Windows 10 freezes randomly

scotto1682 said:

most of my issues have long since cleared up, but brought a new problem. the black screen with just mouse pointer when I resume from sleep mode. I checked my event viewer, and no errors leading up to my hard reset. I've been through all my cables, s-ata, video power cable, tried re-seating my memory, video card, audio card re-setting bios, all that good stuff. tried unplugging re-plugging any USBs. And It's definitely not an over-heating issue. I swear I'm ready to Lose it with my PC. one thing I did notice is I have the steam client installed and it seems to show a time out once and a while. But I don't think that would cause a complete system lock-up, and if I shut it down in my startup, it refuses to function when I manually start it once my PC is fully loaded up. And yes, I went directly to Nvidias website to get my latest driver. I also keep it up to date through my nvidia geforce experience. for a few more specs, I am running a kingston v200 SSD as my OS drive, an intel 300gb SSD as a secondary drive, OCZ 750 watt PSU, and 750ti video card. other than my USB perifs I really don't have anything else plugged to the board. I'm using just a cheap wireless keyboard, along side my razer naga mouse. I'm getting the th2_release Core 10586 right know.. after that said and done I'll see what happens. really not too fond of windows 10. I understand I'm running on dated hardware, but it should still be more than able to run windows 10. having flashbacks of Vista. lol!!

The black screen with just a mouse cursor isn't an issue with Windows 10, but a drivers issue with either the video drivers (IIRC the integrated graphics driver) and/or Intel RST. This has been a long running issue that pops up every now and again on different devices, and I do know the Windows 8 forum does cover this specific issue, however I can't recall which driver it is. I do know to solve the issue the PC must be booted into safe mode, the problem driver uninstalled, rebooted and the proper driver reinstalled. There was another user on the Microsoft Answers forum about a month back with the same issue, and while I thought I had bookmarked the forum thread that covered this issue, I couldn't find it in my bookmarks.

If you're able to boot into the Windows GUI, to activate the F8 options, open an admin command promt/powershell terminal and type the command in bold below.

If you're unable to boot into safe mode due to the PC booting directly into a black screen with only the mouse cursor, you'll need to force the PC into WinRE in order to issue the bcdedit command to enable legacy boot options which allow you to press F8 at POST to get into the recovery menu (this should be disabled afterwards, as Windows 8/10 did away with it by default as it substantially increases the boot process).

Force Windows to boot into WinRE if unable to do so via the GUI when Windows is booted:

• Immediately upon the handoff from BIOS to the Windows Bootloader, hard reset the PC by either shutting off the PSU, or holding down the power button. Once Windows fails to boot twice in a row, the third time it will auto boot into WinRE. You'll need to select the Advanced Menu and then Troubleshooting, and finally the Command Prompt boot option. Once at the WinRE command prompt:
  
  • bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy
  
  
• Once the issue is resolved and you no longer need to have the F8 option active, from within the Windows GUI, open an admin command prompt/powershell terminal, type:
  
  • bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy standard

JW0914 said:

While I did reply directly to your post, the comment about refusing to troubleshoot wasn't directed at you personally, but directed at all who read it. In the future, if you've done troubleshooting, please post what troubleshooting you've done, as well as if you're seeing any errors in the event log (exactly what you did in the reply above).

Contacting ASUS for beta firmware is probably not going to garnish a result, as as soon as they release an updated version, if will be automatically updated on their drivers site for your model of device.

As far as your monitor goes, if the issue does come back after you've already adjusted settings within the BIOS, the most likely cause would be a drivers issue or a bad cable. If you took Nvidia's driver through Windows Update, download the most recent WHQL driver from Nvidia's site directly and update the driver with that setup package. If you have a different cable on hand, swap it out, however if you don't, don't immediately go out and buy one - verify first whether or not the drivers directly from Nvidia solved the issue.

Have you verified if any errors (yellow question marks) are showing up in device manager? While I mentioned it above in reference to nvidia, if a manufacturer offers drivers on their support site, it's always recommended to utilize those in lieu of the generic ones downloaded via Windows Update. In addition to being generic, Windows Update drivers will also generally not be the most recent drivers available.

As to the keyboard and mouse, is it a regular run of the mill keyboard, or does it have macro buttons, assignable or otherwise? If so, see if there's a driver's update from the manufacturer of the keyboard. If it is just a regular, run of the mill keyboard:

• Power down the system and unplug the main power cord (if a laptop, remove the battery as well), hold down the power button for 30 seconds, release, plug power cord back in, and turn the system on. If the problem still exists, proceed below.
• If this is a desktop, and the USB ports are on a pcie card, turn the system off, unplug the main power cable, hold the power button down for 30 seconds, open the case, unseat, then reseat the pcie card, close the case, plug power cord back in, and turn on the system. If the problem still exists, proceed below.
• Verify if the issue occurs if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into different USB ports (try the ones on your monitor)
• Hook a different device (preferably a keyboard or mouse, however any device should do) into the USB ports the mouse and keyboard are currently connected to, and see if the other device becomes non-responsive as well. The webcam would be a perfect way to do so, as you can simply turn it on and verify via the small preview window whether or not it freezes up. Make sure you leave it connected for 2x as long as it takes for the unresponsive issues to occur with the keyboard and mouse (this ensures you've left it connected long enough to replicate the issue)

While it would be out of the ordinary for both a keyboard and mouse to both fail at the time same time, if they were a package deal when you bought them, it would be a good idea to rule them out by connecting them to a different device to verify if the issue goes away (preferably another device running Win 10).

So, it turns out I might actually have a hardware issue. right after I posted my last reply, I was in the middle of downloading some updates, I went to re-open chrome while updates were downloaing and BSOD. I again checked the event log, with about 5 errors reporting my HDD(0) has a bad block. I guess my Kingston SSD is on it's way out. it would probably explain a lot of my issues I guess. I find it strange since it came back no errors when I did check it last, ran a SFC and had no corrupt files. So I guess my main issue will be re-installing windows 10 onto another drive. but since my windows 10 key is set to my current hardware, will I run into any issues trying to re-activate it with a different HDD?? I have windows 10 home edition, any insight on this would be greatly appreciated. You've been a lot of help so far to help me track down the culprit. so all in all, I guess my big question now will be about reusing my windows 10 key on a different drive. thanks!!!

scotto1682 said:

So, it turns out I might actually have a hardware issue. right after I posted my last reply, I was in the middle of downloading some updates, I went to re-open chrome while updates were downloaing and BSOD. I again checked the event log, with about 5 errors reporting my HDD(0) has a bad block. I guess my Kingston SSD is on it's way out. it would probably explain a lot of my issues I guess. I find it strange since it came back no errors when I did check it last, ran a SFC and had no corrupt files. So I guess my main issue will be re-installing windows 10 onto another drive. but since my windows 10 key is set to my current hardware, will I run into any issues trying to re-activate it with a different HDD?? I have windows 10 home edition, any insight on this would be greatly appreciated. You've been a lot of help so far to help me track down the culprit. so all in all, I guess my big question now will be about reusing my windows 10 key on a different drive. thanks!!!

1 bad block shouldn't matter, as a hdd can function fine with quite a few bad blocks as the HDD firmware marks the block as bad so it's never used again. With that being said, if there was crucial data stored in that block vital to system processes, that could create an issue and cause a BSOD. However, with SSDs it is critical that a minimum of 10% of the drive remains unused at all times.

You don't necessarily need to reinstall Windows on a different hdd, as there are some things that should be done prior to doing so, and of which will allow you to determine if the drive needs to be replaced.

• Boot into WinRE and run:
• chkdsk /offlinescanandfix c:
  
  • Replace C: with the appropriate drive letter. You will need to do this for all partitions on the SSD
  • You can issue the command while Windows is running (on the system partition) and tell it to schedule it upon the next reboot, however it's better to do so via WinRE so you can physically see the process and any output. Non-system partitions can be scanned with the command while Windows is running, however it will offline the partition until the scan is finished.
  • Once it runs and completes, reboot into WinRE again and run the same command to ensure all blocks were found, fixed, or marked as bad.

If you do end up choosing to buy a new SSD, keep in mind (and you may already know this) with SSDs you literally get what you pay for. Not only are all SSDs made to different quality standards, most use differing technologies. I'm personally partial to Samsung's 850 Evo/Pro line which offers 5 year/150TB and 10yr/150TB warranties, respectively and both offer r/w speeds at or above 520MB/s.

• If you can wait until the first part of next year, Samsung hit a technological breakthrough which doubles the capacity of all 850 Evos/Pros
  
  • i.e. instead of 128, 256, 512, 1TB, and 2TB models, they will be releasing 256 (replacing 128), 512 (replacing 256), 1TB (replacing 512), 2TB (replacing 1TB), and 4TB (replacing 2TB), most at the same price as the capacity being replaced.
  • If you have an M.2 slot, the 512GB 950 Pro reads at 2.5GB/s, writes at 1.5GB/s with 300,000 IOPS (Random Read) and 110,000 IOPS (Random Write) and carries a 5yr/400TB warranty

Updated my free illustrated tutorial (85 pictures) about lockups and blue screen events: "Make Your PC Stable and Fast: What Microsoft Forgot to Tell You."
Table of contents:

• Introduction
• The most useful tool: System File Check
• Second most useful tool: DriverMax
• Investigate blue screen events
• Investigate freeze events
• Your antivirus missed this: adware
• Prepare for a disaster
  
  • Methods for encryption of data
  • Backing up your data
    
    • Both the source folder and backup folder are not encrypted
    • Both the source folder and backup folder are encrypted with BestCrypt or BitLocker (not EFS)
    • The source folder is EFS-encrypted and backup folder is either not encrypted or encrypted with BitLocker or BestCrypt
    • Both the source and backup are encrypted 7-Zip archives
    
    
  • How to create a System recovery drive
  
  
• Install a solid-state drive
• Useful tweaks
  
  • Gray background in program windows
  • Uninterrupted sleep/standby
  
  
• Final thoughts

JW0914 said:

1 bad block shouldn't matter, as a hdd can function fine with quite a few bad blocks as the HDD firmware marks the block as bad so it's never used again. With that being said, if there was crucial data stored in that block vital to system processes, that could create an issue and cause a BSOD. However, with SSDs it is critical that a minimum of 10% of the drive remains unused at all times.

You don't necessarily need to reinstall Windows on a different hdd, as there are some things that should be done prior to doing so, and of which will allow you to determine if the drive needs to be replaced.

• Boot into WinRE and run:
• chkdsk /offlinescanandfix c:
  
  • Replace C: with the appropriate drive letter. You will need to do this for all partitions on the SSD
  • You can issue the command while Windows is running (on the system partition) and tell it to schedule it upon the next reboot, however it's better to do so via WinRE so you can physically see the process and any output. Non-system partitions can be scanned with the command while Windows is running, however it will offline the partition until the scan is finished.
  • Once it runs and completes, reboot into WinRE again and run the same command to ensure all blocks were found, fixed, or marked as bad.

If you do end up choosing to buy a new SSD, keep in mind (and you may already know this) with SSDs you literally get what you pay for. Not only are all SSDs made to different quality standards, most use differing technologies. I'm personally partial to Samsung's 850 Evo/Pro line which offers 5 year/150TB and 10yr/150TB warranties, respectively and both offer r/w speeds at or above 520MB/s.

• If you can wait until the first part of next year, Samsung hit a technological breakthrough which doubles the capacity of all 850 Evos/Pros
  
  • i.e. instead of 128, 256, 512, 1TB, and 2TB models, they will be releasing 256 (replacing 128), 512 (replacing 256), 1TB (replacing 512), 2TB (replacing 1TB), and 4TB (replacing 2TB), most at the same price as the capacity being replaced.
  • If you have an M.2 slot, the 512GB 950 Pro reads at 2.5GB/s, writes at 1.5GB/s with 300,000 IOPS (Random Read) and 110,000 IOPS (Random Write) and carries a 5yr/400TB warranty

So, I did what you suggested, booted to recovery with only command prompt, ran the command, it didn't take long to complete. Came back no errors. Only error was, it was unable to save log file. Also I checked my event viewer and there is a few more errors about unable to write to bad block.

I also read up that a few people have been having issues with nvidia drivers. Since my board has the 790i ultra SLI chipset I'm wondering if its a driver issue, considering my network and storage controllers are nvidia. I notice I have more issues with lockups, bsod, and monitors going to sleep when I either read/write large files, and use heavy network. I'm connected through lan cable to the mobo. I use Google chrome as my default browser, usually have nvidia experience and steam client running in the background.

Another thing that may be causing it could be my Asus gtx 750ti gtx OC. I read on another forum that the factory oc might be causing the issue. I downloaded Asus gpu tuner and scaled back my video and memory like others have tried. I'm going to run it like that and see what happens.

So far hardware wise, I've tried different memory, changed cables, reseated my video card, checked all temps, everything sits between 29-53c° tested my cpu with intel cpu diagnostics tool, ran prime 95, put my video card through furmark, ran memtest for a night and reset my bios. It's a fresh install of windows 10, all drivers installed correctly, nothing unknown in device manager.

I never had issues like this in the past with Windows 7. Always had a stable rig. Since Windows 10, I've never busted my head so much trying to track down the gremlin in my system. What drives me nuts is the complete randomness of my issues, and everything I read up and been suggested to me I've tried to no avail.

scotto1682 said:

So, I did what you suggested, booted to recovery with only command prompt, ran the command, it didn't take long to complete. Came back no errors. Only error was, it was unable to save log file. Also I checked my event viewer and there is a few more errors about unable to write to bad block.

I also read up that a few people have been having issues with nvidia drivers. Since my board has the 790i ultra SLI chipset I'm wondering if its a driver issue, considering my network and storage controllers are nvidia. I notice I have more issues with lockups, bsod, and monitors going to sleep when I either read/write large files, and use heavy network. I'm connected through lan cable to the mobo. I use Google chrome as my default browser, usually have nvidia experience and steam client running in the background.

Another thing that may be causing it could be my Asus gtx 750ti gtx OC. I read on another forum that the factory oc might be causing the issue. I downloaded Asus gpu tuner and scaled back my video and memory like others have tried. I'm going to run it like that and see what happens.

So far hardware wise, I've tried different memory, changed cables, reseated my video card, checked all temps, everything sits between 29-53c° tested my cpu with intel cpu diagnostics tool, ran prime 95, put my video card through furmark, ran memtest for a night and reset my bios. It's a fresh install of windows 10, all drivers installed correctly, nothing unknown in device manager.

I never had issues like this in the past with Windows 7. Always had a stable rig. Since Windows 10, I've never busted my head so much trying to track down the gremlin in my system. What drives me nuts is the complete randomness of my issues, and everything I read up and been suggested to me I've tried to no avail.

Do you also have integrated graphics on your PC through the CPU (Intel HD, for example)? If you do, you can switch to the integrated graphics to rule out the Nvidia drivers. If you don't, you can downgrade your nvidia drivers to a previous WHQL. Majority of Nvidia driver updates have little to do with system bugs, and have more to do with either fixing bugs in specific games or adding support for newer games. For troubleshooting, it's best to stick to the WHQL drivers and only utilize beta once you've narrowed down the problem.

I understand why users compare experiences with Windows 10 to experiences on previous OS's like Windows 7, however it's apples to oranges. Windows 10 is a stable OS - the problem arises out of drivers for third party hardware and chipsets (something Microsoft has no control over). It's not about dated hardware, but about the drivers for the hardware. Drivers are basically system level applications that allow the hardware to function and communicate with the base OS. This isn't intended to discount your experiences and problems but to bring attention to the fact many users are blaming the wrong thing (the OS versus the third party manufacturers and their software [drivers] for their hardware).

I would wait and see if the windows updates released today help your situation. If they don't, I would email nvidia support and paste relevant information in your posts on this thread into your email.

When you clean installed Windows 10, did you install all required system drivers in the proper order and prior to running Windows Update? Drivers should be installed in the following order:

1. CPU Chipset
2. IMEI
3. RST
4. Video (Integrated Graphics)
5. Video (Discrete Graphics, i.e. GPU)
6. Audio
7. Ethernet
8. WiFi
9. BT
10. HDD FreeFall/Shock Protection Drivers
11. Mouse/KeyBoard

Not installing drivers in the proper order (esp in regards to 1 - 5), and prior to running Windows Update, can cause wonky issues. Have you researched on the Windows 8 forum for the thread(s) that reference the black screen with only a mouse cursor? That is most definitely a driver issue, and in order to solve your issues, you have to tackle them one by one and not as a whole.

JW0914 said:

Do you also have integrated graphics on your PC through the CPU (Intel HD, for example)? If you do, you can switch to the integrated graphics to rule out the Nvidia drivers. If you don't, you can downgrade your nvidia drivers to a previous WHQL. Majority of Nvidia driver updates have little to do with system bugs, and have more to do with either fixing bugs in specific games or adding support for newer games. For troubleshooting, it's best to stick to the WHQL drivers and only utilize beta once you've narrowed down the problem.

I understand why users compare experiences with Windows 10 to experiences on previous OS's like Windows 7, however it's apples to oranges. Windows 10 is a stable OS - the problem arises out of drivers for third party hardware and chipsets (something Microsoft has no control over). It's not about dated hardware, but about the drivers for the hardware. Drivers are basically system level applications that allow the hardware to function and communicate with the base OS. This isn't intended to discount your experiences and problems but to bring attention to the fact many users are blaming the wrong thing (the OS versus the third party manufacturers and their software [drivers] for their hardware).

I would wait and see if the windows updates released today help your situation. If they don't, I would email nvidia support and paste relevant information in your posts on this thread into your email.

When you clean installed Windows 10, did you install all required system drivers in the proper order and prior to running Windows Update? Drivers should be installed in the following order:

1. CPU Chipset
2. IMEI
3. RST
4. Video (Integrated Graphics)
5. Video (Discrete Graphics, i.e. GPU)
6. Audio
7. Ethernet
8. WiFi
9. BT
10. HDD FreeFall/Shock Protection Drivers
11. Mouse/KeyBoard

Not installing drivers in the proper order (esp in regards to 1 - 5), and prior to running Windows Update, can cause wonky issues. Have you researched on the Windows 8 forum for the thread(s) that reference the black screen with only a mouse cursor? That is most definitely a driver issue, and in order to solve your issues, you have to tackle them one by one and not as a whole.

Honestly the only third party driver I installed was the video. The rest I let Windows update take care of, due to the fact my motherboard manufacturer only has support up until Windows 8. Which at that point the only drivers available to me are bios updates and mauals.

Question, should I just start fresh, install all my drivers using the windows 7 ones, then do a Windows update? Or has my board just become obsolete.. Like I said, flashbacks of vista.. When they changed up the UI and decided not to support older devices. I know my motherboard is dated, I was hoping since it was a higher end line, it would have been more compatible.

I'm honestly thinking of going to Linux mint or Ubuntu. If I'm going to drop this much of my time in clearing up any software related problems, be it the OS, or third party software I might as well use an OS thats free. :/ I liked Microsoft for the ease of use in the past, but since Windows 10, I'm doubtful. And at this point I don't really have the expenable income to drop into new components. I just want a PC that works. And if that means eating the money I put forth for Windows 10, so be it.

I don't mean to sound like an a-hole, but its been a few months now that I've been trying to clear up my issues with no resolve. I've googled a lot of my problems, and I know I'm not the only one having these issues with Windows 10. And it seems like me mentioning going back to 7 is sacreligious. Well, gotta get back to being a dad. Any more input would be greatly appreciated.

JW0914 said:

No, installing the Win 7 drivers, then upgrading would cause more problems than it solves, and is the reason why it's recommended to clean install once upgraded. Chipset drivers must be installed 1st regardless of what OS they're for and if you didn't install them, it will cause issues (however this doesn't mean that's the reason for your current issue, but if you did not do so, I would strongly recommend performing a clean install as it will save you from headaches in the future as it's only a matter of time before something wonky occurs).

I would again recommend contacting nvidia's support and doing the other things I've mentioned, such as researching on the Windows 8 forums for the black screen with mouse cursor problem. I've also asked several times whether or not you have integrated graphics, so please re-read my last few replies and troubleshoot your issue accordingly. I've given you guidance on where you should go, but I'm not sitting in front of your PC and your issue requires research.

Windows 10 is free... and again, your problem is NOT windows 10, but drivers for Windows 10, of which Microsoft has no control over. To believe components should just "work" on a new OS is ignorant at best, dangerous at worst.

Just an FYI: Windows 7 is at end of life and will no longer be supported by Microsoft in a few months. This would put you in the same boat as any other consumer running Windows 98 on a device that connects to the internet. What losing product support means is that Microsoft will no longer offer updates to it via Windows update and since patches every week on patch Tuesdays address all currently supported Windows OS's, it allows anyone wishing to exploit a now unsupported OS a direct road path on how to do so.

I do not have integrated graphics. I have the Asus striker 2 extreme board with the nvidia 790i ultra SLI, which I've stated a few times throughout this thread. I did perform a clean install, twice. I purchased the windows 10 key and downloaded the home ISO, burned it to a DVD and did a clean install from there. And trust me I've been researching this. It only gave me the black screen with curor once when I returned from sleep mode. Other then that, I checked my event logs which only issues are failing to write to my system drive due to a bad block. Error code 7 I believe. Also had an error with cortanaUI app unable to properly load. My issue is random lockups, or monitors entering sleep mode and not returning. I had one BSOD the other day out of the blue, (pardon the pun) but my main concern is the random lockups. I've run an offlinediskscan in the recovery command prompt but returned no errors.

I would have done the usual install drivers in proper order after installing Windows 10 from ISO, but Asus support stopped at Windows 8.1 for my mothwrboard. I've been told by others that the drivers from Microsoft would suffice, now I'm hearing different. If there is any device info I can provide let me know I'll post it here, maybe help me get to the root of my problem.

scotto1682 said:

I do not have integrated graphics. I have the Asus striker 2 extreme board with the nvidia 790i ultra SLI, which I've stated a few times throughout this thread. I did perform a clean install, twice. I purchased the windows 10 key and downloaded the home ISO, burned it to a DVD and did a clean install from there. And trust me I've been researching this. It only gave me the black screen with curor once when I returned from sleep mode. Other then that, I checked my event logs which only issues are failing to write to my system drive due to a bad block. Error code 7 I believe. Also had an error with cortanaUI app unable to properly load. My issue is random lockups, or monitors entering sleep mode and not returning. I had one BSOD the other day out of the blue, (pardon the pun) but my main concern is the random lockups. I've run an offlinediskscan in the recovery command prompt but returned no errors.

I would have done the usual install drivers in proper order after installing Windows 10 from ISO, but Asus support stopped at Windows 8.1 for my mothwrboard. I've been told by others that the drivers from Microsoft would suffice, now I'm hearing different. If there is any device info I can provide let me know I'll post it here, maybe help me get to the root of my problem.

Integrated Graphics has nothing to do with the motherboard, unless it was a SoC motherboard [System on a Chip, i.e. processor came with the motherboard and is non-removable], and everything to do with the CPU. What CPU do you have?

I keep saying to research the black screen with cursor because it will tell you what driver is the issue when you come across the right thread discussing it. Please research this specific issue until you find a thread that tells what driver it is you need to uninstall in safe mode within the Windows 8 forums (eightforums.com). You need a base from where to start and this issue is that base.

When you have time, please take a screenshot of the advanced power options menu ( Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings -> change advanced power settings, then click "change settings that are currently unavailable" if it's displayed at the top of the advanced window) You'll need to take multiple screenshots since the options window is small. (screenshots are taken via win key + PRT SCRN)

The bad block error on the SSD is a bit concerning, especially if chkdsk isn't recognizing it. This is a separate issue however and not the cause of your screen issues. Does the SSD manufacturer offer a drive scanning tool for the SSD? If not, the best way (at least with a HDD, so you'll need to verify via some searching whether this would be appropriate for an SSD) to fix disk health errors, especially when chkdsk fails to fix an issue, is to either utilize fdisk in a *nix OS or to boot up a second device with Hiren's BootCD and use one of the HDD DOS programs that scans every sector, and if a bad block is found, tries to repair it. If repair is not possible, it attempts to recover the information contained within the block, then marks the block as bad so no information is written to it again.

• Google something to the effect of "how to fix SSD bad block"

SFC and DISM will only fix problems with Windows itself. DISM is able to check parity of the backups of all system files that are contained within the WinSxS folder, and if a parity isn't found (i.e. the file is corrupt), it downloads the correct replacement from Windows Update via TrustedInstaller. SFC (System File Checker) scans the Windows directory for corrupt system files and if any are found that don't match parity, replaces them with their backups stored within the WinSxS folder. This alone demonstrates your issue is not Windows 10, but is either a driver problem (your issue), a third party software issue (not your problem), or a hardware issue (most likely not your problem).

• Sometimes wonky issues can be fixed by cleaning the component store [the WinSxS folder), so run the following from an admin prompt, then restart: dism /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup

I'm baffled why you paid for Windows 10, unless you didn't have a valid product key for Win 7/8/8.1, as Windows 10 is a free upgrade for the 1st year of release to Windows 7/8/8.1 users who have a valid product key for those windows editions; or wanted Pro when the prior edition of Windows would only allow a free upgrade to the home edition.

Drivers from Microsoft generally will suffice, however they're almost always generic drivers and often do not contain files other than drivers (i.e. for Nvidia, it would only install the display driver, not the other 4 drivers that are usually installed if you download the driver package directly from Nvidia, or for AMD it wouldn't install the Catalyst Control Center). Drivers from Windows Update are also, almost always, dated and more often times than not, not the most recent version from the hardware manufacturer. Certain manufacturers, such as RealTek and Synaptics rely more heavily upon OEMs to provide updated drivers they've customized to the the specific hardware implementation they sold. Most of the time, drivers from Windows Update for non-critical systems, i.e. peripherals, will usually suffice; however, system critical drivers, such as display drivers, should always be pulled directly from the hardware manufacturer's site, and never from Windows Update.