Windows 10 rollback stuck

Anonymous
2018-01-16T17:00:04+00:00

A client of mine has a Windows 10 desktop she bought a couple of years ago. Last week a user (we think her grandson) tried to rollback to a previous version of Windows. But, since Windows 10 is the original OS on the computer, it's stuck. Asks for keyboard language, then gives options to run Windows rollback or Windows 10. When you choose, it reboots and goes right back to the keyboard options. How can I get past this and fix the issue?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows update

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Anonymous
2018-01-16T18:46:36+00:00

Hi Andrea,

Corrupted system files after trying to rollback are one of the possible reasons why this issue is happening. Usually, restarting the computer should resolve the issue.

If the issue still persists even after restarting your computer, we recommend repairing Windows thru Advanced options. Follow the steps below:

  1. Press F8 while booting your computer to access System Recovery options.
  2. Click Troubleshoot.
  3. Select Command Prompt.
  4. Enter the following commands below, then press Enter after each command:
    • chkdsk c: /f
    • bootrec /fixmbr
    • bootrec /fixboot
    • bootrec /rebuildbcd
    • bcdboot c:\windows /s c:
  5. Once done with the above commands, restart your computer and see if the problem is fixed.

Keep us in the loop with the result.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-05-19T13:33:01+00:00

    Same problem as above.  It isn’t helpful to say there is a corrupt file.  I have Microsoft 365.  This is your update and you have corrupted my computer.  I need a fix that doesn’t require me to have a degree in computer science.

    i have tried startup repair and get message that it can’t repair my PC. Can’t go back to previous version. Get sent to Troubleshoot—Reser this PC.  Rinse, repeat.  I am never updating again.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-05-20T01:32:38+00:00

    This stupid update ruined my laptop.  Right when I have been contemplating switching to Apple.   Thank you Microsoft.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-05-22T19:17:05+00:00

    Alright everyone! I have finally fixed my laptop.  It was in no way easy, but it worked...  I hope to be able to give you a nice basic understanding of what I did to fix it. I have some pictures to help, but a lot of them were on my other computer, which I am not at right now, so I will have to come back to edit this post in order to make it more clear.

    So long story short, you have to go and reinstall Windows 10 in order to fix this if none of the other fixes are working for you. (I know, it's painful and aggravating. I was in the same boat as you not too long ago.  Good news though, you won't lose all of your files if you do it right!) 

    So let's get right to it.

    What you'll need:

    1. A USB with at least 4GB (finished drive will take 3.56 GB)
    2. Another working computer with internet access and at least 8GB of space on the C: drive
    3. A program that can burn an ISO image to a USB drive.  I'll be using Rufus in my example, because that is what I used to do it.
    4. Patience - so as to not throw your laptop at the wall and make things worse. (LOL)

    Steps:

    1. Plug in your USB to your working computer and make sure you transfer all the files and data to a safe place (Another computer or external drive).  YOU WILL BE DELETING ALL OF THE INFORMATION from the USB in the making of this bootable ISO image, SO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T SKIP THIS STEP!
    2. Download the official Windows 10 media creation tool from their site: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
    3. When it is finished downloading, open the application and accept Applicable notice and Licence terms. (It will waste more of your time saying "Getting things ready....")

    4.  Select "Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC" and click "Next".

    1. You should be able to leave everything as is on that next screen (for selecting language, architecture, and edition) UNLESS you have a 32-bit system.  In that case, change the architecture drop down to 32-bit (x86). (( I guess if your really worried and unsure, you can select the "both", but it's better if you know for sure. Most computers nowadays are 64-bit, unless they're REALLY old! haha))

    Click "Next".

    1. Now I've tried both options for this next part, but only the ISO image worked for me. I also saw a few other people on here saying the same thing. That's why I advise you to choose the "ISO file" option for this part. Click "Next". A window will popup asking you where you want to save the ISO image named "Windows".  Choose an appropriate place to store it so that you won't lose it (such as your Downloads folder).  Let the program run, it will download and store the ISO image in the appropriate place once finished. 
    2. Once that is done downloading, you need a program that will mount an ISO image to a USB device. I have chosen Rufus as it was in one of the first articles I looked up for such a solution. Click that link to go to the page and download it. (Probably the quickest and easiest part of this whole process. haha)
    3. Next, follow this article on how to correctly use Rufus to create a bootable ISO from your USB drive. (Or just do it by yourself if you know what you are doing... Most of the options you don't even have to change.) Once you get to step 16 in the article, your done (for that part at least.)
    4. Eject the USB drive to safely remove it, and plug it into your broken/stuck Windows device.

    Now comes the fun part! (Not)

    1. Turn on the computer.  It'll have the "Choose an option" page that says the stupid "Continue with Rollback," that we all know by now ends in an infinite loop. Choose the "Use another operating system" option.

    11.  Select one of the two Windows options presented (I think they're both the same anyways, so don't worry about which one.) DON'T SELECT WINDOWS ROLLBACK! THIS WILL JUST KEEP YOU IN THE ENDLESS LOOP!

    1. Your computer should start up somewhat normal, except for the lack of WiFi and the lack of ability to do a lot of things.  This is because, as others have suggested, it is in safe mode. Log in as you normally would though, your password should still work. (Try your Microsoft account password if local password doesn't work. If that also doesn't work, try going back into roll back mode by doing a couple hard shutdowns, and then to command prompt in advanced option; after that try the first few things in this video to make another admin account so you can log in for the rest of the steps.)

    Now the somewhat trickier part.

    1. As you will notice, you can't enter the start menu, and your Desktop is completely naked. Try hitting the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box. If that doesn't work, what you have to do is either 1.) CTRL + ALT + DELETE and select "Task Manager" OR (as I did) 2.) Right click the task bar (the one on the bottom) and click "Task Manager".  Once in Task Manager, go to File > Run New Task and click it. This will also bring the Run box up.
    2. Once in there, click "Browse..." to open up a file explorer. (Alternatively you can type in "explorer.exe" and click Run to bring up a file explorer, but this other way is easier, and explorer.exe may not work for you.) Navigate to your external USB, and find the "setup.exe" application.  Double click it.
    3. Depending on your computer, it may either tell you that it has updates to install, or that it is ready to install (a whole new Windows.)  Just make sure that if there is in option for it, which there should be, that "Keep personal files" is selected. This will prevent you from losing any of your valuable data/files. Click next, making sure that the option for keeping files is selected.
    4. Let Windows reinstall! That's it, your done! (Now this may take a couple hours, just a fair warning.  It took about 2 hours to reinstall mine.)

    Hopefully this helps some of you out!  Microsoft should be giving me a tech support job after all this, huh? ;-) Please leave a reply letting me know if this helped you or not!  I'll try and upload some pics to make this easier.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-04-13T05:33:47+00:00

    Just got the same issue after the spring update. Boot up only to get stuck at the pick a keyboard screen. After that, all the options lead to either roll back or windows 10 but none of them work. It just boot loops back to the keyboard screen. No option to even reset windows.

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