Windows 10 Have You Used Any Of The W 10 Recovery options?

[holdum333]

Hi! I'm curious if any one here has used any of the W10 recovery options. W10 has several ways to recover from mistakes. W10 has the old stand by Restore to a earlier time, but it has other ways to recover.
I would like to hear what experiences members have had with the other recovery options. I have only used the restore to a earlier time. I haven't felt the need to try the others. Would like to hear your experiences if you have used any of them!
Thanks for your replies!
If you're having problems with Windows 10 on your PC, you could use push-button reset to refresh or reset Windows.

Refresh your PC Fixes software problems by reinstalling the OS while preserving the user data, user accounts, and important settings. All other preinstalled customizations are restored to their factory state. In Windows 10, this feature no longer preserves user-acquired Windows apps.

Reset your PC prepares the PC for recycling or for transfer of ownership by reinstalling the OS, removing all user accounts and contents (e.g. data, Classic Windows applications, and Universal Windows apps), and restoring preinstalled customizations to their factory state.

The options above are great for what they are intended for, but you could also do a repair install of Windows 10 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything other than all installed Windows Updates.

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 10 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything.

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums
You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do a repair install of Windows 10.

 

[holdum333]

Hi Hard for me to believe we have over 40,000 registered members here on the forum and no one has tried any of these W10 recovery options.
I guess W10 is a big success then and no one is having any issues. That's good, but very hard for me to believe.

 

[Neemobeer]

Well most of what a system restore does it is deletes the HKLM\CurrentControlSet key and renames one of the CurrentControlSet### to CurrentControlSet. Which does have a decent degree of fixing configuration problems. SFC and CHKDSK do a good job of repairing damaged files, but if they don't work I've found the re-install over Windows not to be overly effective due to the fact that the corruption is due to bad sectors on the hard drive and a re-install doesn't do any kind a check on the drive so you basically re-install on a bad sector again. A clean install does format and mark any newly found bad sectors and therefore they are not used in the install. Most other issues are generally fix about so I tend not to use any recovery unless Windows is corrupt.

 

[holdum333]

Hi @Neemobeer Thanks for your reply. Good information about Chkdsk and sfc /scannow. What I would really like to know about is the W10 in-place Up Grade. I keep telling myself I'm going to give it a try, but I haven't tried it yet. Also a little curious about the W10 reset options.
To me the W10 recovery options aren't that great as, I'm a back up image guy and I always have a Macrium Reflect image ready when my PC gets really messed up. Most users never use a back up program and they have no idea how to go about fixing their issues. I guess that's why we are here. It does seem to me that MS has tried a little harder to help users recover from issues with W10.
I'm not much for factory restore either. To much work and for me not that much gained. I'd rather use my back up image program. Once you start seeing bad sectors time to replace the drive IMHO. If sfc and DISM can't repair your file system; and they can't get the job done, time for restore media and then a sfc /scannow and a chkdsk.
Thanks for your reply my friend. Maybe other members will reply latter!

 

[Neemobeer]

In my opinion in-place upgrades are a horrible idea. You're basically installing over an existing, possibly corrupt or infected install, so you basically take that with you. The other possibly is something in the old install isn't compatible with the upgrade and you end up creating more problems. I believe this is true with any OS and I've experienced it first hand with Linux and Windows upgrades. This is why I always do clean installs.

 

[holdum333]

Hi A little off topic, but wondering if anyone has had any success or used this tool. Seems to have a lot going on, and I see it recommended on a lot of help forums! Not a big fan of these kind of programs, but have heard some good things about it!
Windows Repair (All In One)

 

[holdum333]

Hi @Neemobeer ! Isn't the free W10 up grade from MS, basically installing over a OS that is possibly corrupt or infected??
I'm not a expert on these things. This is the way I learn new things by asking on help forums.
A clean install would be the best way to go I suppose with the MCT. A lot of work for a newbie that doesn't have your skills!
Thanks for your reply friend!

 

[Neemobeer]

Yes it is. MS changed the upgrade process though so you don't have to do the upgrade before a clean install. You can do a clean install and the Windows 7/8/8.1 keys will work on 10 now.

 

[holdum333]

I'm assuming then you can always do the clean install with the MCT until MS changes their mind!
Link Removed

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I have looked at the information about the in place upgrade and it indicates that it will restore your computer without deleting your files or software.

What I'm thinking it that my computer just did essentially that on it's own a few days ago.

When I shut my computer down it announced that it was installing updates.
It then went through the entire reinstall process on it's own with no input from me.

I waited thinking I was glad that I'd made a backup recently.

But when it finished everything was back to normal, all my software works and things that didn't work, like Cortana now work like a champ.

It did the whole bit, creating a new Windows.old file, the works.

My computer now knows where I am, Cortana will play my music and respond to all the other command that she would ignore before, and I haven't found anything that works worse then before the upgrade.

I'm not sure what prompted the reinstall since it doesn't seem to have happened to everyone?
I did see posts from at least one other person who saw the same thing, but I'm not sure how many people had this happen.

But I'm glad it worked out, since it fixed all the things that were driving me and a number of other people buggy ever since I installed the retail version.

As soon as I found that everything was fixed I made a System Image so I can get back to this spot should things go off again.

Mike

 

[holdum333]

Hi Mike I experienced the same you did! I'm thinking it was supposed to have been up dates, but my PC done the whole up grade process.
I also had the Windows old files. Also my CCleaner and Speccy had to be reinstalled. It seems it only happened to a few and I haven't heard much about it. Mine is working great and I too made a back up. It was really weird. My Event Viewer and Relibility Monitor were all cleaned up. That's when I decided MS had probably done a in place install repair. What do you think of Cortana? Ask her how to spell a word. Pretty cool!
Thanks for your reply Mike!

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I like Cortana, I have her tell jokes when we have company, it crack everyone up.
My friends are easily entertained. LOL

I didn't know about the spelling thing, I just tried it out.

What I need is a info page that lists all the things that she is supposed to do?
I haven't seen one so far but there must be a list someplace.

I also like the fact that I can tell her to play my music from across the room, when I'm too lazy to get off the couch.
My computer is tied into my stereo system so I can play all the stuff on my computer through my media center.

Mike

Well, I asked Cortana about that and found this list that's kind of interesting, ask her how much is 10 dollars in English Pounds.

15 Things You Can Do With Cortana on Windows 10

 

[holdum333]

Hey Mike! Thanks for your reply my friend. I think Cortana is kind a neat also. It seems you have been on the forum a long time. I'm new but I really enjoy the forum and hope to be here a long time. I think we need more threads where we can just have a good time discussing things like this. I'll ask Cortana about the 10 dollars. I think the more you ask Cortana, the more personal she gets. That's what I've heard!

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi Holdum,
Good post and thread here. Due to the nature of my repair business, I usually wind up trying most, but not all reinstall options on a new OS, such as W10, either from Beta testing requirements, or just because I run into so many stubborn computers that get damaged by a bad upgrade process and the general lack of knowledge of home users out there-especially in the rural area I live in, where they are 10 years behind the technology curve of folks who live in the big city.

Mike and I were and still are W10 Insider Testers, and we've communicated quite a bit on W10 installation and other issues going back to 2014. So, he definitely knows what he's talking about. We have both done many tests in this regard in the W10 Preview editions, multiple versions, as well as the production W10 version released July 29th 2015.

For me, I checked your post from TenForums on the In-place upgrade, and I have performed all of those options except this one:
6. To do a repair install of Windows 10 with Get Windows 10 (GWX) app
This option hasn't been available until this year, 2016, I believe, I don't remember seeing it before. So, therefore, I can't tell you about it, but I suppose I'll get around to it eventually, or before W12 comes out (that's just a guess on that version number, since MS suddenly decided to skip odd-numbered versions of Windows!<grin> ).

So, there you go! There are other people out there who have done these; neemo, Mike, and I, are three of them; not bad for 40,000 members I guess. I'm sure there are more, but folks get busy, especially those who work for a living, and maybe just haven't had to chance to see the post and respond back. There are quite a few of us who repair computers or do IT or both on the forum here. I've run into dozens since I've been here a few years now.

I'm pretty sure neemo works on computers repairing them as I do, or is/was in IT, based on his comments about in-place upgrades. By the way, neemo, I put a like on your answer, as I agree with you on that. For me, on both the W10 preview versions and the RTM versions (current, production versions), the in-place upgrade/repair options only work in about 1/4 of the instances you attempt them in; approximately. For many home users who are not knowledgeable or who have been trained in computer troubleshooting methodology, A+, or have an engineering or computer science degree, they seem to want to do things backwards. They want a quick software fix to ANY kind of problem with W10 or really any version of windows. Don't you agree, Neemo?

So, the deal is here that NO SOFTWARE IN THE WORLD CAN FIX BROKEN HARDWARE!!! I've been posting this mantra now for many years, and on all 4 of the tech forums I volunteer on, and that's how I came to be famous throughout the IT world (yes, tooting my own horn here! ).

Being trained formally as a hardware electronics and systems design engineer with 3 degrees and hundreds of certifications and licenses, I can tell you with certitude this is so.

Continuing on, this means that when you are repairing computers which are essentially a closed-system, you cannot ignore the hardware element, and focus only on the software elements, and vice-versa. That's just not the way engineering works. That being said, if you fail to check your hardware (RAM, Hard Drive, Motherboard, Video Card/Chip, PSU, airflow temps, etc.), a software reset or reinstall from factory media (from the computer manufacturer), or from MS MCT (Media Creation Tool), is really not how competent or professionally licensed computer Techs do things! As neemo referred to in his post, reinstalling or resetting your OS is a complete waste of time if the hard drive has failed or is faulty. And, if the RSC count of the hard drive >6 bad sectors (hard sectors), that drive is pretty much worthless and must be thrown away; there are no software tools to repair that kind of damage. That's kind of like trying to fix a blown rod on a car engine by doing a wheel alignment--it has no bearing whatsoever on what really needs to be fixed!! (hope than analogy helps).

Summarizing then, for you and any other folks reading this thread, you should really take a few hours or even a few days to thoroughly test your hardware for problems; remove and replace faulty hardware first, then attempt either your suggested in-place upgrade using any of those methods listed in your post, or a Windows Reset, or a Windows Reinstallation from factory created Recovery Disks/USB stick.

I also now make Macrium image backups of all my own builds as well as Customer Builds. Mike likes EASEUS, and it works well for him. The whole idea of using solid image cloning software that works well across all makes and models of hardware (desktop PCs, laptops, tablets, etc.) typically has a much better success rate at fixing problems than in-place upgrades do IMO.

You asked for both opinions of members who have done this as well as our thoughts on how well it works--and there you have it! Probably way more than you wanted. I endeavor to be thorough. Thanks again to neemo and Mike for your spot-on comments too.

Cheers!
<<<BBJ>>>

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

Just a few words about my credentials....

Pretty much none!

I'm not a computer person in the sense that I build, repair or have vast knowledge of the internal parts.
I can add parts to my computer, (I recently put in a SSD for my new Windows 10 retail installation) and I can swap out misc. parts if they are bad.

I started with Windows 3.1 and Dos, which you still needed to use with the early Windows.

I'm a graphic designer by profession, and do to circumstances, i.e. a computer to use for free for a summer when the schools were closed, I started out on Windows instead of Apple like most graphic arts people.

The computer had 1 Megabyte of ram, and a 40 Megabyte hard drive, (my present computer has 3,250,000 megabytes of internal disk space and 32,000 megabytes of ram), at that time Windows used 17 megabytes of disk space and came on about 16 floppy disks.

I got an OK and a check from the schools to put in more ram so that was my first foray into computer hardware.
I upgraded it to 4 megabytes of ram at a cost of $300 dollars!!!

In the fall when I had to give the computer back I went and bought one of my own.

The school system gave me legitimate copies of Aldus Pagemaker, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator that I could register in my name, because I was doing graphics for them by this time.

These were all for Windows, and I didn't want to have to buy Apple versions so bought a PC instead of a Mac.
I considered switching several times but was always faced with buying software that cost as much as the computer so I stuck with Windows.

I became a gamer, and that led my to getting into configuring things writing instructions in Dos to configure ram usage etc, because it could take you a day of tweaking just to get a game to run back then.

From there on it was just learn as you go, for the next 20 odd years.

Mostly I learn by screwing up my computers and having to fix them, I've never taken a computer to be fixed by someone else and I've always managed to get it fixed in the end.

I've done beta testing on practically every major MMO starting with Asheron's call.
And I was a tester from the start on Windows 7, 8 and 10.

So basically I just wing it. LOL

Mike

 

[holdum333]

Hi BBJ and all members! I live in a retirement complex. There are about 300 seniors here. They call me Gary the computer guy. I'm self taught and I have no degrees. I was a aircraft electrician in the USAF 1958-1962. I only got interested in computers after being diagnosed with colon cancer and doing 6 months of chemo. That was 12 years ago, so I'm now a survivor. I only do the software part. I never charge or except any pay for my help. When I find a hardware problem, I tell the senior that I'm to old to do that kind of work and it's a big hassle to order the parts. I have convinced a few seniors to buy external drives and make regular back up images of their OS when I see that they have data that would be hard to replace.
My thinking is that MS has made W10 easier to recover from problems. I guess time will tell how good these recovery options work.
I also thank you and all the other members that have replied to this thread. Yes sir BBJ, you are very thorough. I enjoyed reading your reply.
I enjoy learning and passing forward things I have learned from others, and can still remember. At my age, I have probably forgotten more then I remember! I'm no stranger to help forums. For the moment this is the only one I'm active on. I do find it strange that with 40,000 registered members, there are very few techs that respond to issues that members have here on the forum. There seems to be only 4 or 5. I think I respond to more threads then I should, but I really don't have a lot of other things to do. Chemo left me with neurophy and I have COPD. This is my hobby and the way I learn new things to help my seniors with! I live in a small cottage here and only have room for my Toshiba laptop and my HP printer. I have helped a few seniors up grade to W10 with the MCT. Most seniors do not want to up grade. Old people don't like changes!

 

[holdum333]

Hi I feel the need to up date my thread. I created this thread to see if any one had tried any of the W10 recovery options.
It seems to me that there is a lot of confusion about how these recovery options work and just how good they work.
I was hoping for some real life experiences from members that tried the different options. Mike and myself think MS done a in-place repair on us and didn't ask. Mike feels like it helped with the problems he was having with W10. (See post10) I wasn't having any problems, but I'm convinced that it was a in-place repair and it acted just like the up grade I did with the Media Creation Tool. Here's my thoughts. If your having problems with W10, why not try the in- place- upgrade. Shawn Brink(One of the well know techs in the computer world) says it will solve some problems without losing any thing but the Windows updates. Not every one wants to do a clean install. If your hardware has went south on you after the upgrade, I doubt that it will fix that. I agree 100% that you may need to test your hardware first and that's what us geeks would do. These options are for non geeks. It seems to me that there aren't many members here that have tried these recovery options. I realize that w10 has only been released sense July, so maybe not that many users have tried them yet??If you want a clean PC, then do the clean install. If want to keep the Apps you have, do the up grade. I hope this makes sense. I'm not sure I even understand all this!

 

[holdum333]

Hi here's a link I just found that explains all this much better then I ever could! A must read for W10 users IMHO!
How System Restore & Factory Reset Work in Windows 10

 

[holdum333]

I'm sure everyone here on the forum has created these recovery tools, but IMHO this belongs here on this thread!
HTG shows you how!
How to Create and Use a Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc in Windows 8 or 10

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I got carried away and never did really answer your question.

I've done the refresh thing a couple of times and it worked, but still left me reinstalling stuff.

I did reset once and that was pretty much like a clean install, and I did a clean install once when retail came out.

All of them have worked but you can't beat a System Image file. LOL

Mike