications or services that hold your registry file may not function properly afterwards. No user action is required. 

DETAIL -
 7 user registry handles leaked from \Registry\User\S-1-5-21-519882511-1595264892-2971924241-2365:
Process 488 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\winlogon.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-519882511-1595264892-2971924241-2365
Process 3064 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Managed Antivirus\Managed Antivirus Engine\Managed Antivirus\Managed Antivirus\updateservice.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-519882511-1595264892-2971924241-2365
Process 984 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\svchost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-519882511-1595264892-2971924241-2365\Printers\DevModePerUser
Process 1172 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\svchost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-519882511-1595264892-2971924241-2365\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers
Process 648 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\services.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-519882511-1595264892-2971924241-2365\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers
Process 488 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\winlogon.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-519882511-1595264892-2971924241-2365\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers
Process 788 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\svchost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-519882511-1595264892-2971924241-2365\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers

I thought the hotfix from MS here, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2913826 might resolve the issue but the update said it wasn't compatible for my system so I guess it wasn't appropriate...

On the back of my research into this issue I suspect the best course of action would be to reset the "Environment Variables" under Advanced System Properties but don't know how to go about doing this? I've checked the All-in-one repair tool and don't recognise an option that could be related to fix this issue?

Another cause of the issue could be I had to restore copies of, NTUSER.DAT, ntuser.ini & ntuser.pol from a backup as they seemingly got corrupted on the back of the anti-virus messing up.

So far I've run sfc and my PC is up to date with Windows updates and run times.

Hopefully someone is more familiar with Environment Variables than me and able to help!

Many thanks.

[Boggin]

I've passed this onto Shane but do your restore points go back to before the problem with your AV that you could try - probably be best to try those in Safe Mode to avoid any interference from your AV program.

Because of Shane's work load and time difference, there may be a delay in his response.

[Redkyte]

I've passed this onto Shane but do your restore points go back to before the problem with your AV that you could try - probably be best to try those in Safe Mode to avoid any interference from your AV program.

Because of Shane's work load and time difference, there may be a delay in his response.

Hey, thanks for your quick response.

I've check the restore points and unfortunately there are none before the issues occurred on Wednesday. There are 5 restore points for after the error occurred so it may well have corrupted historical restore points too.

It not worth spending to much time on because this is a good case to upgrade the system to Windows 10 and be done with the error; I guess it would just be piece of mind and useful to learn a bit about Environment Variables as I've never encountered them working with Windows before.

Thanks again.

[Redkyte]

Before I signed up to the forum it wouldn't let me search historical topics (the captcha verification wasn't working) but I took this to mean there where no results for "Environment Variables".

I've since search again and come across this old topic; http://www.tweaking.com/forums/index.php/topic,2920.msg19931.html#msg19931 which mentions there is a Environment Variables repair option in the pre-scan which I'm checking out now!

I'll report back if it fixes it

[Boggin]

Option 2 in the Windows Repair program can snag Environment Variables and repair sometimes, but because Win 10 was changing so much, it was difficult to keep up with all of the files that would need finding and manually uploading.

That is why the Cat & Mum File requests section has been closed.

While some problems can be resolved with an upgrade, sometimes you can take the problems with you so I think it's best to sort them before an upgrade.

When the time comes, you can use the Assistive Technologies link to free upgrade to Win 10 and as long as you don't remove the Windows.old folder, you should still be able to revert within the 30 days if still problematic.

I suppose you could give it a try to see if it resolves your problem, but fully disable or uninstall your AV program first with its Uninstaller.

Sometime the install can stick on the busy after the 74% reboot and you have to power shutdown then reboot.

If this continues to happen then keep shutting down/reboot and it will either recover the installation and complete the install or will revert to the previous OS.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/accessibility/windows10upgrade

I upgraded a Win 7 laptop to 10 in October, although I don't know how much longer it will remain active for.

Prior to upgrading two OEM Win 7 laptops, I created the Recovery disks and created a Windows System image onto a spare external HDD as well as creating a System Repair disk, but I haven't had to use those.

It's advisable to go into the BIOS and change the Boot order to check the DVD and USB drives before the SSD/HDD as the F keys no longer function for those options in Win 10, although there is a bcdedit command you can use to change the boot to legacy and you need to disable fast start.

NB - I see from your recent post that you have found Option 2.

[Redkyte]

Option 2 in the Windows Repair program can snag Environment Variables and repair sometimes, but because Win 10 was changing so much, it was difficult to keep up with all of the files that would need finding and manually uploading.

...

NB - I see from your recent post that you have found Option 2.

Unfortunately option 2 didn't resolve my issues. Sorry when I said upgrade to Windows 10 i didn't mean literally, I'd do a clean installation and just migrate the documents over 

[Boggin]

Doing a clean install of Win 10 now would cost you the price of a license key - using the Assistive Technologies link will get you Win 10 for free without touching your personal stuff, but you would need to use Task Manager to open IE and pin that to the Taskbar if you use IE then go Start - Settings - Services - Default Apps to make it your default browser as Edge takes centre stage otherwise.

[Redkyte]

Doing a clean install of Win 10 now would cost you the price of a license key - using the Assistive Technologies link will get you Win 10 for free

I ended up fixing this issue by doing a clean install of Win 10 with the Assistive Tech link.

Thanks for your help.

[Boggin]

Glad the Assistive Technologies helped you.

Norton stuck something on my system which left an irreparable reparse point before I upgraded to Win 10 and it was only resolved after a factory reset.

I have another reparse point from something which  doesn't get repaired but as there aren't any adverse effects from it that I know of, I just ignore it.