Update hell & goodbye MS

DavidA23 · 11 Mar 2017

Hi folks
This is more of a report than a query.When Windows 10 insisted itself on to our PCs we were given to understandthat updates would be forced rather than optional.All well & good if greater security & stability is the payoff.
But it didn't work out quite like that because the forced update system was/is badly problematic. Numerous reports spread across the web of frozen PCs, various funtions no longer working, restart loops, etc, etc.Take my Dell laptop as an example. Purchased with Windows 7 just prior to when the nightmare began. The initial update failed & it took many days to fix. I didn't notice in the T & Cs that in order to be able to use the laptop afterwards I would have to trawl through endless technical shite, sit and watch it saying Please wait/updating/do not turn off the PC etc, before I could continue with the work that I'd purchased the laptop to facilitate. (One time I was away for the weekend so I left the machine resarting (3 days) & when I returned nothing had changed!)
Well, the world isn't a perfect place & eventually, having torn out most of my hair I finally got the machine working again. Phew!Not long afterwards numerous other forced updates failed & once again I had to jump through a variety of flaming hoops before I could get some work done.I won't go through the whole shebang of subsequant update failures, lock ups & all round bad experiences & I'll especially avoid the aniversary update as I'm attempting to wipe those weeks from my mind in to preserve my sanity.After that & more failures I decided never to restart the laptop again, prefering to simply hibernate it and ignore further updates - just the opposite of the main purpose of forced nightmares.
This morning, due to a major AV update I unfortunately had to restart the machine. I knew I was stepping into quicksand at the outset but sometimes you just have to go for it.That was at about 10am. It is now 8.30 pm and have only just got the laptop back to the Desktop. Casting a glance into the update status I discover 65 failed updates!
Can anyone here blame me for vowing never, ever, even at the point of a gun, to use a Microsoft OS again? OK, so a Mac will cost significantly more to purchase but considering the work/time/money I have lost with Windows 10 I should have gone the Mac route in the first place.Whilst I'm here I may as well ask: Is there some magic fix to clear out the failed updates without having to struggle through endless technical shrubbery? I only ask because no-one will buy my laptop in the broken state it's in. If no easy fix exists I will take great pleasure in smashing the thing into as many pieces it takes to vent my spleen.

NavyLCDR · 11 Mar 2017

DavidA23 said:

Whilst I'm here I may as well ask: Is there some magic fix to clear out the failed updates without having to struggle through endless technical shrubbery? I only ask because no-one will buy my laptop in the broken state it's in. If no easy fix exists I will take great pleasure in smashing the thing into as many pieces it takes to vent my spleen.

Clean install Windows 10 from the latest version available for download from Microsoft.

Berton · 11 Mar 2017

And rather than trash the Dell and not wanting Windows you should consider Linux, in addition to Win10 on a few Desktops and Notebooks without serious problems I use Linux Mint 17.3 on a Dell Desktop and Linux Mint 18 on an HP Notebook. Both are comfortable enough within a few minutes. Both versions have the built-in Update Manager or Software Manager to assure good results. Most versions of Linux come with Firefox for the browser and LibreOffice for working with documents, compatible with Microsoft Office and Works formats. All the above is free. And can download an .iso file to create a bootable LiveDVD to test using Linux. DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

Fafhrd · 11 Mar 2017

Nothing much changes - when I started in PC support, training and systems installation in 1992, people and their businesses were getting PCs and avoiding Macs because of the cost. MSDOS 5 and Windows 3.1, and this new networking thingy meant that the whole office could work on the same documents and use a single printer, but there just wasn't the in-house technical skill to get it all to work, so blokes like my boss and I got called in to make things work.

I would suggest you find someone who understands both Windows 10 and your requirements, to help you understand how to get up and keep running, and realize your investment in the kit you have, and the not so "free upgrades" may start to be of real benefit to you.

Like it or not, that's the way the worlds most used PC OS manufacturer has chosen to work, so we have to get with it, or choose some more obscure or expensive alternative.

Most of the members here spend a lot of time just wrapping their brains around the almost daily changes to Windows 10 that have been happening since 2015 (and a bit before) when the OS was released to the general public. It's enough for even the geekiest ones of us to wonder what's going on at times, so we are never surprised that users without the special interest we hold, feel extreme frustration with the pace of change, and the problems that arise.

It's also difficult to explain stuff if you don't have the terminology, and have to make your own problem descriptions to a forum such as this, and then get a geeky reply to have to get your head around, because they do know the proper terms.

That's why having your own support person is useful, because not only can the problems be fixed without risk to your own follicles, you won't make the mistake of adopting an equally problematic computer system instead, discarding the investment you have made already.

pparks1 · 11 Mar 2017

I haven't experienced much trouble at all with Windows 10. Updates have been just fine for me.

DavidA23 · 12 Mar 2017

NavyLCDR said:

Clean install Windows 10 from the latest version available for download from Microsoft.

Been there, done it, several times. Will it prevent future update problems? My experience tells me no.

DavidA23 · 12 Mar 2017

Berton said:

And rather than trash the Dell and not wanting Windows you should consider Linux, in addition to Win10 on a few Desktops and Notebooks without serious problems I use Linux Mint 17.3 on a Dell Desktop and Linux Mint 18 on an HP Notebook. Both are comfortable enough within a few minutes. Both versions have the built-in Update Manager or Software Manager to assure good results. Most versions of Linux come with Firefox for the browser and LibreOffice for working with documents, compatible with Microsoft Office and Works formats. All the above is free. And can download an .iso file to create a bootable LiveDVD to test using Linux.

I’ve tried various flavours of Linux over the years. It’s just another pile of problems: incompatible hardware drivers, plenty of software not built for it – it’s worse.

Berton said:

DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

Now that’s a very geeky remark showing that messing around with computer problems is enjoyable for you. Personally I don’t consider that fun as my post surely illustrates.

DavidA23 · 12 Mar 2017

pparks1 said:

I haven't experienced much trouble at all with Windows 10. Updates have been just fine for me.

You're so very lucky.

DavidA23 · 12 Mar 2017

Fafhrd said:

...feel extreme frustration with the pace of change, and the problems that arise.

Yes I am frustrated that after 2 years the Windows 10 update problem has yet to be sorted

fireberd · 12 Mar 2017

Like the other person that posted, I have not had any "real" issues with Win 10. However, I have hardware that is fully Win 10 compatible. I use my PC for my recording studio and Win 10 has Audio Latency advantages over older Windows versions.

Even an old Vista hardware device I have for recording (Frontier Tranzport) works in Win 10.