I resolved this with my Backup, but thought I'd share this issue:
This was strange. It started with my recent install of Photoshop 2018, would not open and I got a series of errors, that certain adobe files were missing? I uninstalled/reinstalled. Same issue, but this time I could not uninstall because it wasn't listed in Programs. I even tried Revo uninstaller. It wasn't listed. But the folder was still in PROGRAMS.
I restarted and noticed Windows showed a percentage "repairing disk." It was quick. I logged in to my Win10.
I was going to restore from my Acronis BU. But guess what? I get an error that I need to pick an app to open .exe? My Acronis could not be opened even as Admin.
Now Firefox, Chrome, and anything but IE gave me the same error.
Is this a virus, eating all my apps? I noticed Windows Defender was picking off these apps as Malware. I'm pretty sure they are not. The Adobe stuff comes directly from Adobe, etc. I checked and Defender was recently updated 11/5/17.
So I turned off Defender. I could now reinstall Acronis. It launched slowly. But I could have it restore to my last BU, a few days earlier.
So far, everything is running normally. I have turned off Defender. It will auto restart, but I read I could EXCLUDE my programs folder.
Bottom line, do you think this was Malware or Defender going crazy on my apps?
Defender was quarantine and deleting my apps files. I ran Avast and Malwarebyte and only got a couple false positives I know are not viruses. Nothing I'm worried about.
Any thoughts.
Thanks
Max
