Audio devices disappear after failed update

Well, apparently mine tried to update itself again and got into one of the crash loops but this time it made it unbootable so I HAVE to do a clean install...

Repair failed?

Well, apparently mine tried to update itself again and got into one of the crash loops but this time it made it unbootable so I HAVE to do a clean install...

Whether it's their update per se or whether it just happens to cause problems with certain machine configurations (and we all just happened to be unlucky), I can't say.  But it seems to me that the Windows programmers there need to have a more robust rollback procedure in place.  I can understand that update failures of a BSOD level can happen, and Windows is theoretically designed to detect when an update repeatedly crashes a given machine and roll back the system to where it was before, but there's obviously some flaws in the system when doing so not only introduces a problem, but a problem that cannot be fixed with either a repair install or a system restore from an earlier restore point.  The latter is particularly concerning from my point of view; because it means the whole system restore system has some fundamental bugs that may cause it to fail just where one needs it the most.

I do really appreciate Greg Carmack's efforts here, and grant that it's likely a clean install will result in a improved and more reliable computer, but there should never be a case where a "pushed" update can screw up users' computers to the point where that is the only solution.  It seems to me that Microsoft needs to realize that not everybody is an average home user with, maybe, an e-mail client, a web browser, and maybe a copy of Office, and with all their work neatly arranged in their user folder.  My work in photography and video takes up two large internal drives, and my music-server adds a third.  (Seriously, if everything were being kept in my user folder, I'd need a 16TB SSD as a boot drive.)  And, as I said before, my work involves many different programs, plug-ins, etc., some of which have to interact with others, and some of which I may only need every few years but are absolutely essential to be working correctly when I do need them.  Trying to rebuild such an environment after a clean install is a daunting task, and I'll never be sure I've really done it fully unless and until I find, however far down the line, that I need a given tool and can't get it to set up properly.  As much as I wish I could just clean-install, gradually add my presumed  handful of applications back to the system, and copy my Documents, Music, Videos, etc. back to my newly created user directory and consider the job done, it just isn't the case.  And the thought that, even should I pull this off without a hitch this time, I'm just one flawed forced update away from having to do it all again, just because Windows' rollback provisions (whether it be an automatic one after a crashed update or a system restore that doesn't really restore the system fully) aren't reliable is deeply depressing.

Here's a quick question:  In your clean install article, you mention backing up your credentials (which I have done), but nothing about restoring them.  I would assume one is supposed to restore them at some point, but how soon after finishing the new install should one do so?  Instinctively, I would guess it should be done right away, but I have no idea if that's right or not.  Can you advise me on this, please?

Wow, amazing. Microsoft needs to release a fix to this because it is their update that basically rendered our PC's half useless...