Windows 10: Upgrading not going well

I am on build 1511 and I was ready to wipe my drive this morning and install 1703. I got the ISO from the Microsoft website and had it loaded to my thumb. But my first step did not go well so I wanted to ask what is the preferred method.

Old days I use Parted Magic to secure erase an SSD, but today it does not see my Nvme Sammy 950 Pro. Maybe the version I have only sees SATA drives? Unhooked my spinny D and still no joy. So then I tried using the secure erase in the BIOS (Asus Maximus Hero VIII) and it too does not see the sammy.

So went to read up and it seems like there is a split. Some say to update to 1703 via the Windows update and some say to update via the wipe and install. So now I am second guessing the secure erase method; if it is even needed or is there any benefit. Is using the older method still stand today meaning use some sort of secure erase? I did turn off secure boot and fast startup, but did I miss something else in the UEFI? Or just use the Windows update to 1703?

Or should I wait for the 1709 since it IS around the corner?

:)

 

Windows 10 upgrade not going well

Two days ago my computer started Windows 10 over again like I had just installed
it, but I actually updated to Windows 10 from 8.1 two months ago.
Today it happened again and was welcomed again to Microsoft Edge and still cannot find window update in the control panel. I went to the services manager and windows update shows to be running, just cannot locate it. I have asked different forums but no
one seems to understand. The only possible answer I have come across was that it is malicious software. I am running the removal tool deep scan but when I did the quick scan it said it couldn't find anything. There is something that is keeping me from accessing
windows update and from what I understand that is a clue it is malware. Because if you cannot update then Windows Defender will not work properly and it can stay hidden. And right before this happened Defender had been finding things that needed to be quarantined
and deleted (Trojans and other .exe files that kept coming up in windows temp file) no matter how many times it was found and deleted it came back. I ran Malwarebyte antimalware repeatedly and it never found anything and then I would run Defender and it would.
I hope to find an answer soon because if windows 10 keeps starting over every day it is eating up my data usage

 

Windows 10 upgrade not going well

Hello,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

I would appreciate, if you can provide us the following information to help us understand the issue better?

• What do you mean when you say "my computer started Windows 10 over again like I had just installed it"? Does is starts applying settings all over again.
• Do you get any error message/ error code on your system?

I would suggest you to follow the methods given below and check.

Method 1:

I would also suggest you to run Microsoft safety scanner.

Run Microsoft Safety Scanner.

Run a full computer scan with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to make sure that the computer is virus free.

Microsoft Safety Scanner: Safety Scanner - Windows Defender Security Intelligence

Note:

Any data files that are infected may only be cleaned by deleting the file entirely, which means there is a potential for data loss.

The Microsoft Safety Scanner expires 10 days after being downloaded. To rerun a scan with the latest anti-malware definitions, download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner again

If issue still persists try method 2,

Method 2: Perform Clean Boot.

Placing your system in Clean Boot state helps in identifying if any third party applications or startup items are causing the issue. Check this issue in clean boot state.

• Press Windows key + X key. And select Run.
• Type msconfig in the Run box and hit Enter.
• On the Services tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click to select the
  Hide all Microsoft services check box, and then tap or click
  Disable all.
• On the Startup tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click
  Open Task Manager.
• On the Startup tab in Task Manager, for each startup item, select the item and then click
  Disable.
• Close Task Manager.
• On the Startup tab of the System Configuration dialog box, tap or click
  OK, and then restart the computer.

Note: After clean boot troubleshooting step, follow the section "How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with clean boot" in the provided link to return your computer
to Normal startup mode.



If issue didn't get resolve try method 3

Method 3:

Try to run a System File Checker (SFC) scan to check for any file corruption.
SFC scan will scan for corrupt system files on the computer and repair them.

• Press Windows key + X, click
  Command Prompt (Admin).
• In the Command Prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
  
  sfc /scannow

Hope the information helps. Let us know if you need further assistance with Windows related issues. We will be happy to help.

 

I've got computers that started on the original build 10240 and have upgraded up through version 1703 now with no issues. I do the upgrades manually. As soon as it is available, I download the ISO file for the new version. Then I mount it within Windows and run setup.exe from the mounted ISO file.

Inserting the Windows 10 USB flash drive with Windows running and running setup.exe from the flash drive will be the same as running it from a mounted ISO file.

If you want to do a clean install, boot the computer from the USB flash drive. Go through the steps until you get to the one asking for upgrade or custom install. Pick custom install. On the next screen see if the SSD is listed with the existing partitions on it. If it is, then delete each partition on the SSD until it is nothing but unallocated space. Highlight the unallocated space and click Next to let Windows 10 set it up.

There is no need for a secure erase of the SDD unless you are going to sell/give away the laptop and concerned about private information getting recovered.

 

An addition to the above message:

Before you start the install process, make sure you have versions of USB and Samsung NVMe drivers available that the setup media can read and load. This is important, or your installation is almost guaranteed to fail.

First fail will be that Windows setup can not see your USB device and copy files from it (the setup program is loaded to RAM only). Second one would be that Setup can not see your NVMe drive.

So copy the required drivers to the same USB stick and make sure they are loaded automatically or manually during setup.

 

@NavyLCDR - did this and all is well on 1703 now. Thanks
@slicendice - great point. did it and all is well.

Thanks to both of you

 

Awesome! *Thumbs