IDE 1.8.5 crashes on start up win 7

When you start the Arduino IDE it needs to access the sketchbook folder and the Arduino15 folder. The default location of the sketchbook folder is Users{user name}\Documents\Arduino. The Arduino folder is at Users{user name}\Appdata\Local\Arduino15. It looks to me like it's not able to access one of those folders. The "The device is not ready." thing makes me think you have some non-standard location of the folder like on an external or network drive.

One thing you could try as a workaround is to run the Arduino IDE in portable mode:

That will cause the portable subfolder of the Arduino IDE installation folder to be used instead of the Arduino15 folder and the sketchbook will also initially be under that folder (though you can later change it via File > Preferences > Sketchbook location if you like). If you use the "Windows ZIP file for non admin install" version of the Arduino IDE you also have the option of installing the IDE to any location you like in case the current installation location (C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino) imposes some difficulties for you.