A Win10 problem

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks.

Even though the PC does not boot beyond the logon screen, since it is connected wirelessly in its normal environment, I'm sure the os telemetry will still be sending stuff back and forwards, its just it won't be seen.

Now that it is here, it's not talking to anyone except through the hard drive caddy and a USB cable. 80% through Malwarebytes (though this has the original 2017 database,) AVG and Iobit MF.

Connect to the storage drive is tonights task once the others have finished, then I might run up the Win10 iso and see if it provides a fix before deleting everything and starting afresh.


One question though - Since I have got the 25 character code off the laptop when it was in Win10 original mode using Jellybean, would this be applicable to any future Win 10 reinstall, or just the upgrade from - I presume Win 7 - a couple of years ago ?

Its an Aspire 5742 btw, so around 7 - 8 years old if that helps.

 

[jeallen01]

I would have thought that the Product Key label on the laptop is that for the original OS installation as you don't get a new label when you do a W7->W10 upgrade ( I certainly never have, having done 4 or 5, and several XP-W7/Vista->W7, upgrades - although the latter did mean entering new Product Keys as supplied on the upgrade packaging) .

OTOH, if you do need to reinstall W10 then you will probably have to reinstall W7 first and THEN upgrade that again to W10 (essentially what I had to do when this big laptop when belly-up 2 months ago, but in that case it was to firstly reinstall W7 Home Premium from the Recovery Partition and then to on-line re-upgrade to W7 Ultimate). Might need to call the MS Helpline (they do actually provide very good help!) to get the W7 reinstall done and to confirm that the m/c can then be "upgraded" to W10 - that should be possible because the original W10 upgrade would have had to have been "Activated", and I assume that would automatically told the MS "Database" something like "the machine with W7 Product Key ******....... has been upgrade to W10"

 

[Channel Hopper]

There is an original sticker underneath the machine (W7), but the number off the W10 operating system isn't the same.

I tried the evaluation disc here and whilst it did offer the chance to Install, or Repair, it would not do anything when I pressed the 'R'

Anyhow, I've pulled off as much data as I could on the C/D and E partitions and am now attempting rolling back to the W10 version before it self upgraded.

 

[Channel Hopper]

All gone Pete Tong.

I rolled back to the earlier version of the Win 10 that was inside the machine using the advanced features, no joy, so I then chose the reinstall option keeping orignal files and personal data on Saturday morning. After about two hours the machine turned off and back on, with what appeared to be a functional operation. Double checked everything and all personal data appears to have been saved, though the recovery had deleted all the Windows Apps and left a record on the desktop.

No real issue except MS Office had also been removed (but this had already been flagged as non activated)

Immediately on reconnecting to the outside world, the lappy has again gone through a couple of hours of official updates, with the eventual result of the operating system at 1709 (Creators Update) which looks like the most recent.

I updated the Acer Bios to the latest, added a couple of other drivers to get the audio to work (though the DVD drive doesn't seem to have anything associated with it to run media, except the Win iso disk when first started) and reinstalled AVG.

I went out for an hour leaving the machine ticking over in the corner, upon returning the password logon page has again disappeared behind the desktop splashscreen, and cannot be accessed, so I am right back where I started three days earlier.

Lots of sites show issues with the imagery that comes with W10 affecting the logon page, though I wasn't expecting it to occur with an updated W10.

Seriously tempted to move back to Win 7 as I have a disk, and the sticker/code under the laptop that came from new.

 

[4wd]

so I am right back where I started three days earlier

ahhh, you got my compassion, although that is of no practical help.
Again, strongly recommeding to make a complete disk image backup before doing anything else.
Getting back to the great and stable w7 is not a bad idea, after all it's the world no1 OS, by a very large margin, and will continue to be so for a long time due to the vast majority of businesses using it, am suspecting MS may prolong the security update timeframe like they were forced to do for xp.

Did you ever get into safe mode, or boot of a usb stick (or installation cd) and try the repair options from there, some info here How to Get to Windows 10's Advanced Startup Options Menu

One (out of many) reason(s) I have 'some' revulsion for the w10 "Windows as a (dis)service" is those socalled updates, gigantic, forced downloads and installation of total system replacements with all the random situations that may result. Anyway, maybe there is something useful here > Windows 10 - Can't Get Past Welcome Screen

 

[PaulR]

..., so I then chose the reinstall option keeping original files and personal data on Saturday morning. After about two hours the machine turned off and back on,...

I had a panicky phone call from a mate round the corner on Wednesday about his laptop which had trapped itself into a loop of recovery. After trying many other things I eventually did exactly the same thing and to my surprise it worked exactly as you found.

Double checked everything and all personal data appears to have been saved, though the recovery had deleted all the Windows Apps and left a record on the desktop.

The deletion of programs/apps that were not supplied with W10 was forewarned but I must check for the desktop record when I go round next.

Immediately on reconnecting to the outside world, the lappy has again gone through a couple of hours of official updates...

Another panicky phone call this morning about the machine updating but fortunately his has gone through successfully.

...upon returning the password logon page has again disappeared behind the desktop splashscreen, and cannot be accessed, so I am right back where I started three days earlier.

I know it's simple but have you tried hitting the Escape button to get to the signing-in page? It's what I do on my (non W10) machine to login.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Yes, safe / advanced mode was how I managed to restore the original version (of Win 10).

All the important stuff has been copied from both C and D partitions, though the latter is on a spare drive as it did come in at 31GB of stuff in the end.

I'm awaiting the client attempting to find the Acer eRecovery disk that came with the laptop, just in case this provides some fall back to a reliable system, otherwise its the Win 7 Home Premium .iso, and a chance the 25 character sticker that sits underneath will not activate the o/s since it was OA from the factory, but still Home Premium.

 

[Lazarus]

I agree about Esc, @PaulR : I rarely use the keyboard dock with my 10" Tablet, and often find that I need to swipe at the Lock Screen image to bring up the log-on frame. That would be akin to something on the lines you suggest for a keyboard operated device.

Esc, Tab, maybe even Enter? Just have a poke.

Ths has only been necessary since the Creators Update, so sounds like the exact same issue as CH reports.

 

[Channel Hopper]

I had a panicky phone call from a mate round the corner on Wednesday about his laptop which had trapped itself into a loop of recovery. After trying many other things I eventually did exactly the same thing and to my surprise it worked exactly as you found.


The deletion of programs/apps that were not supplied with W10 was forewarned but I must check for the desktop record when I go round next.


Another panicky phone call this morning about the machine updating but fortunately his has gone through successfully.


I know it's simple but have you tried hitting the Escape button to get to the signing-in page? It's what I do on my (non W10) machine to login.

Nah, the Escape button does exactly as all the others , includng the shortcut (Winbutton plus another ), though interestingly Win + P and Win + U still work to get into the dual screen and narrative respectively.

The hard drive activity light is constantly churning though, suggesting there is an infinite loop thing going on that I cannot break, which is also the case when starting in safe mode.

 

[Channel Hopper]

One further thing, under narrative mode (Win + U) the voice does confirm I am in the Windows sign in page, even though the sign in letterbox is missing. Unfortunately inputting the correct password doesn't do anything, which sort of confirms this is the fault of the Win 10 Spotlight feature.

Before anyone suggests it , I have already tried using the second screen function, just in case the Spotlight stuff is projected only as an overlay on the desktop , but no luck.

I'm now wondering if this is a hooky or Win 10 upgrade that is using identity detail that exists on another machine, that once recognised at Redmont and updated has been turned off in this way by the 'Creator'. It would tie in with MS Office that would also have been deactivated once discovered to be taken from elsewhere.

 

[Channel Hopper]

The client has agreed that the Win 7 might be a viable solution.