My wife's Windows computer needs help. It failed to install the last Windows 10 feature update, and the Start Menu will not open. We would prefer a technician that makes house calls because it is a big, heavy computer.
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My wife's Windows computer needs help. It failed to install the last Windows 10 feature update, and the Start Menu will not open. We would prefer a technician that makes house calls because it is a big, heavy computer.
Did you research online help, like this?
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-f...ems-windows-10
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Posted in reply to the post by Finell:
Thanks.
I did all the troubleshooting that an amateur (or at least this amateur) can do, but I could not fix it. I mentioned the failure to install the last Windows feature update, as well as the inability to open the Start Menu, as evidence of significant problems with the way Windows is working. The inability to open the Start Menu predates the failed attempt to install the update.
I became aware that my wife's computer was unwell when I tested the backup of the computer's hard disk drive, before upgrading her computer to Microsoft Office 365. The hard disk drive was being backed up hourly to an external Western Digital hard disk drive using Western Digital backup software. In the past, I periodically tested the backups by restoring around 12 random files. These tests were fine. This time, however, the backup software said that there was no backup to restore.
My troubleshooting the backup restore failure was unsuccessful. I called Western Digital support. Level 1 and level 2 support technicians could not diagnose, let alone fix, the problem, so this was escalated to level 3. A level 3 technician spent several hours, but he could not fix it.
The WD backup software and WD disk utilities were not working. The technician uninstalled and reinstalled all the WD software, but that did not fix the problem. As the next step, the support technician recommended that I install any uninstalled Windows updates and driver updates. I checked the update log and saw that the last feature update failed to install. I tried installing it myself, but that failed. In the course of all this, I discovered that the Start Menu would not open.
I did all the troubleshooting I could regarding the inability to open the Start Menu, the failure of the last Windows update, and the specific error code recorded when the update failed—all with no success.
Therefore, I need a technician.
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Posted in reply to the post by Shandi:
My two cents worth
In what you said about backups I didn't see you say anything about system backups. Before you do anything else go here, download it and install it, then take a system backup. I have used it for 10 years.
It's free and easy and will save your digital life. just ask questions as you go along. On the last screen before you do the back up uncheck- save as backup and schedules as an XML..
https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree
You will need a separate drive or partition to save the back up in. Where you save it has to have more space free than your C Partition.
Do you have another drive in your computer or another partition on your main drive than C ? You will save your back up there or somewhere else. Don't use The Western Digital for now. This is something you should be doing at least once a week and keep three in reserve.
After you have a system backup you can at least return to this condition. After you make a back up, right click This PC on your desktop- choose Properties and click Advanced System Settings, click System Protection in the top bar then System Restore hopefully you may have a restore point to choose from.
If you don't have This PC on your desktop click the magnifying glass bottom of screen far left, type This PC and right click it in the search panel at the top and choose properties etc.
After that you may see your files again. or if not- On a large feature upgrade it's better to download the ISO use Rufus to make a bootable thumbdrive, and upgrade from that. Unplug your network cable or turn of the Wifi so it stays local. You don't boot it though, you start the upgrade in windows, disconnect your peripherals, turn of your antivirus, open the thumbdrive and upgrade from that.
If you're successful in that check this out as a new feature to Windows
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...ore-lost-files
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Posted in reply to the post by Finell:
Can you recommend a Windows technician who does house calls? Are you one?
Before I did anything, I used ReflectFree to clone the C:\ drive to a 2.5 inch SSD. Then I left the C:\ drive in place but attached its cables to the clone, successfully booted from the clone, ran several programs, and opened several files from diverse locations, including a long video and a big, high-resolution Photoshop file with 8 or 9 layers. No problems.
Then I reconnected the C:\ drive and spent a few hours trying all the published troubleshooting and remedies for the computer's 2 problems short of a full system restoration.
When all that failed, I reconnected the SSD clone because it is so much faster than the hard drive.
I have been using a personal computer daily since late 1979 or early 1980. The first IBM PC was introduced in 1981. I have solved almost all my tech problems myself, and I have solved lots of other people's problems as well.
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Posted in reply to the post by Thad:
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Posted in reply to the post by Finell:
:hmmm: