Windows 10: Cortana/Search/calendar/mail/weather/groove music/moviesTV not working

Based on the failures reported above you have no option but to do an in-place upgrade repair install.

I would always recommend that when each major build comes out to download the iso and create the bootable medium. Why?
a. Saves repeating the download (if the upgrade fails) and saves you your data usage.
b. Gives you bootable medium for repairs or clean installs.

So if you don't have that for build 1607, and don't want to download it, I suggest you find a friend who has one, or has a PC with faster bandwidth and no cap to help you download it.

Before you do the in-place upgrade repair install, and given your multiple failures, please do this basic check:
From an admin command prompt
[Windows key + X, click command prompt (admin)]
chkdsk C: /F
Your PC will need to restart.
Make sure the result is clear or fixed- else do not proceed.
Post back the result, which you can get after a restart as follows:
How do I see the results of a CHKDSK that ran on boot? - Ask Leo!

Also download (small) Crystaldiskinfo (free) and advise the result (SMART disk check) - there's a big 'Good/Fail' coloured indication.

Unless your disk is ok, there's no point in repairing it.

For the future, when you again have a working PC:
Creating disk images lets you restore Windows and all your disks and partitions to a previous working state, quickly and probably without technical help.

You can recover from:
- a failed disk drive (restore to a new one)
- ransomware (which encrypts your disk)
- user error
- unrecoverable problems from failed updates to problem programs
- unbootable PC (hardware faults aside)

Images also act as a full backup- you can extract files too.

You can even use images to help you move more easily and quickly to a new PC.
Can be used with Laplink software to transfer your build automatically to another PC

Imaging can even help you sleep at night knowing you have a second chance.

Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as a good robust solution and more reliable than some others. It’s
- more feature rich
- more flexible
- more reliable
than Windows Backup and Restore system images.

It's well supported with videos, help and a responsive forum.

There are other such programs, free/commercial, some with simpler interfaces, but Macrium R is one of the most robust and reliable.

How long does it take?
SSD+ USB3 - maybe 15 mins for the first system image, less thereafter
HDD + USB2 - maybe 40-50 mins
That’s with little personal data, few programs installed.
- of course, depends how much you have on C:
(You can and should image all your partitions and disks)

Once you've created your first image, keep it updated with e.g. differential imaging- which images just changes from the first image, more quickly, and creates a smaller image file.

You need a backup medium - say- twice as large as the total amount of data you are imaging to keep a reasonable number of differential images. This will vary dependent on the number of images you keep, so is only a rough practical guide.

Some comment that system restore isn't always reliable; if it works and solves the problem, great. But sometimes restores won't work or fail. And of course a restore point only covers a limited number of aspects of the system. That’s where disk imaging comes in.


(There's a tutorial on Macrium in the Tutorials section, and a couple of videos in the user videos section on this forum)
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect - Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials
Windows 10 instructional videos by Ten Forums members

 

I'm afraid the only thing that's going to resolve this is a repair install, or a clean install. Either way, you need the W10 ISO (unless your system came with W10 and you can use the OEM recovery partition to do the clean install). A repair install will keep all your files and installed programs, while a clean install will remove everything. As Dalchina suggests, you could check your hard drive health and run a chkdsk first, but you'll still need a repair install at minimum. Find a friend, or go to the library and download the ISO. It can't be avoided; you need the ISO. Your system will continue to degrade until it's unusable, and then the clean install will be your only option.

 

@CreativSelf

Dalchina and simrick are correct. I've also looked at your CBS [SR] log. There are many errors that should not be ignored. Some may even prevent you from getting the new Creator's Update that is coming soon. I understand the data cap, but you may have to bite the bullet and get the ISO and repair the system. Because of your data cap, and possible expense, if you are in doubt at all which ISO to download, ask first. Many here to help.

TC

 

My PC is quite old, probably 8 years and the last few years especially I have it run during the night as well. I've never had any hardware issues with it except last year I had to replace the graphic card. Even to this day it runs very smoothly considering it's age. I can play games while also running virtual machines simultaneously (just to give you an idea). I'm fully expecting it to break but that would be devastating. This was the most expensive PC in the shop at the time and I've had 4-5 PC's before this one during the span of 8 years that always broke but were replaced because of the guarantee. Needless to say, I love my PC and am not at liberty to just buy a new PC if it breaks. The reason I'm saying this is because I'm clearly seeing there might be issues with it that I was unaware of:





My hard drive is 50% full (1/2 TB) and I have 4 TB worth of data on external hard drives that I've accumulated since my very first PC and unfortunately I can't erase anything. Making a 1 TB recovery image is very difficult. I've re-installed windows multiple times (at least 4-6). If I do a repair, which ISO should I be downloading exactly? By the way, how come it doesn't automatically update to the latest build? Isn't that windows update is for?

 

You need a new hard drive. *Sad

 

For repair install or clean install, see option #1 here - download for another computer:
Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials






But you've got to get that drive replaced first.

 

Have the shop clone your old drive to a new drive before you do anything else. Or, buy a new hard drive and plug it in yourself, (or have the shop do it), then clean install W10. You shouldn't be using the system until you get the drive replaced, and I wouldn't trust an ISO downloaded to that drive. Reallocated sector count failures can sometimes be corrected with a low-level format, but the other is too serious to mess with.

 

You guys make it sound quite urgent that I need to buy a new hard drive. How long do you think my PC can last without replacing it and how long if I do replace it? How much would it cost me if I decide to do it and where can I find a compatible model & buy it?

Without replacing the hard drive, is repairing or re-installing windows still a good idea?

 

Absolutely not. You'd be wasting your time- hard drives aren't that expensive- how much is your time worth when you try reinstalling, and Windows fails again in random ways? Not to mention the potential data loss.

It's good you ran the program I suggested- now you've a probable cause for your problems.

- no, not if you use a good disk imaging program like Macrium Reflect (free).

Sure it'll take longer if you haven't got USB3 and an SSD. But then you're pretty safe- you can even recover relatively quickly if your disk has failed- but you still need to get a new one of course *chuckle.

 

Thanks for the help. My concern isn't about the time it takes but about the space. If I make a 1 TB image, I assume I'd need to put it on an external hard drive which I don't have.

Can someone point me to well priced hard drive that is compatible with my PC? Thanks

 

Looks like you're in the US - so maybe someone there can suggest a supplier.

 

Canada *Smile

 

Ah, just went on the time zone in your profile and guessed...sorry.
I prefer Hitachi or Toshiba disks mostly.

 

If you want to buy a new internal hard drive, I'll suggest Amazon or Newegg. Looks like you currently have a 2TB Seagate Technologies spinner in there now. I would suggest a 7200RPM for the replacement.

You'll also need an external drive to make the image. If you use Macrium Reflect Free for the imaging, you can expect 1TB of data with standard compression to take up about 2/3s of that for the image. I would plan on using that external for future imaging, and you want to keep several images on hand at all times, so a 2TB external drive would be minimum size.

Here are some examples (I am not pushing anything here, just trying to help you out):

Internal hard drive
https://www.amazon.ca/Seagate-BarraC...nal+hard+drive

Seagate BarraCuda STBD2000101 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb Internal Hard Drive Retail Packaging - Newegg.ca

External hard drive
https://www.amazon.ca/Seagate-Expans...ion+hard+drive

Seagate Expansion 2TB USB 3.0 3.5 Desktop External Hard Drive STEB2000100 - Newegg.ca

 

Thanks, much appreciated.