Windows "creators" Update has really screwed much of my PC up.

paulywally · 20 Apr 2017

i found i had this update unwillingly thrust upon me, and it pretty much screwed with many of my settings, and all that cortana rubbish that i have never needed, and so on, BUT it gets worse...

being creative, i have VERY large music, video, and phto folders which have been completely wiped out by it.
at a guess i would say a few hundren gb's of files have been erazed.
also, start up takes anything up to a minute and a half now, and even more sometimes, and even once the task bar and desktop populate, it system still seems to be struggling to pull the system into full "consciousness".

i create a lot of music, which is my life, and windows is now proving it cannot be trusted with any serious work loads.

at the moment i beleive i will transfer all my work from the desktop and reformat with something more reliable.

fat chance of any of this being solved.
i get the impression windows seems to only be catering for "consumerist" style markets, and for kids and games, and entertainments and social media, but for actual serious work? and not having to deal with the windows phone style start/cortana nonsense which just gets in my way.
on top of which various pop-ups when i am trying to work?
seriously! as i was recording my screen freezes and darkens and a grand announcement of the update kept happening. how intrusive, how disrespectful?

and being called "creators" update? well, it has screwed up a lot of my creations, so that title of the update is pretty naff.
and where was my choice in ANY of this? (i've heard all the excuses before, and i am not convinced any more)
NOT ON!

dalchina · 21 Apr 2017

Hi, there are ways of stopping MS updates, and some of those are documented in the Tutorial section here. I
agree, MS has adopted very poor policies with respect to updates. They have improved that a little in the new upgrade (expanded active hours) but reduced the time by which Pro users e.g. may defer upgrades. Small comfort now it's happened.

Your data: It sounds as though you may not have backups of a significant amount of data. For example, what would you have done if your disk had failed?

That I guess is your priority. If you do not have backups, please advise.
Are you sure you are logged in with the correct user profile?
Where was your data located? On the same disk/partition as Windows, or a different one? (Much better practice to use the latter)

Start Menu: you don't have to use the Win 10 start menu (which I consider very poor) or Cortana. Classic Shell (free) has been around for a good number of years, and is highly recommended here. That combines the best features of XP and Winn 7 style start menus, with a good search bar. Configurable.

Do you have any disk images? We constantly recommend using disk imaging to defend against all manner of disasters. (E.g. Macrium Reflect (free) ).

I have the Pro version (acquired via a $40 Win 8 license some years back), and will defer the upgrade for a few months.

NavyLCDR · 21 Apr 2017

You can always try this within 10 days, as long as windows.old is on the hard drive:
Go Back to the Previous Version of Windows in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

TV2 · 21 Apr 2017

I understand that even if all the data is backed up it does not negate the problem. Replacing all the deleted data is still a problem.

For people who have been using Windows for many years, the concept of installing a new OS through a Windows Update is hard to fathom. If they were to buy and install a new version of Windows they would intuitively take all the normal precautions and preparations. But people are used to Windows Updates being benign chores, not major OS upgrades. So it is hard for me to blame them for not being up to speed with the Windows Insiders.

If you did not have backups of your data, you may still be able to recover some or all of it using a data recovery tool. Many folks like the free Recuva software. You can also usually try paid software free for 30 days if you want.
Top 15 Best Free Data Recovery Software â€” 2017 Edition