Something is broken. Won't load properly, won't restart...

Howdy,

Windows 10 Pro on my laptop. Been using it since it came out with no problems. All of a sudden today everything has gone to heck.

Windows 10 will boot up to the desktop but I can't open most things. Start menu doesn't work, can't open a browser, can't view Services or Task Manager. I CAN right click the start menu and use some things in there, I can open the Run box and Windows Explorer.

If I try to restart I just get the yellowish restarting screen that just sits forever.

I went into Safe Mode and killed the SoftwareDistribtion folder since many sites mentioned Windows Updates maybe being corrupted but that didn't make any difference either.

I also tried using a restore point but that just sat with the little window saying "preparing to restore your system" and never moved on past that.

I'm kind of at a loss as to what else to check. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Kel

JohnC said:

If things are really messed up, a repair install/ in place upgrade is probably the way to go. This is from the tutorial forum. Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums . There are links to the iso files you need from within the tutorial. You can select to keep your programs(apps) and files.

Or Reset this PC Reset Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums
I had to finally do that on one of my laptops. i.e. clean install.

Whatever you do image your drive. Macrium Reflect Free.

So I basically just redo the upgrade again the same way I did it the first time? I'll give that a try first and if nothing else I'll just wipe and reimage everything.

Well, I got as far as "Checking for updates" and it's just been hanging for quite a while. *sigh* Might have to look into installing from scratch I guess.

Well, no internet problems on my side since I'm posting here and working from home without issues. I'll just let is sit until morning if I need to.

Is there any way to get to the built in Windows 10 reset page via a Run command? I can't click my Start button or open Ctrl Panel from the right-click menu. Figured I'd give that a try if I could before I just wipe the whole thing.