Updating Windows 10 to v. 2004 from USB. Will my config remain?

I am having trouble installing updates on my highly confirgured Windows installation.
It is on an old version: 1903. I'm trying to upgrade to version 2004 in preparation for Windows 11.

I've ran into various faults and errors when trying to run the upgrade tool from https://download.microsoft.com/downl...pgrade9252.exe

Switching to PLan B: Created a bootable image from an iso file, version 2004. I can boot from it, and star the upgrade.
However the communication during the process is not very good.

It's not clear to me if this process will wipe everything from the C Drive anhod do a fresh install.
Or if it will simply retain all my files on the C drive, and all my Windows 10 config... Simply updating the files.

How can I tell? (Previously when I've done these types of updates, it's always been clear, but this time it's not..) I don't want to take the risk...

Grateful for help!

Damn good response @dalchina !
Your comments are well structured and make sense.

dalchina said:

Hi, to upgrade your installation: do NOT boot from an installation disk! That's how you start a clean install or use some basic repair options.

Got it. That's what I suspected but I wasn't sure.

dalchina said:

Why are you upgrading to 2004- that's ancient? 21H2 is current. Free download.

I ran the Win11 checker and that told me to upgrade to 2004. Other than that, no particular reason.
Windows Update now offers me 21H2 however the update fails. It also fails when I run the standalone updater to 21H2.
However it takes over an hour to get to the point where it fails. I've been googling the error codes.

dalchina said:

As you're still on 1903, have you blocked WU by some means? If so, now remove that.

Yup guilty! I had all sorts of hacks against Windows update for about 2 years I think and only ran Windows Update a couple of times manually during that period. I've disabled the blocks now though and Windows Update can run. It installed some other updates successfully. I realise that this contributed to creating the problem.

dalchina said:

Does WU not work at all? If not, why not?

It works.

Paul Black said:

Hello @Hannele2,

I would also advise creating a System Image PRIOR to the Upgrade.

Yes I will do that. I'm currently travelling and don't have my full arsenal of computer stuff with me. But I do actually have a spare m.2 and a bay for it, so before I do any major surgery I will definitely clone my C drive to that spare m.2 disk.
All this came about because of a laptop disk swap. Long story.

- - - Updated - - -


Continued from earlier.

dalchina said:

a. Check your disk before attempting the upgrade
Hard Disk Sentinel - excellent - portable version available- result immediately on its GUI with informative text. Check all disks.

Yes, done. It reports that the state of the drive is "perfect". Very encouraging!

dalchina said:

b. if ok from an admin command prompt run
chkdsk c: /scan
- result on the GUI.
Ensure it passes.

Done. Had to perform some repairs to files and do a reboot. Ran it again and now it completes without complaints.

Also did DISM repair and SFC /scannow. Both passsed without complaints.

dalchina said:

Check you have an absolute min. of 30Gb free on C:

Yes. I have much more than that.

dalchina said:

As to Win 11- are you sure your PC is compatible? Have you checked?

Yup. 100%. It's a high end new laptop. The M.2 disk in question was previously in another high end laptop which was also compatible with Win11. Tried the upgrade on that one, before it suffered a hardware error with some ports. The fault must be with something in my particular Windows installation.

I'm trying it again now. If it still fails I will work my way through the rest of your list as well as some hits from searching the error codes I got. (different each time I tried.).
....... to be continued.

dalchina said:

Thanks, useful.

The reference to build 2004 is a minimum requirement for upgrade to '11 as you probably know.


Diagnosing upgrade failures requires time, persistence, expertise and repeatedly analysing log files.

Try eradicating completely any 3rd party security programs - using the manual uninstaller from the provider if applicable.

Then try the iso method without the internet connected.

There are only a couple of people on the forum who've spent some days on some threads dealing with upgrade failure diagnosis. There are several log files (see searchable Tutorial section or search generally).

setupdiag.exe (free from MS) attempts to analyse the log files against a limited number of cases and criteria.

Note that the imminent upgrade to Win 11 reintroduces drag 'n drop to the taskbar- features we are familiar with in '10.

Thanks!

I tried again, twice with the 21H2 release.

Unfortunately it takes close to 2 hours to get to the point where it says that it fails. Despite multiple "Checking your computer" stops.

Both times I got Error 0x8007001f which seems very vague. I've done everything reasonable that is suggested by google hits on this fault. Took the better part of my Sunday plus all of Saturday night. Results: Still on Square 1.

Don't know what to do now.

Continue potentially wasting more time on this? Give up and do a fresh install, having to spend DAYS installing back all the software that I want, and then more days configuring the software... (we're talking Office, Adobe CC suite and a ton of programming tools, browsers etc). I'm not a fan of services were you upload your soul and content to keep a profile in the cloud.

Taking a chance with upgrading to v. 2004 release? Burn a new image of 21 HC?

If I do the upgrade from a a bootable USB stick, will it remove my programs? That's what I'm trying to figure out. Or maybe that would fail completely and break windows completely. I'm going to clone the C drive before I do anything else. Afaik that's another 1-2 hours...

- - - Updated - - -

dalchina said:

Hi, as I suggested, log analysis, use setupdiag.exe.
- have you done that yet?

I have warned you about the difficulty of handling upgrade failures.

EDIT, THANK YOU!!! for the fast response and I love your panda / cn logo and avatar!
Just realised I had not run the setupdiag tool. But now I have! Here it goes>
-----------------------------------
Am I missing something?
Here is the output.


1.6.0.0
FindAbruptDownlevelFailure
55882B1A-DA3E-408A-9076-23B22A0472BD
2022-10-09 18:18:26, Error SP Operation failed: Gather data, scope: EVERYTHING. Error: 0x8007001F[gle=0x000000b7]
Error: SetupDiag reports abrupt down-level failure.Last Operation: FinalizeError: 0x8007001F - 0x50016
LogEntry: 2022-10-09 18:18:26, Error SP Operation failed: Gather data, scope: EVERYTHING. Error: 0x8007001F[gle=0x000000b7]
Refer to "https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/Debug/system-error-codes" for error information.
ErrorCode = 0x8007001F, ExCode = 0x50016, Oper = Finalize
Finalize
09/10/2022 18:16:22
01/01/0001 00:00:00
0:00:00:00.0000000
false
Gather data, scope: EVERYTHING
09/10/2022 18:16:34
01/01/0001 00:00:00
0:00:00:00.0000000
false

dalchina said:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...upgrade-errors



Do you have any 3rd party security programs still running?
Whilst you can try upgrading after a clean boot (I don't know if it is feasible from Safe Mode) there are so many possible ways for this to fail, without help from one of the people who've spent a lot of time researching this, you may not make much progress.

To consider:
a. Create a disk image of your O/S saved to an external disk.
b. Clean install Windows
c. Buy a license for e.g. Lapliink PCMover or Easeus ToDo PCTrans
d. Install that program and run it with the disk image as source.
This can be used to recreate your working environment (most programs, user accounts, data 0- you can choose) automatically.

1-off license fee.

Or you can ask e.g. Tekkie Boy if he can help- and it may take days of iterative attempts..

Time and uncertainty vs the cost of the license...

Hi Dalchina! I just wanted to give you an update because of the awesome help and support I got from you.

I ended up doing exactly what I feared: Triggering an update that overwrote my existing Windows installation...
It took me up to the 21 edition of WIN 10. Since everything was already gone, I decided to go all the way and upgrade to Windows 11.

I feel like the communication in the Windows updates is inadequate. If somebody who worked in IT all their life, like me, cannot tell what's going on, then it's just not adequate.
Every time there is a new Windows update, I end up having to re-do everything from scratch and it really bugs me.

M$ claimed with Windows 10, that it would be the last version upgrade ever. Not true! Here we are with a brand new version and they never explained why they went back on what they claimed with Windows 10.

Obviously I do hacks like move the User folder data, move over Programs from the old installation and hope that some of them will keep working. It's still a HUGE waste of time though. Maybe it's my own fault for being too lazy to move to Linux for good.

Here I am on Windows 11 though. Can't see many changes, it's the same old NT4 based code at the bottom of it anyway.