MS Update FUBAR

[Augsburger]

Well it seems microsoft has done it again to me. For years off and on I have had problems whenever microsoft has done an update and it would screw up everything.  This time in early February there was some type of update that FUBARed my whole computer.  First I suspected it was the NORD vpn update but I deactivated it and there was no difference.

The problems are-

I cannot access any apps. The startup icon and search bar do not work,

When I hit startup button+R, I can see the HDs with some documents but no apps, MS Office, Windows Accessories etc do not appear on the HD tree,

When attempting to pull up saved docs I get error messages which makes me think that somehow the links to the apps were corrupted or vanished, 

 

What "fixes" I have attempted so far-

Since my computer skills are as limited as my woodworking and amp building skills I have just stayed with the basics. Restated the computer, shut the computer down and turned it on, attempted reloading Win 10 Pro from disk. I cannot roll back the computer updates because I am unable to access any apps which limits options for further trouble shooting. Screen shot of error messages -

When attempting to pull up old jpgs from my desktop I get this error message causing me to suspect the link to my apps was corrupted.

Any ideas or suggestions? Hopefully there is a solution other than doing a complete wipe of the main drive and reinstalling Win 10. BTW when I searched MS they stated that my system was not compatible with Win 11. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Boot from a windows install disk/key, and choose command prompt. Enter "sfc /scannow" without quotes, and see what that does.

It's also possible that you have disk or memory corruption that manifested independently, but coincidentally, with the Windows update that precipitated this issue, In which case your hardware is bad and would need to be examined/replaced.  You could make a boot disk of Memtest86 to check your RAM for corruption issues.

[Augsburger]

Unable to boot from disk. Tried the sfc/scannow but nothing happened.  It appears all apps disappeared from HD. I think I am fooked, probably some hardware issue.

[Iron_Dreamer]

Hard to say without looking at it, but it certainly sounds like a failing disk drive to me based on what you've described.

[Augsburger]

Looking more like it as I try too trouble shoot.  Time to shop for new hardware. 

[n_maher]

Would be interesting to know if it’s corrupted hardware or OS that’s plaguing you, Greg.  Any ability to pull the drive and try to mount it as an external and see if data recovery is possible?  The fact that it’s just the apps that disappeared have me thinking more software than hardware.  

[Augsburger]

Great idea Nate, I thought about that a while back but forgot along the way with all the other things going on here.  Seems to me it was a software issue but I can't imagine why just the apps disappeared. I tried reloading Win 10 multiple times which should have yielded some progress but not so.  I will pull the HD's later this week and try to see if any data can be recovered. I have not had any success finding anyone with a similar issue due to updates.

[n_maher]

Greg,

I looked into this a bit and it sounds like it could also be an issue related to your account.  You might trying signing out of M$ (on the PC) and back in to see if that triggers anything.  There are a few support articles related to this but not knowing the apps that you’re talking about and whether or not they were purchased direct from M$ or if you mean programs you downloaded/installed.  Also, I think the start button and search function being offline point to a smoking gun internal to the Win10 shell, not hardware. 

http://woshub.com/start-menu-taskbar-search-not-working-windows-10/

If you haven’t tried some of the suggestions in that link, you might try.  My bet is a corrupted registry key as that can turn the whole cart upside down and if you can get that to regen you might get back to a workable state.  But I also find that when Windows has effed itself this badly the best solution is to grab all the data that you need from the HD, wipe, and start fresh.

[HarryValtet23]

I love threads like this especially when discussing an illegal update that I was not asked for. I periodically shut down my laptop without looking, and now I noticed that the "shut down" function has an additional "and update". And there is no other way to turn it off. Not doing so, I constantly find that the laptop hangs. After another attempt to finish work, I automatically clicked on shutdown. And all, drivers are gone, programs are gone, information is lost. Nothing works with the update. I had to do a raid data recovery. The question is why the hell I have to pay for the OS if I have to pay for data recovery. Why am I losing my files because of them?

[n_maher]

Solid first post.

[Voltron]

JH13

[Augsburger]

Nate, you are partially correct. Out of frustration I cleaned the cache, logged out of MS, reset the password, utilized various MS online trouble shooting links which did nothing but load tracking cookies, turned off the computer then booted from disk. It worked, things are back to the way they were. 

I hate Microshaft.

[Voltron]

I swear to god that HairyCunt's post was different when I responded but there's no "edited" reference. Weird

[mikeymad]

5 minutes ago, Voltron said:

I swear to god that HairyCunt's post was different when I responded but there's no "edited" reference. Weird

Hey - howed 'e do dat?

[Grahame]

2 hours ago, Augsburger said:

I hate Microshaft.

 

[blessingx]

1 hour ago, Voltron said:

I swear to god that HairyCunt's post was different when I responded but there's no "edited" reference. Weird

Where did the “same error, looking for simple solution” request go? 🤔

[n_maher]

7 hours ago, Voltron said:

I swear to god that HairyCunt's post was different when I responded but there's no "edited" reference. Weird

There's an edited reference for me?  I wonder if the forum software is hiding them currently for non-admins. 

[Pars]

9 hours ago, Voltron said:

I swear to god that HairyCunt's post was different when I responded but there's no "edited" reference. Weird

Agreed. Current post is completely different from the one I remember (as blessingx points out). Strange.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Pars
for "edited" tag