A Perfect Storm Of Problems

I'm a newbie and someone with little tech experience and I work from home on my Lenovo thinkpad. I'm working on windows 7 pro
I've had a nightmare 24 hours and very stressed because I cant work on the laptop.......

So, first I wanted to install a video editing software. Then that tells me that it needs windows 10. I googled how to install it, and I discover that I had to first download some windows tool to start the process. Fine..then i keep getting an error message which I google and an article online says for me to run updates on the system. 24 updates and 3 hours later, windows tool thingy still not working. Then I need to move it onto a rebootable USB and apparently mine isnt that. I then try a bunch of things recommended online and it seems I cannot access some of my folders despite being the only user. So I change the security settings to allow me back into those folders, and restart my computer. What happens? ACCESS DENIED and my desktop and C drive are gone, unable to see or access anything despite being my own administrator. I cant touch anything. I spend a lot of time panicking because I've not backed all my latest work (which is a LOT) and eventually discover the best thing is to reset the system back to yesterday. System reboot... takes a while. Finally restarts and I can see my files yay! Except, PDF open? Error. Word document? Error. Etc. Open google to ask wtf and something about temp files, which I cant access because, err_failed and temporarily moved or something.

So then a Google and see i should reset the internet settings (although this only seems to apply to IE and not chrome?)

Then I try to troubleshoot the internet and do various checks for system upgrades and everything I try comes back as No, couldn't troubleshoot.... error error every time. When I checked for system and windows updates it hung on o 0% for a hour which probably meant it couldnt connect. Internet is working fine, Netflix is on on the TV etc
Totally desperate now. It's been 24 hours and I am ready to throw it into the sea.

I'm desperate and it's been 24 hoirs

 

Most important thing at present is to get your files copied to somewhere safe - CD/DVD or a memory stick or external drive. Open File Explorer (aka Windows Explorer) and navigate to one of your folders, right click > Copy, navigate to the CD/DVD, right click > Paste. Repeat for each folder you want to backup. There are of course many different ways to backup your files but thought I'd just stick with the simplest. Use a different method by all means.

Once you are satisfied you have your files backed up then it may be best, rather than attempting to find and rectify all the errors, to reinstall Win 7 and start again but this time with a compatible video editor. I'm sure someone here can help you with that.

More experienced users routinely image their system when it's working well. If something like this happens they can restore their image in a few minutes and start again.

 

Thanks so much. I've just had a look online and it seems I need systems disks or something like that to reinstall. No doubt I got them when I bought the laptop.

 

Yours is an OEM system and manufacturers stopped including a copy of the installation disk many years ago. I stopped helping with Win 7 installation when Win 10 came out in 2015 as I'm just not up-to-date enough on the howto. However there are ways around all this - have a read HERE. We also have experienced Win 7 users here who may be able to help.