<Failed to Read Description. Error Code 5>

Tekkie Boy · 07 May 2022

Hello,

Since an AMD processor is installed in this HP laptop, I assume that the latest bios is not installed on the device.

Update the Bios and then try the Windows 21h1 Update again.

Note the information for the BIOS update on the HP website.
Performing the bios update is at your own risk and responsibility.

rooscoota · 07 May 2022

thanks @Tekkie Boy

every little bit helps, will check that out as well.

Rob

Tekkie Boy · 08 May 2022

Let me know how it went.

rooscoota · 09 May 2022

Tekkie Boy said:

Let me know how it went.

hey there,

i did the BIOS update from HP and all went well.

i then tried windows update again and after 4 hours to get 91% and then a further 3 hours stuck there i gave up.

after rebooting and cleaning up with DISK CLEANUP i lost about 14GB of hard drive space so i'm not going to bother again until i try the method @Try3 suggested.

- - - Updated - - -

Try3 said:

Rob,

Understood.

Just to avoid a potential misunderstanding, you do not need to make a USB to do a Repair install. You just boot Windows normally then use the given tutorial procedure.

[Run File explorer,
browse to & double-click on the ISO file to 'mount' it,
double-click on the setup.exe file,
click OK a few times,
make sure it shows you as keeping your files & keeping your installed applications,
slope off for a pot of tea while the computer does all the work.]

I always make a system image and update my file backups before running a Repair install but it is actually a very reliable procedure. I think it failed once for me about five years ago but did not destroy anything - it just ended then restored everything to how it had been beforehand.

You can post back here when you want and I'll answer any questions you might have & guide you through the procedure in any amount of detail that you need.

Best of luck,
Denis

i'm over the moon this morning thanks @Try3

tried this method and worked like a dream, updated now to 21H2, kept all files and apps. uninstalled my NOD32 just in case and apart from taking about 4 hours all went well and am as happy as a pig in poo.

i'm not interested in WINDOWS 11 at this time so if i run updates will it prompt me to upgrade to 11 ??

Try3 · 09 May 2022

rooscoota said:

i'm not interested in WINDOWS 11 at this time so if i run updates will it prompt me to upgrade to 11 ??

No. You can go ahead with WU.

I have three computers on Windows 10 and not one of them is being forced to 'upgrade'.
- I suggest you come back to the forum each month, before the second Tuesday, to check the News section for any developments.
- That's the section that has a page for each update, such as each Cumulative update, and it's likely to be where early warning of any forced Windows 11 upgrade is announced along with discussions of methods of thwarting it.

By the way, have I nagged about system imaging & backups in general?
my ditty - File backup vs imaging, imaging utilities, backing up drivers [post #3] - TenForums

All the best,
Denis

rooscoota · 09 May 2022

Try3 said:

By the way, have I nagged about system imaging & backups in general?
my ditty - File backup vs imaging, imaging utilities, backing up drivers [post #3] - TenForums

All the best,
Denis

lol... no mate but i will get onto it for sure, i did a Macrium image before i got this sorted so its now obsolete and have to do another one but still gotta get my head around that one.

did i read somewhere Macrium Backup not ideal for windows 10 ??

Try3 · 09 May 2022

Rob,

rooscoota said:

did i read somewhere Macrium Backup not ideal for windows 10 ??

You definitely did not read it here or anywhere else reliable.
There are lots of Macrium reflect users in this forum and they laud it whenever they get the chance ["Good morning.", "It's a nice day.", … - any excuse at all.].

I still use a free edition of Acronis True Image called DiscWizard as I have done for more than a decade. I have installed Macrium on one computer just for experimenting with.

I make a new system image each month [before the second Tuesday] and I keep many old ones. I backup my own files & application installation files to external drives & to my secondary computers every other day or thereabouts. I also backup many files hourly to an SD card that lives in the otherwise unused SD card slot on each computer.
- I keep all my 21H2 images
- I keep one system image from 21H1, one from 20H1, …
- I weed out unwanted ones soon after updating to a new version so soon I'll start keeping all my 22H1 images & weeding my 21H2 ones to just a single one on each backup disk.
- Each backup disk is part of a pair. I backup to one this time, the other the next time & so on. So even if a backup disk failed on the same day as my internal drives, I'd only step back a little while in recovery.
- As I outgrow old backup disks [I have a lot more audio & video files than I used to a decade ago], they become archives of very old images such as Windows Me/XP/7 from my oldest computers. They then hide away in a draw to gather dust.

All the best,
Denis