Windows 10: Reinstall Windows 10 while keeping data and applications

I’ve been following this article https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4000735/windows-10-reinstall to try and resolve some underlying issues that i believe are present in my Windows 10 Home system. The article says there is a way to ‘recover’ a Windows 10 system after the 1903 version and still retain ones data and very importantly ones installed applications - this has been a long desired feature for Windows users, so i was thrilled to find it. However my experience has been someone less thrilling.

It seems that whenever one follows one of these articles to recover Windows 10 the proces is always a bit more tricky than one would expect - for instance the process rarely tells you when to remove the removeable media that containing the latest Windows 10 system from the machine and also when it has finished, either successfully or unsuccessfully.

On this ocassion I installed the USB device cotaining a 2004 edition the only one i can get and i started the process. All seemed to go well for a while and the system rebooted at least once and then started applying the update with a % figure increasing constantly and then it rebooted without reaching 100%. There was no error message nor any message proclaiming success. Had the recovery been completed or not - I don’t think so because when i look in System to get the level of the system it still says 1903.

Does anyone know how I can check what has happened - was it only supposed to recover to the 1903 level, despite me using a 2004 version or did it fail, and if so how can i find out why.

The process sounded just what millions of people have wanted for many years but its no good if it doesn’t work!

:)

 

[Solved] Windows 10 keeps reinstalling KB3119142

I noticed quite some time ago that KB3119142 (Update for Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Update 4 Redistributable Package) kept reinstalling itself for some reason. At least once daily. Sometimes up to several times a day. I just ignored it. It didn't seem to be doing any harm. And I figured they'd eventually fix it. Well...days turned into weeks, weeks into months, with no end to the problem in sight. It dragged on unsolved for at least the last few months. Literally reinstalling itself hundreds of(at least a hundred, felt like more) times in that period of time.

So I finally googled it a couple days ago. And just got around to fixing it today. Which appears to have worked. And it couldn't have been easier to do. I feel so stupid to have let it intimidate me for so long.*Oops!

Below are links to the thread that I got the fix idea from, and the official MS support info page for KB3119142(from which I quoted the above).
http://www.tenforums.com/windows-up...-windows-10-keeps-reinstalling-kb3119142.html
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3119142

 

Most painless way to reinstall windows 10?

It depends on the junk accumulated honestly, but there are various methods. You can always remove programs, delete download folder, media locations, etc. As some have suggested, keeping some items on a separate internal storage drive is an option as well. Depends on what you have, what your budget is and how you want to handle your system and data.

The method @RejZoR suggests is sound and a method I've used dozens if not hundreds of time with great success in the field. In many cases though the goal is to keep user data intact, and to repair the OS. In place upgrade as it is called is also only doable in that method if you can boot to desktop, if you can't, it is time for some more advanced options or a format & reinstall.

With Windows 8 and 10 there are refresh and reset options that can be leveraged as well. Hold Shift and click Restart to reboot your system, this will get you into the advanced boot menu, which you'll need to choose advanced options (I forget ATM what it is called) and choose one of a couple items, refresh or reset.

Refresh is essentially In Place Upgrade but a little more aggressive as it wipes the Windows Apps and you may need to reinstall programs. Reset is like an OS reinstall, wipes user data, wipes profiles, registry, performs a install from the system image. Often times I'll do this and bypass using a USB key on a system. Though there are instances where these options will not work if a system has a level of corruption that has not been repaired/resolved. Check the OS Repair link in my sig for more info if ya need.

*Toast :toast:

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.