Windows 10: Need to revert from Build 1511 (10586.36) to 10240

The 1511 build installed yesterday and since then I have been having trouble booting up computer in AM. It gets stuck with an arrow on a black screen. I have to turn off PC and turn back on for it to boot up into windows. Even then, it takes forvever.

I want to revert back to the previous Windows 10 build 10240. (I think that was the build number). Do I just use recovery to 'go back to an earlier build' ? Is there anything else I need to do first?


I understand that after the recovery I have to run the tool that hides updates for Windows 10. Do I have that right?


If all else fails, I did a full system back up just a few days before the update to the new Build happened.

:)

 

Windows 10 and parallel port (LPT) printer doesn't print

Possible fix.

If you are using windows 10 ver "1511", revert back to the previous build "10240".

windows 10 1511 is full of bugs, i could'nt even get my canon printer installed or detected. Reverting back fixed it for me, and i think you only have 30 days to revert back to the old build from the day you install the new 1511.

 

Windows 10 pro activation error

OS Build 10586.36

Version 1511

 

It's not the November 11th Threshold 2 update or otherwise referred to the 10586.93 version 1511 build pushed by way of the Windows updates but a flimsy upgrade to the newer build as the actual problem! When seeing the 10565 and 10576 builds each upgraded to the 10586 not one problem was seen while the distance between the 10240 and 10586 being greater as well as the 10240 not being so good as an upgrade build to start with you are much better simply going for the 10586's clean install.

That can be done by first downloading the updated Media Creation tool if you have an 8gb usb flash drive available as a 4gb will be too small since the TH2 release is actually a roll up of both the Home and Pro editions as well as seeing both the 32bit and 64bit options! Since 10 is already on and had been activated the clean install will not only see the 10586.39 go on fresh for the actual best end results but upgrade the build you are running as well.

As for the existing recovery options found in the F8 menu's Advanced recovery options the Reset option will likely see the 10240 build restored as long as nothing on the drive has changed since the TH2 upgrade took place like running the DiskCleanup tool or removing the Windows.old if created.

You might have to boot live from 10 media to get there however if you are unable to get into the F8 boot options directly! And that would bring you right back to the need to download 10 directly either by the MC Tool or going to the Tech Bench site for the Home dual 32/64bit iso download from there. You might want to consider going that route to begin with and save yourself extra efforts at a later time! First read over the guide for that. Windows 10 ISO Download - Windows 10 Forums

 

Thank you for your reply Night Hawk.

You mentioned downloading the updated media creation tool to a USB drive. I can still boot the PC although with much effort and I do have another PC. Is it best to put it on a USB or burn it onto a DVD? The instructions show creating an ISO file and burning it to a DVD.

Also, for the clean install, how do I know if I have the UFEI or not? Disk Management says 'Simple' and 'Basic'.

 

First the UEFI is controlled through the bios setup not in the Disk Management tool there. That's a hardware setting where you might have to change a setting to Legacy in order to be able to boot from any usb drive or device like a flash drive. Still running a few pre-UEFI boards here on the two desktops I still haven't run into that myself.

As for seeing a dvd burned the TH2 is now a "4 in 1" iso image that takes up 5.48gb on the drive when saved to a folder! A blank dvd won't hold anywhere near as much and is only good for a single flavor of a single edition meaning either the 32bit or 64bit Home or Pro edition and not the dual 32/64 Home or dual Pro iso downloads now seen at Tech Bench unfortunately.

Being in the Windows Insider Program however would allow you to download the separate flavor for one or the other edition being about 2.8gb for the 32bit or 3.2gb for the 64bit flavor of either edition which would fit on a blank dvd. MS intentionally made the TH2 update a 4 in 1 since it has to go out to everyone running the 32bit or 64bit Home or Pro where the upgrade will automatically detect what you are already running. This is the reason for seeing the larger size where a good 8gb or 16gb flash drive with the updated MC tool will see 10 written to it. The first MC tool from July will no longer work as there is no longer any connect to the 10240 build except in the Insider program or TechNet, MSDN paid subscriptions where you could look in the OS archives.

(Correction made here: The TH2 is now seeing the option for selecting between the 32bit, 64bit, or Dual Windows 10 not specifying the edition when going to download to a machine already running 10 but auto detecting which 32/64bit flavor you are running as well as the edition when going to run the updated Media Creation tool. The 64bit Pro edition for the Threshold 2 Update weighed in at 3.04gb on the drive when downloading that with the MC tool. When going to the Tech Bench site on the other hand for a direct download you see the choice of editions regardless of what you are presently running.)

When first downloading the MC tool you might want to see that saved in a new folder you will want for receiving the 10 iso download as well. When going to select the save to drive option you can also specify the name of the "Windows.iso" to something else like "Window 10 TH2.iso" to indicate it's the November 11th Threshold 2 update as subsequent builds will also be coming along at some point besides the Insider Preview builds that come out monthly or every second month at times.

Once you have the MC tool you simply right click on that and choose the run as adminstrator option to insure you have the elevated permissions going in case you have the User Account Control on which will tend to gum up the works with prompting. The immediate option will be the choice of language you have to get correct since there are two English options one being the US and the other the International. The second screen will see the upgrade now option with the save to disk below that which means the immediate online upgrade to the TH2 build you won't want since you will want the 10 media where the screen that follows will present the option to see the flash drive made up right there.

Now here's the interesting part. If you don't have an iso burning program that writes to flash drive the MC tool will see that done on the spot. Plus you can run the tool again and again in order to download and save 10 iso images for later use like seeing more then one flash drive made up. If you have multiple systems in multiple locations like home and work having the 10 media or at least the Recovery Drive at both places also serves the purpose of having live repair options right with each machine! Here I ended up with a few tiny 8gb Kingston flash drives that will go right onto any key chain while I keep the 10 media in a two drive holder in my pocket along with a 128gb live data recovery stick using another OS for that however.

 

I checked MSinfo and it says the Bios is Legacy.

I'm not part of the insider program but I do have a 16GB flash drive which would be plenty big.

I'm a little apprehensive about doing a clean install but if I don't I suspect I'll have a day when the computer doesn't boot up at all.

 

I downloaded The media tool and ran it. I got an error at the very end that said:

There was a problem running this tool.

error 0x8007002-0xA0019

 

One could use a higher-capacity DVD if having a drive marked as DVD+R/DL or Dual-Layer. The package for the discs are usually marked as 8.5GB but the burning program may show "about 8.0GB".

 

I used a different USB stick and a different computer to create the media and it worked. On to the next step.

 

That's good! Sometimes things wouldn't work on one machine due to the av program, firewall, or often the particular user account you are in at the moment lacks the privileges needed. For seeing the clean install place the best moved for you would be to follow the steps in the guide for this seen at Windows 10 - Clean Install - Windows 10 Forums

Depending on the system board on the machine you are seeing 10 go onto the bios programming like Award, Phoenix, AMI, or other may or may not have the F12 key you hit at post time to bring up the boot device menu in order to select the usb option. Your system specs however show you have a Gigabyte board which uses the F12 key while other manufacturers and OEMs may use either the F4 in some cases of F8 or F11 instead.

The boot from the flash drive itself will be a one time boot until the file copy is finished and the first restart is seen where the installer loaded into the active ram will take over to complete the new install. At first when selecting the Custom not Upgrade option and selecting the only OS drive that should be plugged in you will run into the choice of 32bit or 64bit when booted live. The iso is a combination of everything you need to keep in mind while the guide was originally posted based on a single flavor for a single edition type download. But being an upgrade MS not the initial release everything is rolled together.

Once you get past that first choice of flavors you will move onto the language for keyboard as well as the usual stuff and then make the choice for which edition will go on. The installation will then proceed normally taking about an hour or so roughly depending cpu speed, ram, etc. while mostly being the size of 10 itself being larger then 7 for sure. Even 8 and 8.1 run about an hour while 7 was 20 minutes compared to Vista's 39 minutes so you can step quickly for a coffee. Just don't spend too much time away to be able to monitor things a bit! *Thumbs

The problem there Berton is that most are running with either an optical drive they picked when slapping a case together looking at either the 22x or 24x speed if not choosing a Blu Ray type drive or have an OEM with whatever drive came with the machine. The dual layer drives presently are a little harder to find at many places being more of a specialty item and blank media sold in stores is not always the preferred for that.

And then you have the need for not so many burning programs in order to see that result which would a consideration more for a laptop with optical only as the media method of install if not able to simply mount the iso from a separate drive with a model where two drives fit like swapping out the optical or from a separate partition if not running the esd type install. The live flash drive option when available is generally the preferred at this time as you can carry a flash drive around with you in a small leather holder like a two drive sleeve or some on a key chain like the Kingston 8gb which is nice and compact size wise! You can't go wrong for $4.97 at Walmart for an 8gb you simply slip onto a key chain which is just right for seeing a Recovery Drive made up! *Biggrin http://www.walmart.com/ip/24727363?w...251373&veh=sem

 

Thanks for the information. I am in the process of checking that I have all my software in order so that I can install them afterward. I'll let you know how I make out once I've done the fresh install.

 

That will be good! If by chance you should end up getting stuck on something feel free to get right back in here!

Once you have done a clean install a few times it will tend to become second nature after a point however. It's more the time involved as to why some people might get a bit reluctant at times to go for broke with a fresh copy of Windows. At the moment I am still setting up a new 10 laptop ordered to replace a 7 laptop that was upgraded to 10 with apparently a failed integrated graphics chip. It wasn't one where you could simply add in a separate video card as the upper series or typical gaming model might see.

 

When I made the mediia it gave me the choice between Windows 10 and Windows 10N. I chose Windows 10. Is that correct?

i read that the 10 N is for European countries and Korea.

 

No you wouldn't want anything N or K on the end just Windows 10 unless being an upgrade from a previous N or K distribution. And when seeing the Windows 10 Single language that is strictly US English and 32bit only! You wouldn't want that one either!

You next option besides that and the language will be for the location and 32, 64, or both. This is how the MC Tool is downloading 10 at the moment I will be saving to a flash drive as simply an iso download since I already have the TH2 media made up but for anything needed on the go. I selected the 64bit not 32bit or dual showing the tool is presently detecting the main build here while I left the box for "this pc" unchecked since the iso will be able to be used on any machine.

Presently at 35% in just a few minutes while posting this reply showing how fast it will download at this time. I am waiting to see if the burn to dvd option appears since it now at 77% hasn't prompted for see the usb media made up when selecting the download not immediate upgrade option. It immediately started downloading the 10 iso to the destination folder selected unlike what you would have previously seen with the July release of the 10240 build or when the TH2 was first out or simply from having selected the Dual option rather then 64bit.

84% and almost there!