Windows 10: Update 1803 failed - leaves laptop machine unusable

Anonymous
2018-05-05T19:31:55+00:00

Hi,

Spent all day yesterday trying to recover from a failed update on a 64bit Lenovo laptop that was completely up to date before starting the upgrade to 1803 a couple of days ago. I left the upgrade working overnight. Here's the screen after I enter my login, password and wait some time for the system to load..

No icons from my applications, no wireless, cannot even access the 'Start' menu or Search! I have looked through many websites and pages but no-one else seems to have had this issue....

I started exploring my laptop... The only way I could get the laptop to reboot was to use 'Ctrl-Alt-Del' to bring up the Task Menu, then there is a 'Restart' button bottom right. No Windows services were running.

Upon restarting, I cannot access the recovery menu... nothing worked... tried all function buttons, Shift key and Windows key combinations etc. Can't recall exactly how I did it now - but trying to recover, I get to:- 

then: 

Tried them all but no change in the final outcome.... and keep coming back to: 

None of the options work to install the windows update.

Thinking I might be able to get the wifi working to continue the update download, I use Task Manager to start lots of services, not really knowing what I am doing.. but I get the wifi icon in the task bar, but cannot find a way to see the accessible wifi networks or log onto them... After working all day on this, I leave the machine running overnight as I appear to have triggered an update - at least the message read's Getting my machine ready! In the morning, I see: 

Click 'OK' and back where I started.

So more research... already a couple of unproductive days invested.... and came across a website and started to read .. and read...

Used Powershell to access diskpart and came up with this: 

I did find that my files are located in Drive E:/[user]/my documents and that the version of Windows installed is 10.0.17134.1

Accessing c: (Volume 1) there is [EFI] and a recovery.text file with no content (0 bytes).

Arrived at a point where doing something with Diskpart might really mess the system up... if that is possible! Can anyone/someone help me out of this? I have downloaded a new Windows 10 ISO to a USB drive but don't want to clean install and lose my files or applications - lots of which I no longer have the CD's for!... and no backups.

I fell into the trap of having three computers, two of which updated ok and felt somewhat reassured to update the third... Hoping...

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-05-09T00:50:42+00:00

    Thank you for the clarification. Before we proceed, I would suggest to have your computer be checked if it is compatible with Windows 10. Upon checking, it seems that the make and model of your computer is not on the list released by your manufacturer. To have this verified and also before we proceed with any other troubleshooting, I strongly advise to have this checked first with them to ensure that your computer would be compatible as forcing a computer to a higher edition of Windows would be causing multiple issues like what you experience.

    Once they've confirmed if your computer is compatible to Windows 10 1803 version, please don't hesitate to contact me on your thread so I can continue assisting you.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-05-07T11:50:35+00:00

    Hi San,

    • Afraid I cannot get to the desktop normally.

    Each time I boot the laptop, I have to select the keyboard for my country, then login (can't use my pin - just password). After that there are a couple of possibilities which

    I choose 'Use another operating system' to try and access the computer and am presented with 'Windows Rollback' which does nothing, and two 'Windows 10  options on Volume 2'

    The computer then seems to go through an update sequence, displaying message on the screen like; 'Leave everything to us' (sic) and 'Don't turn off your PC' at the bottom of the screen which pulses a blue background.

    The computer then displays a message that 'C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Desktop' is unavailable on a black desktop screen with no icons except the trash can, not able to click the start button, no wifi - in fact no services running. I can access 'Task Manger' through 'Ctrl-Alt-Del'.

    Seems like I have two Windows 10's on the computer.... but neither wants to boot!

    • I am not able to access Safe Mode. I can access BIOS and choose the source of booting up.
    • The computer is a Lenovo IdeaPad V570 Model 1066.

    Hope that helps!

    regards,

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-06-26T03:05:22+00:00

    I do not need further help. Thanks for asking!

    The main points of the final status are,

    1. When Update 1803 destroyed my Win 10, it did NOT preserve my personal files. There was a Windows.old folder, which included a Users\Judd\Desktop, but there were no files in the Desktop folder. There was no Windows.old.000 folder. I had to pay a data recovery company about $460 to recover my files. But I got them, without any losses (except for the $460).
    2. Method 2 finally worked for me. The problem was, the first two times I downloaded the software, it was somehow corrupted, and would not install. The third time, it finally worked.
    3. I was without the use of my computer for just over a month, during which I probably spent 10-12 hours working on this problem.

    But now everything is fixed.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-05-23T13:50:30+00:00

    I am totally in for a class action lawsuit!! 

    Maybe some enterprising lawyer will do that. I hope they do. As a mere peon, there's nothing I can do. But Microsoft should not be allowed to get away with destroying large numbers of their customers' computers without facing *some* consequence.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-05-06T22:00:31+00:00

    Hi Thompa,

    There are a few possibilities that might have caused the update to fail like an incompatible driver or program, or a corrupted file. To better understand your concern, we would like to know the following:

    • Are you able to boot to the desktop normally?
    • Are you able to access safe mode?
    • What is the model of you computer?

    We'll be waiting for your response.

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