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Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 10th 18, 09:25 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
RayLopez99
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 897
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

I want to report an interesting event in my PC upgrade. Target machine was a Aspire, AMD A6 laptop running Windows 8.1, 32 bit mode, that I upgraded to Windows 10, 64x.

When Windows 10 came out in 2015 or so, I upgraded for free immediately, then, went back to Windows 8.1 but not before backing up the Windows 10 using Macrium. Then I forgot about this laptop, which is my girlfriend's anyway and she hardly uses it (preferring her smart phone).

I decided today to upgrade it back to Windows 10. So I used a USB hard drive to restore the Macrium image file from several years ago. Much to my disappointment, for unknown reasons, though I had plenty of HD space, the Macrium program said (something like): 'no more space on target' and exited with an error.

I tried to reboot to see if I could at least get Windows 8.1 and I got a blank screen. I waited a long time, even several hours, tried numerous things with the BIOS and still no luck. I even left it on overnight (by mistake) and still BSOD. The only thing I did not do is "load defaults" in BIOS but my settings were very generic, I checked them several times.

I decided to have to rebuy Windows 10. I found (I'm in the Philippines now) a cheap $10 version of Windows 10, proving Microsoft charges different prices depending on where you point of sale is, which I think is interesting, as Amazon (US) had a $99 price.

So I decided to use the Youtube tutorial below at [1] to use Rufus to load a Windows 10 ISO onto a USB stick, since this laptop has no CD/DVD. All was going well, I got Windows 10 loaded onto the USB following the tutorial below, after getting Windows 10 ISO downloaded from the Microsoft site.

Anyway, when I rebooted to USB, setting it to "UEFI" rather than "Legacy" (as Windows 10 apparently demands), I got a message that said (something like): "cannot boot to USB due to the security settings on this PC"

Again I played around with BIOS, setting UEFI to "Legacy" but nothing worked, blank screen, but no error message except 'Press any key, no bootable device found'. I tried booting another Windows 10 PC from the USB stick, and it recognized the stick. I checked the laptop USB ports and they had worked in the past (and, after fixing the problem as I explain below, they work now).

Out of desperation I simply left the PC on and unplugged the USB, after setting BIOS to 'default' settings. Then, after 10 minutes, I got a screen...and it was Windows 10 from several years ago! What a shock! Apparently the Macrium *did* restore the Windows 10 image file, despite the error, and apparently the Aspire laptop has a hidden file somewhere on the boot sector or otherwise that prevents anybody from booting to a USB stick?! I had set no security settings in the BIOS. The failure to boot from USB raises the question on how you would 'wipe clean' a HD to load another OS on it, say Linux, but I guess you can use that freeware "nuke" program from within Windows itself to reformat your HD? I don't care, as my problem is solved, but I'm just curious.

All's well that ends well, but it was bizarre. I've built many a PC from scratch back in the days but nowadays there's so many little tricks like this I wouldn't bother, I'd rather take it to Flasherly (or his equivalent here in PH) and I was going to do that just before the solution miraculously appeared.

RL

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJCkI14Lcd4 Windows 10 using USB stick

  #2  
Old October 10th 18, 10:32 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Flasherly[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,407
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

On Wed, 10 Oct 2018 01:25:00 -0700 (PDT), RayLopez99
wrote:


I decided today to upgrade it back to Windows 10. So I used a USB
hard drive to restore the Macrium image file from several years ago.
Much to my disappointment, for unknown reasons, though I had plenty of
HD space, the Macrium program said (something like): 'no more space on
target' and exited with an error.

-
ZAP!

As far as I got -- Poor Testing procedures. I'm heavily into binary
streaming and keep two, sometimes three generations of backup images;-
FOUR when testing software of building, images which -always- need be
first Verified before shuffling the last-out first-in order of
successive backups.

Nothing apparently can be that perfect, though, in finishing the rest
of your post.

My maximum, though it's nuts to say it, is that (it's as easy simply
then to assume) no two computers necessarily are exactly, precisely
and completely the same. In your case, given the time factor, that
combination coinciding with what does not work together, in order for
W10 not to boot, is more than acceptable to have forgotten. You then
lose advantage over a closer familiarity, in time, so as to say --
'a-ha!, I did not do either this, if not that, when the last W10 was
in fact working' -- thus improving advantage to make subsequent
corrections relevant. Hopefully.

Another maximum is slow and patient trial and error combinations when
testing hard and software;- However imperfect the premise of
understanding, there still remains only a set number of OPCODES
permissible to a function within a programming universe. It's also the
drudgery of what most people can't handle, puts them off about
computers. Of course, end results can be quite impressive, once
demonstrated, which in turn tends to put people back on. So long as
it lasts, within limits and apart from their assumed right to
interfere mistakenly with settings, for some, at times from a false
and presumptive nature, they'll then logically try and explain as
nothing short of perfectly natural. But, as you say you've built, or,
especially then to sell to others to make relatively easy repairs a
matter of later course, then it's something you already know, selling
what you've personally worked with and are familiar, and well.
  #3  
Old October 10th 18, 06:27 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Paul[_28_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,467
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

RayLopez99 wrote:
I want to report an interesting event in my PC upgrade. Target machine was a Aspire, AMD A6 laptop running Windows 8.1, 32 bit mode, that I upgraded to Windows 10, 64x.

When Windows 10 came out in 2015 or so, I upgraded for free immediately, then, went back to Windows 8.1 but not before backing up the Windows 10 using Macrium. Then I forgot about this laptop, which is my girlfriend's anyway and she hardly uses it (preferring her smart phone).

I decided today to upgrade it back to Windows 10. So I used a USB hard drive to restore the Macrium image file from several years ago. Much to my disappointment, for unknown reasons, though I had plenty of HD space, the Macrium program said (something like): 'no more space on target' and exited with an error.

I tried to reboot to see if I could at least get Windows 8.1 and I got a blank screen. I waited a long time, even several hours, tried numerous things with the BIOS and still no luck. I even left it on overnight (by mistake) and still BSOD. The only thing I did not do is "load defaults" in BIOS but my settings were very generic, I checked them several times.

I decided to have to rebuy Windows 10. I found (I'm in the Philippines now) a cheap $10 version of Windows 10, proving Microsoft charges different prices depending on where you point of sale is, which I think is interesting, as Amazon (US) had a $99 price.

So I decided to use the Youtube tutorial below at [1] to use Rufus to load a Windows 10 ISO onto a USB stick, since this laptop has no CD/DVD. All was going well, I got Windows 10 loaded onto the USB following the tutorial below, after getting Windows 10 ISO downloaded from the Microsoft site.

Anyway, when I rebooted to USB, setting it to "UEFI" rather than "Legacy" (as Windows 10 apparently demands), I got a message that said (something like): "cannot boot to USB due to the security settings on this PC"

Again I played around with BIOS, setting UEFI to "Legacy" but nothing worked, blank screen, but no error message except 'Press any key, no bootable device found'. I tried booting another Windows 10 PC from the USB stick, and it recognized the stick. I checked the laptop USB ports and they had worked in the past (and, after fixing the problem as I explain below, they work now).

Out of desperation I simply left the PC on and unplugged the USB, after setting BIOS to 'default' settings. Then, after 10 minutes, I got a screen...and it was Windows 10 from several years ago! What a shock! Apparently the Macrium *did* restore the Windows 10 image file, despite the error, and apparently the Aspire laptop has a hidden file somewhere on the boot sector or otherwise that prevents anybody from booting to a USB stick?! I had set no security settings in the BIOS. The failure to boot from USB raises the question on how you would 'wipe clean' a HD to load another OS on it, say Linux, but I guess you can use that freeware "nuke" program from within Windows itself to reformat your HD? I don't care, as my problem is solved, but I'm just curious.

All's well that ends well, but it was bizarre. I've built many a PC from scratch back in the days but nowadays there's so many little tricks like this I wouldn't bother, I'd rather take it to Flasherly (or his equivalent here in PH) and I was going to do that just before the solution miraculously appeared.

RL

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJCkI14Lcd4 Windows 10 using USB stick


You didn't have to spend a dime to fix this.

You should have asked over in "alt.comp.os.windows-10".

That group is not available in Google Groups, so you'd
need to use a real USENET server (like the free and open
AIOE server).

First of all, there's hardly a reason to use Windows 10.
It's too bossy. The last upgrade (1809), deleted user data,
using deletion that could only be recovered with Recuva
or Photorec (only accessing your backup image guarantees
any sort of recovery, and who makes backups?).

Windows 8.1, at least here, has elements of stability.

You're not missing anything running Windows 10. I have
both, and I can compare them.

*******

Once you install and activate Windows 10 on a device,
the Microsoft license server has a record of that. You
can reinstall at any time later, and as long as the
hardware hash is still valid (it's the same computer),
the OS will activate again. There is no need to extract
or re-enter license keys for such an operation. Activation
is automatic, no user intervention needed.

When it asks for a key, say "I don't have one" and... move on.
It will be activated when you finish.

Entering a license key from a purchased source, is for
computers which have "never seen an OS". If you were
a System Builder, putting together a PC from a pile of
trash, that's when you'd buy a key of some sort.

*******

The Win10 boot procedure will try three times to boot.
Each time, it tries a different procedure to recover
the OS. Once it's tried three times, you could enter
the Troubleshooting screen and access the Command Prompt
and have a look around to satisfy yourself as to the
level of damage present.

Macrium Reflect emergency CD, has a menu item for
"boot repair". Use it!

Note that the three pass Microsoft recovery scheme
is pretty poor. Just the other day, I got an
"inaccessible boot device" error. Now, I know exactly
how it happened. It's an IDE versus AHCI driver problem.
Windows 10 is too stupid to re-arm the storage drivers,
and try all the drivers until the OS boots. Macrium
Reflect limits its manipulations to the BCD file.
Macrium is *not* a Microsoft Help Desk. What Macrium
repairs, is the stuff that Macrium *might* have damaged
while you were doing a backup. For example, if you
do a partition restore and not a whole-disk restore,
the boot info would be missing. The Macrium boot
repair (only available on the CD), would attempt
to fix up such a mess.

To fix "inaccessible boot device", you need to set
the StartOverride key to 0 from the regular value
of 3. When I tried this on 1803, it didn't work,
which means the damn recipe has changed again.

I had to use an old bounce technique to quickly
get it running again. It just means moving the
drive to another kind of storage port. I used
a SATA to IDE adapter for the SATA SSD and plugged
it into the IDE cable, and Windows 10 booted right
up. Then, I could go into Device Manager and delete
the two Code 10 entries so Windows would rediscover
the SATA ports that were using the wrong driver.
Then, when I moved the SSD back to a SATA port,
it worked again.

I have also tested in Windows 10, the removal of the
ENUM key in CurrentControlSet, and Windows 10 survived
that and booted up while re-discovering all the hardware.
The Kaspersky rescue CD (the one that scans for viruses),
now has a Registry Editor on it, and using that, you
can delete the ENUM key. To do it from Windows, would
have been a pain-in-the-ass to remove the permissions
issues. This is the same technique we used in Win2K and
WinXP days. Still works.

*******

Summary: You didn't need to buy a license key.

Win10 Media can be downloaded for free, with no
proof of purchase necessary. If you visit the
download page with Linux or WinXP (i.e. OSes that
don't support MediaCreationTool and its taste in
.NET runtime libraries), Microsoft will give you
a direct link to a 3.5 or 4.5GB ISO download.

The only reason to install Win10 is if you need
a Pooh Emoji for some reason :-/ There is hardly anything
practical in there that Win8.1 would not have.

Win10 is more crash-prone than previous OSes. I've
had more trouble with resource starvation and "killing
processes in time before it's too late". They've added
bucketloads of "features", for which the interactions
are not well understood. In WinXP, Task Manager is your
friend and is "a boss". In Win10, Task Manager is a wimp
and falls over like all your other applications do. This
means your OS can freeze up, before you can do anything
about it.

Paul
  #4  
Old October 10th 18, 10:11 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Mike[_33_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

On 10/10/2018 10:27 AM, Paul wrote:

To fix "inaccessible boot device", you need to set
the StartOverride key to 0 from the regular value
of 3. When I tried this on 1803, it didn't work,
which means the damn recipe has changed again.

I had to use an old bounce technique to quickly
get it running again. It just means moving the
drive to another kind of storage port. I used
a SATA to IDE adapter for the SATA SSD and plugged
it into the IDE cable, and Windows 10 booted right
up. Then, I could go into Device Manager and delete
the two Code 10 entries so Windows would rediscover
the SATA ports that were using the wrong driver.
Then, when I moved the SSD back to a SATA port,
it worked again.


This info might come in handy in the future.

Please be more descriptive about the "code 10"
entries.

I have also tested in Windows 10, the removal of the
ENUM key in CurrentControlSet, and Windows 10 survived
that and booted up while re-discovering all the hardware.


I've got a bunch of currentcontrolset keys.
Which one are we talking about here?


  #5  
Old October 11th 18, 12:10 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Paul[_28_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,467
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

Mike wrote:
On 10/10/2018 10:27 AM, Paul wrote:

To fix "inaccessible boot device", you need to set
the StartOverride key to 0 from the regular value
of 3. When I tried this on 1803, it didn't work,
which means the damn recipe has changed again.

I had to use an old bounce technique to quickly
get it running again. It just means moving the
drive to another kind of storage port. I used
a SATA to IDE adapter for the SATA SSD and plugged
it into the IDE cable, and Windows 10 booted right
up. Then, I could go into Device Manager and delete
the two Code 10 entries so Windows would rediscover
the SATA ports that were using the wrong driver.
Then, when I moved the SSD back to a SATA port,
it worked again.


This info might come in handy in the future.

Please be more descriptive about the "code 10"
entries.

I have also tested in Windows 10, the removal of the
ENUM key in CurrentControlSet, and Windows 10 survived
that and booted up while re-discovering all the hardware.


I've got a bunch of currentcontrolset keys.
Which one are we talking about here?



Please be more descriptive about the "code 10" entries.


This picture is collected in WinXP, but would look
similar in a Win10 system. The SATA ports are broken
into a set_of_four controller and a set_of_two controller.
The two items pointed to, are part of the set_of_two
Intel 2920 block. Even though it's SATA, the text description
calls the ports Primary and Secondary.

https://i.postimg.cc/cC8SgRTw/code10_candidates.gif

The "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller" below those,
is the JMicron part. That's the one I connected an adapter
to the end of the motherboard ribbon cable, to make the
cable into a SATA interface, and from there, to the SSD drive.
The "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller" only has one
operating mode (IDE) and there is little danger of the
driver being inappropriate on that one (definition stays
the same forever, after the OS is installed). The other six,
their DEV identifier changes as a function of BIOS setting.
The CC value does too (Class Code, a BIOS thing).

*******

I've got a bunch of currentcontrolset keys.
Which one are we talking about here?


https://s9.postimg.cc/vwioz43f3/WIN10_delete_ENUM.gif

Paul
  #6  
Old October 12th 18, 04:06 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
RayLopez99
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 897
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

On Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 5:32:06 PM UTC+8, Flasherly wrote:
On Wed, 10 Oct 2018 01:25:00 -0700 (PDT), RayLopez99
wrote:


I decided today to upgrade it back to Windows 10. So I used a USB
hard drive to restore the Macrium image file from several years ago.
Much to my disappointment, for unknown reasons, though I had plenty of
HD space, the Macrium program said (something like): 'no more space on
target' and exited with an error.

-
ZAP!

As far as I got -- Poor Testing procedures. I'm heavily into binary
streaming and keep two, sometimes three generations of backup images;-
FOUR when testing software of building, images which -always- need be
first Verified before shuffling the last-out first-in order of
successive backups.


OK I got another one for you. On a 'fast' (for the Philippines) 6 Mbps connection, I am upgrading using Windows 10 built-in Windows Upgrade from the 2015 flavor of Windows 10 to this year's flavor (I think called version 1803, yes "Feature Upgrade to Windows 10, version 1803")

What happens is that when the program is 99% downloaded, I get an error message saying something like 'error: could not complete the upgrade'. Then, when I try and "Retry", it starts from 0% not 99% (very dumb of it, you'd think their download manager was smarter than that but no).

Here is what I found out using WinVer: I have the Windows 10 Home Edition for a 64 bit machine. Windows 10 10.0.10240 (build 10240 from 2015)

But it's not the latest. here is a list of build numbers:

Windows 10 Windows 10 (1809) 10.0.17763
Windows 10 (1803) 10.0.17134
Windows 10 (1709) 10.0.16299
Windows 10 (1703) 10.0.15063
Windows 10 (1607) 10.0.14393
Windows 10 (1511) 10.0.10586
Windows 10 10.0.10240

I have the last one, but I should have a later one.

For the last two days all kinds of files have been downloaded, at 6 Mbps, but again, nothing doing, error message (except for the Windows Defender virus files, which are current).

I think it's because this PC image file of Windows 10 is from 2015 and thus "too far behind" to update properly.

Annoying. But Windows 10 does work.

Any help appreciated.

RL
  #7  
Old October 12th 18, 04:33 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Paul[_28_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,467
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

RayLopez99 wrote:
On Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 5:32:06 PM UTC+8, Flasherly wrote:
On Wed, 10 Oct 2018 01:25:00 -0700 (PDT), RayLopez99
wrote:

I decided today to upgrade it back to Windows 10. So I used a USB
hard drive to restore the Macrium image file from several years ago.
Much to my disappointment, for unknown reasons, though I had plenty of
HD space, the Macrium program said (something like): 'no more space on
target' and exited with an error.

-
ZAP!

As far as I got -- Poor Testing procedures. I'm heavily into binary
streaming and keep two, sometimes three generations of backup images;-
FOUR when testing software of building, images which -always- need be
first Verified before shuffling the last-out first-in order of
successive backups.


OK I got another one for you. On a 'fast' (for the Philippines) 6 Mbps connection, I am upgrading using Windows 10 built-in Windows Upgrade from the 2015 flavor of Windows 10 to this year's flavor (I think called version 1803, yes "Feature Upgrade to Windows 10, version 1803")

What happens is that when the program is 99% downloaded, I get an error message saying something like 'error: could not complete the upgrade'. Then, when I try and "Retry", it starts from 0% not 99% (very dumb of it, you'd think their download manager was smarter than that but no).

Here is what I found out using WinVer: I have the Windows 10 Home Edition for a 64 bit machine. Windows 10 10.0.10240 (build 10240 from 2015)

But it's not the latest. here is a list of build numbers:

Windows 10 Windows 10 (1809) 10.0.17763
Windows 10 (1803) 10.0.17134
Windows 10 (1709) 10.0.16299
Windows 10 (1703) 10.0.15063
Windows 10 (1607) 10.0.14393
Windows 10 (1511) 10.0.10586
Windows 10 10.0.10240

I have the last one, but I should have a later one.

For the last two days all kinds of files have been downloaded, at 6 Mbps, but again, nothing doing, error message (except for the Windows Defender virus files, which are current).

I think it's because this PC image file of Windows 10 is from 2015 and thus "too far behind" to update properly.

Annoying. But Windows 10 does work.

Any help appreciated.

RL


Sigh.

You should be downloading the DVD. Currently this
says "April 2018" download, and this is the wrong
file. Wait a few days until this says "October 2018"
download.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/soft...load/windows10

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/soft...d/windows10ISO === page offered to
WinXP or Linux
users
You do not want to be using any method that combines
the download phase and the install phase in one step.
If it fails, the download starts over again...

The response of the first URL above is dynamic. If the browser is
run from Win7/8/10, you will get a copy of MediaCreationTool.exe
or similar. The web page offers a small file, and that file
does the download itself and makes an ISO9660 file for you.

If you visit the website using a WinXP or a Linux machine,
you will be offered a different web page, with an actual
ISO9660 file offered for download. The file is stored
in a folder on the server, where the folder is erased
after 24 hours. You have 24 hours to complete the download.

Preparing a DVD from the ISO file, using Imgburn or similar,
gives you an archival copy for future reference. The disc
can be booted to gain access to a Command Prompt and make
repairs to the installed OS for example.

But for the basic Upgrade Install you're trying to do,
once you have the ISO9660 file in hand, right-click it
while you are in Win10 and select "Mount". Then, find
the virtual DVD drive in "My Computer", and run setup.exe
off the virtual DVD drive. That will start the Upgrade Install.
You don't actually need (slow) physical media to do an
Upgrade Install. The process can be done from the
hard drive, using "Mount".

As of yesterday, the above web link was offering 17134 media.
I haven't checked today to see if 17763 media has been
returned for download purposes. It was pulled a few days
ago, because of a data loss problem.

Now, if you want, you could

1) Download 17134 "April 2018" DVD, run setup.exe off the
image and install 17134.

2) Use cleanmgr.exe, remove Windows.old previous OS files
from cleanmgr. *Only* tick the box for removal of
system files. You need to click the system button
near the bottom of the dialog, to get to the
"second level" of cleanmgr.

3) Now, the 17763 will be offered via Windows Update.
At some point. A couple days ago, a machine here
upgraded to 17763 when I didn't want it to. Now,
17763 seems to be turned off again.

It's hard to say, as of this morning, what the
disposition of 17763 is. I'm still offered "April 2018"
from the download link, which is not a good sign.

Paul
  #8  
Old October 12th 18, 04:34 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
RayLopez99
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 897
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

UPDATE: I spoke too soon! I just got a fail after I rebooted, and "Automatic Repair" does not fix it, nor does going back to an earlier version using System Restore.

I think I have to shell out $9.99 and buy a 'used' copy of Windows 10, with a new key, agree? And reinstall it using a bootable USB stick loaded with the latest ISO of Windows. I think it's hard for Windows 10 to go from a 2015 version to a 2018 version in one fell scoop (just guessing).

Luckily I have nothing of importance on this laptop.

RL

On Friday, October 12, 2018 at 11:06:37 PM UTC+8, RayLopez99 wrote:
On Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 5:32:06 PM UTC+8, Flasherly wrote:
On Wed, 10 Oct 2018 01:25:00 -0700 (PDT), RayLopez99
wrote:


I decided today to upgrade it back to Windows 10. So I used a USB
hard drive to restore the Macrium image file from several years ago.
Much to my disappointment, for unknown reasons, though I had plenty of
HD space, the Macrium program said (something like): 'no more space on
target' and exited with an error.

-
ZAP!

As far as I got -- Poor Testing procedures. I'm heavily into binary
streaming and keep two, sometimes three generations of backup images;-
FOUR when testing software of building, images which -always- need be
first Verified before shuffling the last-out first-in order of
successive backups.


OK I got another one for you. On a 'fast' (for the Philippines) 6 Mbps connection, I am upgrading using Windows 10 built-in Windows Upgrade from the 2015 flavor of Windows 10 to this year's flavor (I think called version 1803, yes "Feature Upgrade to Windows 10, version 1803")

What happens is that when the program is 99% downloaded, I get an error message saying something like 'error: could not complete the upgrade'. Then, when I try and "Retry", it starts from 0% not 99% (very dumb of it, you'd think their download manager was smarter than that but no).

Here is what I found out using WinVer: I have the Windows 10 Home Edition for a 64 bit machine. Windows 10 10.0.10240 (build 10240 from 2015)

But it's not the latest. here is a list of build numbers:

Windows 10 Windows 10 (1809) 10.0.17763
Windows 10 (1803) 10.0.17134
Windows 10 (1709) 10.0.16299
Windows 10 (1703) 10.0.15063
Windows 10 (1607) 10.0.14393
Windows 10 (1511) 10.0.10586
Windows 10 10.0.10240

I have the last one, but I should have a later one.

For the last two days all kinds of files have been downloaded, at 6 Mbps, but again, nothing doing, error message (except for the Windows Defender virus files, which are current).

I think it's because this PC image file of Windows 10 is from 2015 and thus "too far behind" to update properly.

Annoying. But Windows 10 does work.

Any help appreciated.

RL


  #9  
Old October 12th 18, 04:42 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
RayLopez99
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 897
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

On Friday, October 12, 2018 at 11:33:51 PM UTC+8, Paul wrote:

Sigh.

You should be downloading the DVD. Currently this
says "April 2018" download, and this is the wrong
file. Wait a few days until this says "October 2018"
download.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/soft...load/windows10

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/soft...d/windows10ISO === page offered to
WinXP or Linux
users
You do not want to be using any method that combines
the download phase and the install phase in one step.
If it fails, the download starts over again...

The response of the first URL above is dynamic. If the browser is
run from Win7/8/10, you will get a copy of MediaCreationTool.exe
or similar. The web page offers a small file, and that file
does the download itself and makes an ISO9660 file for you.

If you visit the website using a WinXP or a Linux machine,
you will be offered a different web page, with an actual
ISO9660 file offered for download. The file is stored
in a folder on the server, where the folder is erased
after 24 hours. You have 24 hours to complete the download.

Preparing a DVD from the ISO file, using Imgburn or similar,
gives you an archival copy for future reference. The disc
can be booted to gain access to a Command Prompt and make
repairs to the installed OS for example.

But for the basic Upgrade Install you're trying to do,
once you have the ISO9660 file in hand, right-click it
while you are in Win10 and select "Mount". Then, find
the virtual DVD drive in "My Computer", and run setup.exe
off the virtual DVD drive. That will start the Upgrade Install.
You don't actually need (slow) physical media to do an
Upgrade Install. The process can be done from the
hard drive, using "Mount".

As of yesterday, the above web link was offering 17134 media.
I haven't checked today to see if 17763 media has been
returned for download purposes. It was pulled a few days
ago, because of a data loss problem.

Now, if you want, you could

1) Download 17134 "April 2018" DVD, run setup.exe off the
image and install 17134.

2) Use cleanmgr.exe, remove Windows.old previous OS files
from cleanmgr. *Only* tick the box for removal of
system files. You need to click the system button
near the bottom of the dialog, to get to the
"second level" of cleanmgr.

3) Now, the 17763 will be offered via Windows Update.
At some point. A couple days ago, a machine here
upgraded to 17763 when I didn't want it to. Now,
17763 seems to be turned off again.

It's hard to say, as of this morning, what the
disposition of 17763 is. I'm still offered "April 2018"
from the download link, which is not a good sign.

Paul


I have the ISO for Windows 10- 64 bit downloaded on this PC (this is a desktop not a laptop, which is a brick as I type this, "Automatic Repair" etc not working). The ISO files have a date of 6/20/2018.

I will mount this ISO on the "Rufus" freeware that creates a bootable USB, and then boot from the USB, and install. Then I must find a key within 30 days to 'activate', agree?

I think that's correct.

Unless you know of a cheaper (save me 9.99 USD) or, more importantly, quicker way (since buying a key via snail mail and having my non-tech friends ship it to me from the USA to the Philippines, where I'm at, will literally take about a month, mail is slow here).

Thanks Paul, will check this thread a few hours from now and tomorrow.

Strange how everything was going OK, except for the fact I had a 2015 version of Windows 10-64x until, in the middle of an "downloading Windows Update process", I rebooted, but this being a laptop that has constant power that should not have done anything bad.

RL
  #10  
Old October 12th 18, 05:21 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Paul[_28_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,467
Default Windows 10 fails to boot, then it reboots, bizarre self-fix

RayLopez99 wrote:

Then I must find a key within 30 days to 'activate', agree?


You have had an *activated* copy of Windows 10
on the machine already. Correct ?

If so, there is nothing to buy. The installation process
will contact the Microsoft license server, the license
server will say "I've seen that machine before, here is
your token". And the job of activation is automatically done.

There is nothing to buy!!!

You've downloaded media. Use it.

*******

There's probably nothing wrong with that copy
of Win10 on the drive already. It'll be some little
problem. I had to fix one of these "little problems"
two days ago. It's annoying but it can be fixed.

Paul
 




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