Windows 10 broke on my Laptop

theaudioanalyst · 01 Oct 2016

Hello and good day!

My Dell Laptop was updating Windows 10 and ran out of battery (of course Windows did this itself) and shut off (changed with the install of the anniversary edition). Now for ten hours it has the message, "Fixing hard drive errors, this could take over an hour". I have an ISO disk but that means a clean fresh install and this was a Windows 7 Pro System. Tried it and it won't install unless Windows 10 is started, but a fresh install it will do. So I have no serial number from Microsoft. Also I will loose all my software installed as well until the vendors get around to granting me usage again. CorelDraw stated to me last time that I had to submit and email and whilst the response didn't do anything other than restate the problem (as I remember), it was almost two weeks later.

That said, any help or thoughts P L E A S E!!!

dalchina · 01 Oct 2016

Hi, first I'd leave it as long as you can to see if it finishes.

Second, we don't know what damage has been done to your disk or your data. So your first priority, if you don't have a full backup, is to back up your data.

You have at least these two options with an unbootable PC (hardware faults aside):
1. Use the boot DVD (not CD!) from the top of the Software and Forums section (or similar); boot your PC from it and try to copy whatever data you can rescue from your drive to an external drive.
2. Remove the drive, and connect it to another PC and copy the data off it.
Of these I'd prefer the first.

Turning to your Win 10 activation. Should you do a clean install, even if you replace the disk, it should activate automatically.

Make sure your Win 10 disk is the latest build. The anniversary edition came out in early August- if it was created befoe that, it will be the previous build.

I hope you have a secure record of your software licenses.

You should do a disk check of your drives- check their SMART parameters e.g. using Crystal Diskinfo.
I think the boot DVD I mentioned includes that capability.

When you clean install make sure all unwanted partitions (previous Windows) are deleted.

How do you prevent this sort of disaster?
a. never update on battery alone.
b. use disk imaging routinely.

Creating disk images lets you restore Windows and all your disks and partitions to a previous working state, quickly and probably without technical help.

You can recover from:
- a failed disk drive (restore to a new one)
- ransomware (which encrypts your disk)
- user error
- unrecoverable problems from failed updates to problem programs
- unbootable PC (hardware faults aside)

Images also act as a full backup- you can extract files too.

You can even use images to help you move more easily and quickly to a new PC.

Imaging can even help you sleep at night knowing you have a second chance.

Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as a good robust solution and more reliable than some others. It’s
- more feature rich
- more flexible
- more reliable
than Windows Backup and Restore system images.

It's well supported with videos, help and a responsive forum.

There are other such programs, free/commercial, some with simpler interfaces, but Macrium R is one of the most robust and reliable.

How long does it take?
SSD+ USB3 - maybe 15 mins for the first system image, less thereafter
HDD + USB2 - maybe 40-50 mins
That’s with little personal data, few programs installed.
- of course, depends how much you have on C:
(You can and should image all your partitions and disks)

theaudioanalyst · 01 Oct 2016

This process ran from 11:00 pm until now so far!

dalchina · 02 Oct 2016

Is there any sign of disk activity? If so, it may still be doing sthg useful, but it's exceptionally long.
Try CTRL C to stop chkdsk.

If that doesn't work, force shut down.

Then use option 1, and see what's accessible on your drive.
Using that boot disk and this program
CrystalDiskInfo Portable | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB, portable and cloud drives
on an external drive, check your SMART parameters.
If you can't manage to see anything, you can use Minitools partition manager boot disk (free) - just search for it.

theaudioanalyst · 02 Oct 2016

Okay here is Windows 10 on a fresh, clean install. I have

Windows 10 broke on my Laptop-windows-10.jpg

no license from Mickeysoft, so I may have to go back to Windows 7. I uploaded a picture showing Windows 10 update asking for a license number in a fresh install.

theaudioanalyst · 02 Oct 2016

Just created a System Repair Disk on another 64 bit machine and am booting with that. 1st time it just went to a gray panel, this is the 2nd time. Fingers crossed!

theaudioanalyst · 02 Oct 2016

The Laptop booted, asked what to do and I said repair the startup and its back to fixing disk errors. It has been there since about 30 minutes after I posted the last post. It has now been doing that since Thursday evening. Not good!

NavyLCDR · 02 Oct 2016

theaudioanalyst said:

Okay here is Windows 10 on a fresh, clean install. I have no license from Mickeysoft, so I may have to go back to Windows 7. I uploaded a picture showing Windows 10 update asking for a license number in a fresh install.

You do have a license for Windows 10 from Microsoft. You just don't have a product key. And since you don't have a product key, why not just click the link at the bottom of the screen that says, "I don't have a product key"?

dalchina · 03 Oct 2016

The hint is in the text on your screen 'If you're reinstalling Windows...' which is what you're doing. So it's actually telling you what to do. Activation should be automatic from MS servers.

Remember you haven't checked your drive, but you're now installing Windows on it.

Make sure you delete all partitions you don't want during the installation, and install Windows to unallocated space.

theaudioanalyst · 03 Oct 2016

Okay I agree with, you are right about that as you want to read it. The problem is that what you read will only work if one has Windows 10 started and running and then it doesn't ask for a license. The only other option is a fresh install outside of Windows 10 and as I showed, a license number is required.

That said, here is a wonderful statistic for you. I called MS for technical support and I have a call back scheduled for 311 minutes from now or there abouts. It started at 355 minutes for my scheduled call back. Wonderful.

So now Windows Repair DVD is asking for a copy of "WINLOAD.EXE". The only problem, accessing a USB and creating a bootable disk that will allow me to do so. ANY INSTRUCTIONS YOU CAN GIVE ME please! I have the Anniversary Edition on DVD ready to run. Will a Windows 7 bootable DIsk work? I still have a computer, 32 bit that is Win 7 Pro! ????