windows 10 update crashed computer

My windows 10 was driving me crazy trying & failing to update. I tried to stop auto update , but couldn't. Finally I went to Microsoft and downloaded the correct update. It downloaded for a long time and when activated later, it updated for over an hour. It then went to a blue screen where it asked info on my country, time zone, etc. It then went to a second blue screen where it asked for other preferences. I then hit "next" and the computer restarted. When it came back on, it was back at the first blue screen. It just recycles to those two blue screens over and over. My keyboard doesn't work and neither does the right or left click on the mouse.
I'm completely helpless without a computer as I can't even check my bank account, pay bills, get emails' or even ask for help. I'm on a friends computer now , and have been without communication for over a week. I Tried using a recovery thumb drive I made, but it asks for my password. None I've used works and I'm not sure if it is one it made up, or one that came with the installation disk, which I can't find. Please help!!

Which update are you talking about? What did you download? What was its filename?

The windows update was the latest on-- KP something. Obviously I can't give the exact one since I can't get online. Iinstalled it from a factory disc I bought from Amazon in July 2014. Other updates installed OK , but all updates have caused some minor problems. All other info including passwords are locked in my computer. I have a bad feeling this update deleted my entire OS and then stalled on installing new one. When I first tried to update, it said I could only use the version that deleted all files, so I copied all files except OS on to another HD. So, I still have my files, just no usable computer to use them. Any ideas?
PS It's a home edition (Enterprise, I think) 64

dirklurk said:

When I first tried to update, it said I could only use the version that deleted all files, so I copied all files except OS on to another HD. So, I still have my files, just no usable computer to use them. Any ideas?
PS It's a home edition (Enterprise, I think) 64

That means that you downloaded the wrong version of Winodws 10 that did not match what you had installed. If you need to save more files, I would recommend you download Kyhi's Recovery Tools, make a bootable USB flash drive or DVD from it, and either copy what you need to keep using file explorer or make an image of the entire partition using Macrium Reflect Free.

Then figure out which version of Windows 10 you had installed and do a clean install of it after you make a Windows 10 installation USB flash drive or DVD. Read my quote in the middle of the OP of the Kyhi's recovery tools thread and you can make a USB flash drive that boots to Kyhi's recovery tools and you can install Windows 10 from. It were me, I would start with just plain Windows 10 64-bit. Not Single Language Edition, not N Edition, just plain Windows 10 from here:
Microsoft Windows 10 ISO Download

Then get 64-bit Kyhi's recovery tools and convert the Windows 10 USB flash drive to a combination flash drive by copying the boot.wim file:
Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk

Start by installing Home edition. You will want to select the custom install option, and delete all the existing partitions except for a data partition if you had one created. Install Winodws 10 to the unallocated space - do not create any new partitions for it, let Windows setup do that on it's own.

Hi, I copied the two files to a disk and took them home to install. Unfortunately, my computer did not recognize them. I didn't know which file to open first, but both files gave me a black dos type screen saying to reboot using a valid file format. I then remembered that my system is a UEFI type, so that may be the problem. Which version would I need to download for that. I bought a thumb drive and will use that this time. It's a 64 bit UEFI type system, and I remember this gave me a real headache installing windows 8. You've been very quick in getting back to me and I really appreciate that as I'm having to impose on my across town friend in using his computer.

Here's what to do, pretty much step by step. Prepare the new flash drive to be bootable in both a UEFI and a legacy BIOS computer as follows:
Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive

At step 9 make sure to use the FAT32 file system (read the important box below the step):
9. To format the partition as FAT32, type format fs=fat32 quick, and then click ENTER

Don't worry about step 12 - we'll get to that in a minute.

Next you need the Windows 10 ISO file. If you already download the just plain Windows 10 ISO file you can use what you have downloaded. You want just plain Windows 10 64-bit. Not Single Language Edition, not N Edition, just plain Windows 10 from here:
Microsoft Windows 10 ISO Download

Once you have the Windows 10 ISO file you need to mount it. In Windows 8 or 10 you just need to right click on it and select mount. In Windows 7 you need a program to mount it. WinCDEmu is a program you can use to mount it in Windows 7:
WinCDEmu - the easiest way to mount an ISO. And more...

Once you mount the ISO file, it should open with it's own drive letter, a virtual DVD. Copy all the files and folders from the new drive letter to the USB flash drive you just prepared. This is performing step 12 of that procedure. You now have a USB flash drive that you can boot your computer from and install Windows 10 with.

If you want to go one step further, read my quote in the middle of the OP here:
Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk

Download Kyhi's Recovery Tools ISO file, 64-bit, if you don't already have it. Mount it like you did the Windows ISO file. Go the the \Sources folder of the drive letter that opens. Copy the boot.wim file to the \Sources folder on the USB flash drive. You will have to overwrite the existing boot.wim file. You can rename the existing boot.wim file to boot.bak if you want to before copying over it.

If you do the extra step, the USB flash drive will boot into Kyhi's recovery tools and you have all the utilities available on it. To install Windows 10 from it you will use file explorer to go to the USB flash drive and just run setup.exe from it. Windows 10 setup will start just like as if you booted from a Windows 10 installation disk/flash drive.

I appreciate your latest advice, but I'm having trouble getting it to work. I went online to learn how to get into command prompt and typed in diskpart. It opened and displayed an explanation of command prompts, but no list of devices. I used file explorer to see that the USB was recognized as drive G. I used select G, and it replied that select was not a proper command. Same thing with (G),g, =G, and clean. I used and online command that started with WMIC logicaldisk get deviceid, etc. and it listed drive F and G. However, I could not get the computer to go to them.
I can't go on any longer today, as my friend's computer is in an unheated room and my hands are freezing. Also, his printer doesn't work and I have to write all your instructions down. I won't be able to come back over here until next Tuesday, so please see if you can find a solution by then as I have bills I must pay and It's all done online.
Thanks again for your help. Bill

In Windows 10, the easiest way to open a Command Prompt (Admin) is to right click on the start icon and select Command Prompt (Admin) from the list. My USB flash drive will be drive 2 in the following example because I have an SSD as my primary drive and a HDD for secondary storage.

In a Command Prompt (Admin), the commands you type will be in bold:

Code:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.14393]
(c) 2016 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.14393.0

Copyright (C) 1999-2013 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: MAIN-DESKTOP

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          111 GB      0 B        *
  Disk 1    Online          931 GB  2048 KB        *
  Disk 2    Online           28 GB      0 B

DISKPART> select disk 2

Disk 2 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> clean

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.

DISKPART> create part pri

DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.

DISKPART> select part 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> format fs=fat32 quick

  100 percent completed

DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

DISKPART> active

DiskPart marked the current partition as active.

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\Windows\system32> exit

When you do select disk X - make sure you pick the disk number of the USB flash drive! You can tell by the size listed in the list disk results.

Then right click on the Windows 10 iso file and select mount. It will open the image in a new drive letter, a virtual DVD drive. Select all the files and folders and copy them to the USB flash drive.

Today is Jan. 12 and I just tried your instructions. When I typed "list disk", it came back saying that "list" was not recognized as a valid command. I have thought about this, and wonder if this is because my home computer is an HEFI computer and my friend's computer ( the one I'm using now to download the program) is not. Do they use the same commands? If not, is there a way around this?
If I understand you, the programs I downloaded before ,which didn't work on my computer, will if we can figure out how to download these new commands. Please let me know what else I can do, and thanks for your assistance. Bill

dirklurk said:

When I typed "list disk", it came back saying that "list" was not recognized as a valid command

You must open a 'Command prompt (Admin)' then type DISKPART and press 'enter' before you can use 'list disk'.