Restore Points

Perhaps If I start at the beginning you will understand my situation better.

I bought this Toshiba Satellite C-55B Intel(R) Celeron(R) N2840 @ 2.1GHz..

It came with Windows 8.1 pre installed.

At some point the Windows 8.1 got corrupt.

I couldn't reinstall it because I didn't have the key. I kept getting the "Get Windows 10 it's free" prompt.

So I did. I was having problems with it (I forget what).

Somebody on your forum suggested I download and install the Anniversary Update. I did and it ran so slow (on this old made for 8.1 machine) that it was intolerable. So uninstalled the Anniversary Update. Then It ran a little slower but was ok. As time passed Microsoft kept installing all these updates. Making my computer go slower and slower.

As far as reverting back to 8.1, When I made room for the Anniversary Update (I needed 20GBs) I deleted all my 8.1 files (I didn't think I needed them anymore). Including the 8.1 restore files.

What I would like to do is remove all the updates since the Anniversary Update.

Anyway if I could get things back to where I was before that last upgrade I would be happy.

As far as too many partitions I had the same amount of partitions before the last upgrade and I was working ok.

Don Cole

HippsieGypsie said:

Holy smoly, Don! That's a lot of partitions! Wow! No wonder why you have so many problems.

IMO wiping the drive and clean install is the only way out.

Did you upgrade during the free upgrade offer? Do you have digital license/entitlement rights?

If not sure > WinKey/I > Update & security > Activation. What does it say?

Ok. IMO you have one of the worse systems I have ever seen sorry to say. You kept upgrading and the install keeps making more partitions. It is my opinion, of which I think many here would agree, is that a drive wipe and clean install is the way to go. Your system will then run a lot quicker without problems. Up to you. Post if you want to continue.

On further review.
A question about the Disk Management Screen.

C we know about.
E, F, J and M I created.

What are the two partitions before C?
The partition between C and F?
The partition after M?

Are these weird created in error partitions.

Is that what you were talking about too many partitions?

Don Cole

Lots to cover I see. :)

doncole said:

Thank you HippsieGypsie.

You’re welcome. I see you do indeed have digital entitlement. That’s good.

The upgrades aren't creating the partitions. I created the partitions on purpose. The partitions weren't causing a problem before this last update.

May I ask what these are for?

I see the first 4 untitled/not letter ones are empty.

I agree I need a fresh install but if I do. It's going to be Windows 8.1.

Do what you like, of course, but like I said 10 should run great on your machine. Much better OS IMO. You stated you don't have 8/8.1 keys > If you want to revert back to a fresh OEM 8/8.1 we need to get to that partition. Hopefully so.

Since I installed this free Windows 10 version I've had nothing but trouble.

I've spent more time working on Windows than on the project I want to work on.

Understandable. The free upgrade was needed to gain the digital entitlement. After that most of us here do a fresh install. Upgrades so often drag along broken software with it.

VERY IMPORTANT > Is there a way I can uninstall this last update?

Yes, if the windows.old folder still exists. Look in C: within File Explorer (WinKey/E). Then you can roll back to the previous OS.

Attachment 141205

I got side tracked on that Macrium Reflect when I should have been working on System Restore. When Installed Macrium Reflect it bumped my Restore Points off. I'm so mad at myself for doing that.

I have 30 days.
Might as well uee it. What size USBs should I get?

Personally that’s just one of the reasons why I shy from 3rd party software. The native Windows recovery disk image works well.

P.S. More to come.

That’s what I’m afraid of.

doncole said:

On further review.

A question about the Disk Management Screen.

C we know about.

E, F, J and M I created.

Did you title these and (C) with the triple letters? This concerns me.

What are the two partitions before C?

The partition between C and F?

The partition after M?

Don’t know. I think H (exFat) is your OEM recovery partition.

Please expand the “Status” category by grabbing the line right of that until all is seen in it and repost the screenshot.

Are these weird created in error partitions.

Sorry, but I think they’re all weird.

Is that what you were talking about too many partitions?

Yes. Simply too many. I can maybe understand creating one for some file backup, but that should be done with an exterior drive such as a USB thumb. Windows will create C: and it's own recovery partition. If there is an OEM partition, then that will remain also.

Tony aka HG

"Don’t know. I think H (exFat) is your OEM recovery partition."
What does OEM mean?
I'm using the H USB only to back up programs that I am working on. As far as recovery, that's what I'm trying to set up now.

What do you mean by,
"Please expand the “Status” category by grabbing the line right of that until all is seen in it and repost the screenshot."

Grabbing the line right of what?

By the way,

And finally how did you break my quote up into several sections.

I tried to do that in my last post. But could only get one big, whole quote.

Don Cole

Hi there @doncole

I see you explained H is a USB thumb drive. That’s good cuz that concerned me. If ever you are installing Windows please remove/eject it from your system. Some say that it’s not necessary to use the eject process in the Taskbar’s system tray, but I’ve ruined/locked up a few thumb drives by not doing so.

Please follow Bree’s answers. He explained them well.

OEM is an acronym for Original Equipment Manufacturer. (your PC or motherboard manufacturer)

The only thing I can add at this point is that there is a FAQ link at the bottom left of the top header of each forum page, but you won’t find what Bree explained other than general info about quoting. The boxes are known as “text editor boxes”. Think of them as a document creator. There is the standard you see on a page and an “Advanced” one you can use for more editing controls. You can enlarge/expand the box by grabbing the arrow head at the lower right bottom.

FAQ > Reading and Posting Messages.

The search in FAQ is a quick way to find a subject/item you’re looking for.

@doncole

Whether you use our methods/advice or not, please report back how it went.

Personally that’s just one of the reasons why I shy from 3rd party software. The
native Windows recovery disk image works well.

I read in one the tutorials that System Restore was not very reliable. They said a USB backup drive was better. And the best way to make it was Macrium Reflect. I can use System Restore for any new upgrades.
I used System Restore in safe mode successfully. While trying figure out how I did it I got side tracked into Macrium Reflect. I download it and lost my Restore Points. I have less than 30 days to make the disk with Macrium Reflect. I'm not going to pay them $125. What Size disk should I get? What do mean by "the native Windows recovery disk image"? Do you need Macrium Reflect to make it?

Are saying those two partitions before C: don't belong there?

I'm going study this situation some more. I won't change any partitions until I get back to you.

Don Cole