Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview problem?

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  1. Posts : 8
    Windows 10
       #1

    Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview problem?


    Hello guys, I am a new member to these forums; however, I have been lurking through and reading posts here for a little while. I have a situation here I can not seem to solve that has me pulling my hair out. The first thing I want to say starting is that I am not a professional by any means I only really know so much I am still in the process of learning myself I guess I would say. With that said I know more than anyone else in my family and friends and generally end up being the one fixing everyone's computer. Which is fine because generally I have never had a problem, and is usually a easy fix. My younger cousin asked me for help with his new computer recently which was not working right and I figured hey no problem I am sure I can get it running again pretty easily. Unfortunately this has been anything but easy. At first when he brought it to me it was running Windows 8.1 and appeared to be experiences a problem called a Windows temporary user profile where all of his stuff was not available, as a matter of face nothing was available. Except the recycle bin, the loading symbol on the mouse was constantly running, the cpu was constantly running high, and it was incapable of running any program. After a while of running around in circles trying to fix a problem I didn't understand fully, I learned that this problem happened after he had upgraded to windows 10 on the laptop recently. He told me that he had used a Windows 10 Pro key to upgrade and that after that he began having problems. Shortly after that he apparently reverted back to windows 8 and that is when the temporary user profile problem began. So since learning this I have reinstalled windows 8, I have gotten his OEM Pre-Installed Windows 8 Key back. And I am now noticing with Windows 8 Installed it runs just fine now. But when I upgrade to windows 10 the problems all start back all over again. Even though when I upgraded his original key was used to activate Windows 8.1. Now I am pulling my hair out and do not know what to do for him. When windows 10 is installed on it now it has very similar problems I described earlier with the temporary user profile, in the control panel it says windows 10 is activated. Yet I notice in the graphic card properties is shows "Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview". I guess my question is does anybody know why this would be happening? I use Windows 7 on my everyday laptop and have no idea what could be going on here. Anyways thank you in advance for any help or advice. Also I apologize if this is the wrong section I was unsure.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 29,078
    Windows 10 21H1 Build 19043.1023
       #2

    I'm not sure I understand the problem as you describe it TCB. I am going to print the post and try to separate it into paragraphs so that, hopefully, I'll understand a bit better. A great big hint: When we see a large chunk of text like this, it's rather confusing, to say the least. Paragraphs help a lot.

    First, a few questions:

    Did the computer come with Windows 8.0 or Windows 8.1? Is it Windows Core (Home) or Pro? Does your cousin want to install the free version of Windows 10 or did he buy a Retail copy of Windows 10? These are questions that need to be answered before we can give you a good answer.

    Yeah, this is the Windows Insider Forum, but we're easy. :) It seems "Insider" stuff is mixed in anyway. I'll be back in a few to see if I can help you out.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 29,078
    Windows 10 21H1 Build 19043.1023
       #3

    I think I understand parts of the problem now, but not completely until I get answers to the above questions. However, I'm going to make some assumptions . . .

    Assumption #1
    : The computer has an OEM copy of Windows 8.1 Core on it. This is all well and good if the owner upgrades from a fully updated Windows 8.1 Core to Windows 10 Home.

    Assumption #2
    : The owner has attempted to install the free upgrade from Windows 8.1 Core to Windows 10 Pro. This is not possible to do. If the owner wishes to upgrade from 8.1 Core to 10 Pro, he must purchase a Retail copy of Windows 10 Pro (which will have a product key).

    Assumption #3: The owner has attempted to use a Windows 10 Pro Product Key (of some sort). The free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1 does not require a product key.

    If any of the above assumptions are wrong, please let me know and we can explore further.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 8
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Hello, I apologize for the confusion of my last post I was getting confused myself just trying to type it all out. I have been trying to fix this laptop for weeks not understanding what is happening at all until now I am just finally understanding what is going on I think, how to fix it is another issue. His laptop came installed with Windows 8.1. He upgraded to Windows 10 home for free. And apparently he attempted to use a key he got from somebody I don't know to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. Apparently it upgraded him but afterwards it wouldn't activate. Which still doesn't make sense to me because I told him the key would either work or not.

    Anyways apparently afterwards he was unable to change his screen saver or any of his personal settings because of this so he used the revert to Windows 8.1 option in an attempt to fix this and get back to his original version of windows. This is when it created a temporary user profile and began really messing up, and when he gave the laptop to me to fix. I was originally unaware of these details and I thought just a simple clean install of the operating system would work.

    I have clean installed windows 8.1 a couple times now, I have gotten his original product key for windows 8.1 and put it back in. Windows 8.1 appears to run okay now, unfortunately whenever I upgrade to Windows 10 it is almost like it glitches out or something I dont know. It says it is activated in the control panel, it says it is Windows 10 Home not Pro, yet it still runs very rough, the little loading indicator for the mouse is always running, the cpu is constantly near 100%, and I didn't understand what was happening until earlier today I noticed in his graphic option properties it said he was on Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview which I have no idea what that is or how it works. Especially since in the control panel it says he is running Windows 10 home. Anyways this is a weird situtation I understand and I apologize if it's confusing. I'm just trying to help him out I promised him I would try to get it fixed for him before school starts.

    Like I said earlier I don't have a lot of experience with windows 10 yet, I am not quite sure how product keys work or why this would be happening. Any idea what might be going on here?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 29,078
    Windows 10 21H1 Build 19043.1023
       #5

    TCB206 said:
    Hello, I apologize for the confusion of my last post I was getting confused myself just trying to type it all out. I have been trying to fix this laptop for weeks not understanding what is happening at all until now I am just finally understanding what is going on I think, how to fix it is another issue. His laptop came installed with Windows 8.1. He upgraded to Windows 10 home for free. And apparently he attempted to use a key he got from somebody I don't know to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. Apparently it upgraded him but afterwards it wouldn't activate. Which still doesn't make sense to me because I told him the key would either work or not.
    Ah, that makes sense now; however, we need to know where he got the product key for Windows 10 Pro. No judgments here, but if he didn't get it from a squeaky clean legitimate source (like Microsoft, Amazon.com, Newegg.com etc.), there's probably now something on the computer that Gramma's lye soap won't take off.

    Since the computer was upgraded to Windows 10 Home, and apparently it worked fine, a clean install should work. Whatever you do, don't try using that Windows 10 Pro key for the time being.

    TCB206 said:
    Anyways apparently afterwards he was unable to change his screen saver or any of his personal settings because of this so he used the revert to Windows 8.1 option in an attempt to fix this and get back to his original version of windows. This is when it created a temporary user profile and began really messing up, and when he gave the laptop to me to fix. I was originally unaware of these details and I thought just a simple clean install of the operating system would work.
    Most likely, as I said above, the computer was infected with malware at this point.

    TCB206 said:
    I have clean installed windows 8.1 a couple times now, I have gotten his original product key for windows 8.1 and put it back in. Windows 8.1 appears to run okay now,
    TCB206 said:
    . . . unfortunately whenever I upgrade to Windows 10 it is almost like it glitches out or something I dont know. It says it is activated in the control panel, it says it is Windows 10 Home not Pro, yet it still runs very rough, the little loading indicator for the mouse is always running, the cpu is constantly near 100%, and I didn't understand what was happening until earlier today I noticed in his graphic option properties it said he was on Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview which I have no idea what that is or how it works. Especially since in the control panel it says he is running Windows 10 home. Anyways this is a weird situtation I understand and I apologize if it's confusing. I'm just trying to help him out I promised him I would try to get it fixed for him before school starts.
    At this point, since Windows 10 has already been installed on the computer, a clean install should work and activate. Also, it seems he's signed up for the Windows Insider Program. If so, go to insider.microsoft.com, get the media creation tool and clean install Windows 10 Home with it. Again, don't try to get Windows 10 Pro onto the machine. Until we know absolutely that it's from a legitimate source, it's best not to try that again. Lastly, no product key will be required for installing Windows 10 Home.

    TCB206 said:
    Like I said earlier I don't have a lot of experience with windows 10 yet, I am not quite sure how product keys work or why this would be happening. Any idea what might be going on here?
    Here are some of the tutorials you may find useful.

    Windows 10 Tutorials

    Windows 10 - Clean Install - Windows 10 Forums

    Windows 10 - Upgrade Installation - Windows 10 Forums

    Recovery Drive - Create in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

    Once you get Windows 10 up and running, be sure to create a recovery drive for it. We'll take care of the "Insider Preview" part once things are in working order.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 8
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Hello, thanks for the response I appreciate the help. The Windows 10 Pro key he got was not from a legitimate source. I believe the key he got was for the Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview because that is what I keep seeing. I believe that is what is causing this problem and is the reason when he reverted back to Windows 8.1 it set up a temporary user profile. He didn't get the key from the store yet for some reason the key worked for him halfway in upgrading yet did not activate. Since then I have clean installed Windows 8.1 a few times, pulled his original windows key from the bios, reentered it in. Windows 8.1 appears to run fine. But then when I upgrade to Windows 10 home even though it activates and says home, it runs rough, the cpu is almost always at 100%, and under graphic properties I noticed under Operating System it says "Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview" for some reason when it comes to windows 10 I can't seem to get this off of it.

    Also I want to make sure I give you as much information as possible because I am stuck here, he said he never did a Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview so the key he entered must have been for that. Also just to be clear I am not trying to get him Windows 10 Pro, I am just trying to get his laptop back up and running on his windows 10 home.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 29,078
    Windows 10 21H1 Build 19043.1023
       #7

    TCB206 said:
    Hello, thanks for the response I appreciate the help. The Windows 10 Pro key he got was not from a legitimate source. I believe the key he got was for the Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview because that is what I keep seeing. I believe that is what is causing this problem and is the reason when he reverted back to Windows 8.1 it set up a temporary user profile. He didn't get the key from the store yet for some reason the key worked for him halfway in upgrading yet did not activate. Since then I have clean installed Windows 8.1 a few times, pulled his original windows key from the bios, reentered it in. Windows 8.1 appears to run fine. But then when I upgrade to Windows 10 home even though it activates and says home, it runs rough, the cpu is almost always at 100%, and under graphic properties I noticed under Operating System it says "Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview" for some reason when it comes to windows 10 I can't seem to get this off of it.

    Also I want to make sure I give you as much information as possible because I am stuck here, he said he never did a Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview so the key he entered must have been for that. Also just to be clear I am not trying to get him Windows 10 Pro, I am just trying to get his laptop back up and running on his windows 10 home.
    OK, what it looks like is that he may have tried to upgrade his OEM Windows 8.1 Core to Windows 10 Pro. He may have gotten the file from someone on the Insider Program.

    Can you tell me exactly how you are now attempting to upgrade Windows 8.1 Core to Windows 10 Home?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 29,078
    Windows 10 21H1 Build 19043.1023
       #8

    I'm calling in some of the gurus among us; they may have a better handle on what you need to do.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 16,325
    W10Prox64
       #9

    Wynona said:
    I'm calling in some of the gurus among us; they may have a better handle on what you need to do.
    Hi Wynona. Happy to see if I can help here...

    TCB206 said:
    Hello guys, I am a new member to these forums;
    Hi TCB206, and welcome to Tenforums.

    TCB206 said:
    ...My younger cousin asked me for help with his new computer recently which was not working right...At first when he brought it to me it was running Windows 8.1 and appeared to be experiences a problem called a Windows temporary user profile where all of his stuff was not available, as a matter of face nothing was available. Except the recycle bin, the loading symbol on the mouse was constantly running, the cpu was constantly running high, and it was incapable of running any program. After a while of running around in circles trying to fix a problem I didn't understand fully, I learned that this problem happened after he had upgraded to windows 10 on the laptop recently. He told me that he had used a Windows 10 Pro key to upgrade and that after that he began having problems. Shortly after that he apparently reverted back to windows 8 and that is when the temporary user profile problem began. So since learning this I have reinstalled windows 8, I have gotten his OEM Pre-Installed Windows 8 Key back. And I am now noticing with Windows 8 Installed it runs just fine now.
    At this point - with W8.1Home back on the system - I would run sfc /scannow and make sure that all system files are intact.

    TCB206 said:
    But when I upgrade to windows 10 the problems all start back all over again.
    How was the upgrade done exactly?

    TCB206 said:
    When windows 10 is installed on it now it has very similar problems I described earlier with the temporary user profile, in the control panel it says windows 10 is activated. Yet I notice in the graphic card properties is shows "Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview".
    Would like to see a screenshot of this please.

    TCB206 said:
    I guess my question is does anybody know why this would be happening? I use Windows 7 on my everyday laptop and have no idea what could be going on here. Anyways thank you in advance for any help or advice. Also I apologize if this is the wrong section I was unsure.
    I have seen problems with user accounts when upgrading from W8.0 to W8.1, and was able to attribute them to the 3rd-party anti virus. There are some preps which can be done prior to upgrading to W10, to help avoid these and other things.

    TCB206 said:
    Hello, I apologize for the confusion of my last post I was getting confused myself just trying to type it all out. I have been trying to fix this laptop for weeks not understanding what is happening at all until now I am just finally understanding what is going on I think, how to fix it is another issue. His laptop came installed with Windows 8.1. He upgraded to Windows 10 home for free.
    Do we know if the computer was "activated" when it was originally upgraded to W10 Home?

    TCB206 said:
    And apparently he attempted to use a key he got from somebody I don't know to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. Apparently it upgraded him but afterwards it wouldn't activate. Which still doesn't make sense to me because I told him the key would either work or not.
    This is because the W10 Insider keys no longer activate for any new insiders. The activation servers were taken offline shortly before 10240 was released to Insiders. A Pro Insider key may upgrade the system to Pro, but it will no longer activate.

    TCB206 said:
    Anyways apparently afterwards he was unable to change his screen saver or any of his personal settings because of this...
    This is because the system was no longer activated.

    TCB206 said:
    This is when it created a temporary user profile and began really messing up, and when he gave the laptop to me to fix. I was originally unaware of these details and I thought just a simple clean install of the operating system would work.
    So, there was a new user created? What was the name of this account? And was it an administrative user or limited account? Were you able to access this account at all? Did he get an ISO from someone with which to attempt the upgrade to Pro or ONLY a product key?

    TCB206 said:
    I have clean installed windows 8.1 a couple times now, I have gotten his original product key for windows 8.1 and put it back in. Windows 8.1 appears to run okay now, unfortunately whenever I upgrade to Windows 10 it is almost like it glitches out or something I dont know.
    Are you on W10 right now? If so, please open an administrator Command Prompt and type the following commands, waiting for a new window to pop up after each one:

    slmgr /xpr [press enter, wait for a box to pop up]

    slmgr /dlv [press enter, wait for another box to pop up]

    please post a screenshot of the two results.


    TCB206 said:
    It says it is activated in the control panel, it says it is Windows 10 Home not Pro, yet it still runs very rough, the little loading indicator for the mouse is always running, the cpu is constantly near 100%, and I didn't understand what was happening until earlier today I noticed in his graphic option properties it said he was on Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview which I have no idea what that is or how it works. Especially since in the control panel it says he is running Windows 10 home. Anyways this is a weird situtation I understand and I apologize if it's confusing. I'm just trying to help him out I promised him I would try to get it fixed for him before school starts.
    Okay, so we are running out of time (school starts very soon!) :)

    TCB206 said:
    Like I said earlier I don't have a lot of experience with windows 10 yet, I am not quite sure how product keys work or why this would be happening. Any idea what might be going on here?
    Windows 10 upgrade looks for an activated qualifying OS and upgrades based on that. A hash is generated based on the major system components, and is stored on the MS servers. Once the system has been activated with W10, the W10 OS can be clean installed whenever needed/wanted. We must make sure the W10 Home OS was indeed activated in order to do a clean install of W10, otherwise, we will be forced to go back to W8.1. AND, I do not think a "rollback" to W8.1 will be sufficient - we need to use the OEM recovery partition to put the W8.1 OS back to its original state. I do hope all your cousin's data is backed up?

    TCB206 said:
    Hello, thanks for the response I appreciate the help. The Windows 10 Pro key he got was not from a legitimate source. I believe the key he got was for the Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview because that is what I keep seeing. I believe that is what is causing this problem and is the reason when he reverted back to Windows 8.1 it set up a temporary user profile. He didn't get the key from the store yet for some reason the key worked for him halfway in upgrading yet did not activate. Since then I have clean installed Windows 8.1 a few times, pulled his original windows key from the bios, reentered it in. Windows 8.1 appears to run fine. But then when I upgrade to Windows 10 home even though it activates and says home, it runs rough, the cpu is almost always at 100%, and under graphic properties I noticed under Operating System it says "Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview" for some reason when it comes to windows 10 I can't seem to get this off of it.
    How are you reverting to W8.1? Are you using the OEM recovery partition? Are you using an ISO downloaded from MS? Are you using a system image?

    TCB206 said:
    Also I want to make sure I give you as much information as possible because I am stuck here, he said he never did a Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview so the key he entered must have been for that. Also just to be clear I am not trying to get him Windows 10 Pro, I am just trying to get his laptop back up and running on his windows 10 home.
    Thanks. Perhaps, if you answer all my questions, we can determine the best baseline, and go from there. It should be pretty smooth once we determine what needs to be done.

    Edit: Please fill in all the system specs so we know exactly what we're dealing with. Thanks.
    Last edited by simrick; 05 Sep 2015 at 16:39. Reason: request system specs
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 8
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Hello thank you for all the help again everyone, the computer currently has Windows 10 on it. I have given up the last few times. Unfortunately he does not have the original backed up. I am gonna try to answer all these questions the best I can from what I understand when he first upgraded to Windows 10 it was upgraded from his OEM Windows 8.1 that came with his computer. Later on he attempted to use this key from his friend I am not sure where he got it from but the way he described it, it wasn't an iso file he just typed in the key in the microsoft store it sounds like and it began installing and upgrading from there but afterwards it would not activate. The system currently doesn't have any software on it, just because I have been unable to fix this. From what I understand after he used the key he was able to do everything except change his screen saver and personal settings, then shortly after that he used the revert to Windows 8.1 option and that is when it created a temporary user profile and everything went really bad. He just attempted to use a key he did not use an ISO file. Unfortunately he does not have the OEM recovery partition or anything so I have been using a Windows 8 ISO file I got from microsoft to do a complete clean install then from there I have attempted to enter in his original key I pulled from the bios to make sure even though windows says activated now and before the clean install it did not. Then again even Windows 10 now it says activated and it did not before with that key. I will go do those commands for Windows 10 and post the screen shots. Thank you again for all of your help I appreciate it.
      My Computer


 

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