OS reset advice needed

I am part way through resetting the Windows 10 OS of my 2-in-1 small storage machine, in the hope of correcting some long-standing issues, mainly the failure of the Store to either download or update apps. This has been the case for three or four months, despite trying all the fixes which have been suggested. So I have sought help from a MS tech via the chat service. The advisor after working remotely for a long time reported that he / she would reset the OS "since your operating system is corrupted."

Media Creation and IOS Disk Image files were downloaded. I was assured that my system would now work OK and the advisor logged off.

However, after restarting I could see little or no change and in particular the Store is just as dysfunctional as before. Now, I am not clear whether I was expected to run the new files, and if so which? I have located the Disk Image --- 4GB and the Media Creation Files --- there are three of them, a apparently identical --- 17.5 MB each. Will I be able install in this way if required, given that free storage on C has fallen to 3 GB (it even went below 1 GB)?

Also I was assured that the reset would keep ALL files, including apps and third-party programs. I questioned this as I thought it was otherwise and since have not found any confirmation it is correct, rather the reverse. If I must lose my programs I need to know in advance so that I can move as much as possible to the D drive, an SD card. It wont free up a lot of space, as I have already moved to, downloaded to many programs and files to the D and other drives. It was a major part of how I managed to install the Anniversary and Creators updates on a small storage device.

I am a bit muddled now about all this so I am hoping for some clarification to put me straight.

If you want to do a repair installation, which will keep all of your settings and apps, move the ISO file to the SD card. Mount the ISO file. Run setup.exe from the mounted ISO file.

Moving the Image to the SD Card seemed attractive except it appears that it cannot be done because the SD file system will only accept files up to 4 GB. However, will it work just the same from my external USB HDD which has NTFS? It is my recently acquired Backup drive with plenty of space. I have 'sent' the Disk Image (just over 4GB) to it OK but am delaying mounting and running for a day to give me some time to prepare.

The SD card can also be formatted as NTFS to hold >4GB files. But, yes, mounting the file from the USB hard drive and running setup.exe from there will accomplish the same thing.

Thanks a lot for the advice, it took a couple of days due to some strange errors and restarts but it worked in the end (without the errors it looks like it would have been fairly straightforward). I now have some things back which have been gone for several months.

However, there are also a few persisting and new problems. In particular I now have difficulty with Shutdown, Sleep and Restart. I have 4 or 5 ways to Shutdown, such as the CTRl / Alt / Menu and a couple of desktop shortcuts none of which work --- so I had to keep using the power button until I happened on Sign out, which is working. I have read a few articles & forums. The general problem seems to have been common, but not my version of it!. Nowhere have I found mention of the (uninformative) popup error message I get every time I try to Shut or Restart. And I don't think my issue is connected to the common issues with Hybernate and hHbrid Shutdown as I do not have this feature on my machine. I have examined all the power and Sleep options. Any ideas?

I have never had a problem with Shutdown or Restart until immediately after the repair reset --- Start up yes, Shutdown no!

The message (every time) is a small window saying 'Error' --- nothing more, and no error code. The Sign out link in the WX menu does not work, but it did in the Ctrl Alt Del menu, until today. Now that fails too.

I have used sfc / scannow which repaired some errors but it made no difference.

I have seen the article on the numerous ways to Shutdown some of which I am not familiar with, so I am going to try them and will report back, plus your suggestion to try it from the log in screen.

I have now tried all the ways to Shutdown and still it fails on most attempts, with the error message. It is not entirely consistent, Sign out has been more successful then others, generally on a second attempt rather than first time. Shutting down from the login screen worked on the one occasion I tried it. I will try again, but while it may add something to the picture it is not much use, is it. I have also tried switching to my other account --- Shutdown worked from there. So?

What mostly puzzles me is the error notifications, as I have not encountered anyone else who experiences it. There is no error code.