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Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

shermans
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Registered: ‎07-09-2007

Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

Quietly minding my own business, Windows 10 suddenly interrupted with, presumably the latest, update while I was not looking !  Just crept up and did it.  The laptop clicked and rustled away for about ten minutes and then suddenly froze.  The screen went black but I could hear the fan running constantly, gradually getting hotter and hotter.  After twenty minutes, I pulled the plug on it.  Since then, I have tried to repeatedly re-start it, but it never quite gets to fully load.  I get the usual Welcome screen, and then the Desktop comes up, but the churning, clicking and rustling continues. After a further couple of minutes it crashes again - black screen and fan running.

 

I have tried all sorts of tricks, like waiting until the Desktop appears and then going to Task Manager, which as soon as it loads, again crashes.  I have several times managed to get to the Power Menu to shut it down myself in case that might clear the problem.  Several times, this has resulted in the screen going blue with a message "Updating" but again it soon crashes and the fan starts running again.  I have even left it for several hours in case it is overheating which I am sure is not the case.  But it makes no difference.

On one occasion, I think I saw a message which read something like "Command corrupted" but it was so quick, I cannot be sure.

I have tried several times to start in Safe Mode.  It does not respond to just holding down the [Shift] key on the Welcome Screen, probably because I do not have to sign in.  When I try to access Settings or msconfig to reboot in Safe Mode, I run out of time before the screen goes blank again.

Anyone any suggestions as to what to try next ?

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Baldrick1
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

Try with recovery media created on another computer see https://www.digitalcitizen.life/how-create-recovery-drive-windows-10

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Gel
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

If you've another PC d/load Win 10 onto a USB, from link; you may need to input your Windows 10 Product id; hopefully you have a note of it. It could be on base of PC.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10
When you are up & running again ensure you create a RECOVERY DRIVE for any future disasters.
Marksfish
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

I hate W10 updating policies with a passion. I go to bed and let it get on with it. I also have the settings so that it doesn't update during the hours of x and y to try and prevent this situation.

shermans
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

Thanks for those suggestions.  I do actually have a full image of the laptop which I took about a year ago, but of course it would not have any updates since then, nor any new programmes etc. So to do even that would be a major set-back and I hoped I could sort this without doing anything as drastic as that.  I do back up all my data every week, so that is not a problem.

In the meantime, I have managed to get into Safe Mode.  I found a post on Google which recommended turning the machine on and off a few times in quick succession in order to get into Automatic Repair, from where I could select Safe Mode.  That worked.

That menu also offered two other options : System Restore and Go back to Previous Version (or words to that effect).  I am hoping that Previous Version may mean undoing the latest update and the damage.  Going back to a Restore Point may also work. I will do a bit more research on that before I invoke it, but any other suggestions or comments are always welcome !

Fortunately my main machine is a desktop which is working fine.

daveplus
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

@Marksfish In Windows 10 Pro, you can turn off automatic updates via the Update Options. I don't know about Home or others but there is a range of ways to stop updates described on various web sites. You can even disable the Windows Update service if you want. Search for Services and run it as administrator

ReedRichards
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

Go back to previous version only works if you are within 30 days of the last version update.  So that would presumably from version 1709 to version 1803.

System Restore may work but it failed the last time I tried it on Windows 10 and there was a whole earlier version where it would only work after some prior adjustments.  Might be worth Googling first in case this is necessary in your case.  It takes ages on Windows 10, much longer than it used to.

You might consider running chkdsk from a CMD window.

 

 

 

VileReynard
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

Have you considered changing your internet connection from "always on" to "dial-up".

It should stop the initiation of massive downloads, but allow normal use to work normally.

Just assume that you are running an insecure OS which doesn't receive proper security updates.

[This is basically the case anyway].

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

shermans
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

Fingers crossed, I am back in business. I tried the "Restore" from the Automatic Repair menu (turning on and off repeatedly until the Automatic Repair loaded) after some trepidation.  However, it seems to have worked and the system is back up and running using a Restore Point from a week ago, prior to the update.

One of the suggestions I read about was to use "Update Clean-up" from within Windows 10.  That has now been running for at least two hours and the hour glass is only three quarters empty.  So it suggests that the updates may have got really screwed up over time.

I had feared that maybe I had run out of disk space but in fact I have got at least 80% disk capacity spare, so it could not have been that.

As for turning automatic updates off, I have tried that before using the various conventional ways, and then finally by adding something to the registry.  Microsoft always over-rode everything that I tried, so I eventually gave up.  I am interested however in the "Dial Up" suggestion.  How would I set that up ?  Is it the router that dials up or each individual computer ?  If it is the router, then that might not work as there is more than one pc and user in the house.  If "Dial up" refers to each individual machine, then it is certainly worth trying it.

VileReynard
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

Windows likes to be told about what type of connection you have.

In the olden days internet had to be done by the computer auto-dialing a phone number via a modem and if you were lucky you might get 512Kbits/sec - sometimes much less.

But Windows can't detect how you make your connection - so if you tell it you have a dial-up connection it seems to accept this - even if you have a router and a super-fast fibre connection.

Another option might be to try setting your connection as a "metered connection".

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

ReedRichards
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !


@shermans wrote:

One of the suggestions I read about was to use "Update Clean-up" from within Windows 10.  That has now been running for at least two hours and the hour glass is only three quarters empty.  So it suggests that the updates may have got really screwed up over time.

 


Or it might suggest that your hard disk drive is failing.  In one mode of failure areas of the disk become very difficult to read but not so difficult as to cause the drive to stop trying.  If that happens your computer can behave normally until it encounters one of these bad areas at which point everything slows to a crawl.

Every time your computer installs a new Windows 10 version you get a complete reset and all past updates are consigned to history.  Since these version updates come out roughly once every six months there isn't a huge amount of time for screwed-up updates to accumulate.   

 

shermans
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

It took a while but it did eventually complete the process successfully.  My hard disk is 1.68 Tb of which I have used (surprsingly) only 112 Gb., so space was not an issue.  The updates were not in fact a new version, just an update and a module but same version.  I have now created a new restore point, because I fear the update will take place again as I cannot stop it with the Home version of W10, and it may screw things up again !  Fingers crossed.

shermans
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

Re. Dial-up.

Where do I tell it that I have dial-up, and I will give it a go.

 

daveplus
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

There is no dialup but you can set your network connection to "metered" which will stop auto updates, as @VileReynard has already suggested.

shermans
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Re: Here we go again. Windows 10 Update crashes PC !

Do I do that somewhere on the router itself ?  I use a Plusnet Hub 1, (a.k.a. BT Home Hub 5 !)