Computer stopped working

Question

My ASUS Vivobook laptop, Windows-11 and HP Officejet 4655 printer has essentially stopped working. I cannot load a download from the folder. I cannot load Firefox. I cannot print anything. The error message says windows cannot access specified device, path or file. I can provide any additional information if needed.

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Answer 1

I tried what was suggested but did not resolve problems

Answer 2

Hello,

Can you describe exactly how firefox stopped working?
Does it give any other error messages aside from "cannot acccess"?
Was there a windows update before all this happened?

Let me know more when you can,

JC

Answer 3

all the error messages said cannot access specified device path or file

Answer 4

Hi john macco,
Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. I'm happy to help.

Your Windows may be damaged, affects its basic function.

Repair your system

Please boot to WinPE from your system or bootable Windows installation acquiring from Download Windows 11 to repair your system. In case your system is not repairable, please perform an In-place Upgrade.

Disclaimer: Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so. Once you are done backing up, you can follow the steps in the following guides: How to run In-place upgrade in Windows 11 - Microsoft Community

Scan for threads

Your system may also be damaged by threads, it's best to scan your system after you repair or perform In-place upgrade.

• Do a fully system scan by Windows Security.
• Do a fully system scan by Malwarebytes.
• Do a fully system scan by Norton Power Eraser.
• Do a fully system scan on bootable environment by Norton Rescue Disk.

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.

Clean install

Even if fully system scan can find and fix threats, you should do a Clean install as they may have made unrestorable changes to your system. Please make sure that you have backed up all your data before performing a clean install.

Disclaimer: At this point, we have exhausted all troubleshooting and I recommend that we try to perform a clean install to get your computer back into a working condition. Please ensure that you backup any important data, including Documents, Pictures, Videos, and more.
Windows 11 Clean Installation Process

I hope that above information is useful to you. If you have further questions, please feel free to let me know.

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