Windows 10: Win 10 Rollback problem

Running Windows Update I unwittingly did a reinstall of Win 10 and lost all my settings., contacts and almost everything else.When I try to roll back to the earlier version using these instructions http://www.thewindowsclub.com/rollba...reators-update I get a message saying I need to remove two new user accounts first. However Win 10 Settings doesn't show them in Other Accounts.Putting sysdm.cpl into the Run panel does show them in the System Properties Advanced tab but its Delete button is greyed out. Another site says they can be deleted using Run lusrmgr.msc but that says it cannot be used with this edition of Windows 10.I'm using Win 10 Home version 1709, Build 16299.192 and I was running Windows Update because some updates were failing to install, but everything else worked perfectly. I'd rather have that than spend a week restoring everything from scratch. I can see the previous system and user folders with names like windows.old etc but haven't tried changing them. All I want is the roll-back Microsoft assured me I could do. Help please!

:)

 

Rollback to Win 7 after Anniversary Update?

I'm having so many problems with Win 10 version 1511 that I don't want to keep it.

I'd like to try the new Anniversary edition (version 1607) to see if that solves the problems.

However, if it still has too many problems, I'd like to rollback to the original Win 7.

I know I can rollback from Win 10 Anniversary within 10 days.

That will take be back to Win 10 version 1511.

My question is AFTER that rollback to Win 10 version 1511,

can I still rollback to the original Win 7 within 30 days

of upgrading from Win 7 to Win 10 1511?

In other words, will I be able to I do TWO rollbacks,

or will upgrading from Win 10 1511 to Win 10 Anniversary

wipe out the Win 7 rollback files.

 

Desktop flashing after win 10 upgrade second rollback.

I upgraded to Win 10, and had the desktop flashing issue. I rolled back to Win 7 without a problem. My understanding is that you get just one rollback (30 days option). Is that one rollback per upgrade attempt, or just one rollback for the lifetime of the
PC? If I attempt to upgrada second time, and it fails again, will I be able to rollback without a problem?

Thanks.....

 

If you did indeed reinstall Windows, you wouldn't have Windows.old.

Nor can I conceive how, using Windows update, you can clean install Win 10

Perhaps you could explain the exact sequence of actions that led you to this state?

It is unclear what you have done.
Could you post a screenshot of your Update History? Thanks.

If you have just upgraded to build 1709 then...
To 'Go back to previous' you need to reboot to Advanced Startup options via Troubleshooting.
E.g. SHIFT + left click Restart and navigate through the options.
However, that means the previous build- e.g. if you upgraded to build 1709, you would (probably) go back to build 1703 (Fall Creator's Upgrade (FCU) to Creator's Upgrade (CU)).
Go Back to the Previous Version of Windows in Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

Do you use disk imaging routinely as we so often strongly recommend? E.g. Macrium Reflect (free) + external image storage.
If you have a recent disk image if would take you under an hour to restore a working state, exactly as was. I suspect that would be easiest thing to do. But I'm guessing you have't discovered how valuable that is.... useful even when your disk fails or your PC is unbootable.

 

Thank you for offering to rescue me.I'm a retired computer professional so I HAVE got Macrium Reflect and a recent disk image. However I'd never done a Restore and I couldn't get it to work, kept saying it couldn't be run from the drive it was on. Well I knew that and had booted from my Acer Recovery Boot CD and copied macrium.exe to a flash drive but it still thinks it's on C: Best guess is there are Registry entries pointing to C: As I didn't know if I could uninstall and reinstall Macrium on a flash drive, still uncertain what Windows would let me do at that point (and I didn't know if Macrium CAN be run from a drive that doesn't include Windows) so instead I Googled other solutions.The screenshots are attached. The Update history before the event isn't there any more. Windows.old and mirih.ALAN are new since the update and my guess is they contain what I've lost which includes- all Windows settings and defaults- about 3/4 of desktop icons. What's left is stuff I installed that isn't located in those folders- Live Mail 2012, all mail accounts, all contacts and all archive emails- Chrome and all its settings, plugins and bookmarks- Playlists, but I've located one that works fine from a shortcut although WMP settings were all lost- Printer setup- all Download files- probably a lot of other things I haven't found yetThere are also other new folders I don't recognize.I was trying to fix a problem when it all went wrong - a persistent failure of one of the 1709 updates. I'd Googled it and Microsoft said to use some WU option I now forget and I've lost the Chrome history where I could find it again. That update took a long time, over half an hour on Shutting Down with a warning there would be several restarts. I had to go out for an appointment so left it running while I was away 3 hours. Quite possible one of those might have offered an option that timed out and defaulted. When I came back the new login screen had a different background (Moose in water I'd never seen before) and I had to verify my Microsoft account password before I could login.I also tried restoring the registry from a Tweaking Registry backup - made no difference but might be why some things now don't work. Then I copied the entire mirih folder from backup and that made no difference either.I've set up enough services to get this far, but there are dozens more yet to do. Interesting that things like the Win XP Freecell I'd migrated still worked once I located its .exe file and created a new shortcut.I'm happy to set up and run Team Viewer if you want to explore further. We're in different time zones so that might be a problem. And even if I get Macrium to work I'll still have to deal with the install failure that started it all.

 

Hi, it looks like the event occurred on 1/8/18. As you have Windows.old (dated 1/8/18), that was either
- an in-place upgrade repair install of 1709
or
- an upgrade from 1703.

Do you know which?

As you are seeking to go back a build, I assume it was the second.
In either case events before 1/8/18 would no longer be shown.


At this stage I would suggest your best bet, assuming you have a meaningful disk image, would be to restore that. Before trying that we need to check a couple of things.

A Windows installation consists of more than one partition - 4 for an EFI installation:




When you created your image, did you choose Windows Backup in Macrium (which selected all relevant partitions for you) or just C: ?

Please post a screenshot of your partitions using Minitool Partition Wizard (free)
and also one like this of your disk image:




To restore your image, you would need to create a Macrium boot disk, which you can do from its GUI: Other Tasks, Create Rescue Media.


Notes/suggestions: (general - no actions)
After an upgrade, you may well (alas!) expect some things not to work. The first thing to do would be to create a new base disk image, assuming your PC is working well enough to do so.

The last thing you should do is fiddle significantly. Take some time to check what is or isn't working. Typical problems would be the odd broken security program, a driver-related problem (e.g. needing to use an older graphics driver), one or two programs that require re-registering or reinstalling- depends what you have installed.

If you have problems finding your user or logging in or accessing user data, deal with each of those carefully in turn.

After solving each, update your disk image.
Throughout, keep a log.

 

Thank you for the missing bit - that Macrium needs its own boot disk. I was thinking earlier versions of Windows where one external boot could be used for everything. Using dozens of programs you only learn what you need for immediate use - impossible to know everything.

I've created one and posted the screenshots you asked for, which suggest I got everything right but I'll wait for your confirmation before I do any more. Meantime I'll do another disk image so I can later copy over what's happened since the crash.

On your other question, 1709 has been in place for some time and I remember several successful updates but one persistently failing and Windows re-trying. That issue will come back to haunt me after the Restore and I may need more help then.

 

Ok, that looks promising.

So if you're confident that image contains a working copy of what you want to restore, I suggest
a. Create a new image of what you have now (just in case you, for what ever reason, need this)
- this is really an optional step.. if you're confident you don't need to, omit it (perhaps that's what you're referring to in your post)
b. Boot your PC from your Macrium boot disk, attach your external disk containing your disk image
c. Restore that image.

 

Well thank you very much! The Restore worked perfectly except for some anxious waiting at power-on with a blank screen for 5 minutes so I risked a power-off and restart that ran much faster.. Everything loaded much slower than usual and I'm guessing the hardware was busy re-indexing a lot of locations. Now to copy the last few days' work from the image I took just before restoring...

Below is a screenshot of my Desktop so you can see how much customisation I lost, and also the problem I was trying to solve when the crash happened. All those previous failures began as a "Requires a re-start" message.

Do you know of a solution, or is it safer to ignore it, leave well alone, and hope Microsoft will come up with a fix some time soon?

 

Hi, glad you're up and running (thanks to MR). Good use of MR.

If that's your current update history, unless the most recent one works, sthg could be wrong.. presumably with Windows update.

I assume you're back on 1703.

If so, try the troubleshooter for starters, then try deleting the content of %temp% and the content of
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download

I'd suggest
- run some disk diagnostics, SFC/ SCANNOW, chkdsk c: /scan
on your current configuration.

- If you have multiple users, check each looks ok.

When you upgraded you might somehow have ended up with a temporary user profile (research that, it's not sthg I'm familiar with) but is mentioned where people upgrading end up with empty desktops etc.

When you do upgrade, make sure your AV is disabled or uninstalled (if any), you have at least, say, 20Gb or more free disk space on C: , disconnect any unnecessary peripherals.

A basic recommendation is as far as possible to not keep user data on C:

You can relocate your desktop (mine is on E: - better is not to have a raft of shortcuts on it like that.
What I do is:
- use Classic Shell as my start menu (sadly now not in development) so an alternative start menu that offers feature more like XP or Win 7) is something I'll eventually need. (Win 10 's and lookalikes can't cope with deeply nested start menus and don't support drag 'n'drop)
- use a launcher (STabLauncher) which autohides - tabbed, allows drag 'n drop for shortcuts and data dropped onto shortcuts), free, low resource use




The data for that is not on C:

 

I Googled your suggestions for more information and found FIX: Windows 10 Update 1709 fails to install (Solved) - wintips.org - Windows Tips How-tos which I'm working through - cautiously. So far SCANISK AND SFC haven't found anything and deleting the 9-or-so GB in that download folder hasn't made any difference either. I'll keep working on it when I have time, but the number of people who have that issue suggests Microsoft might soon come up with a fix. At this point it's a nuisance rather than a problem. Thank you for mentioning STabLauncher which I'll install. I used the old Office Toolbar but when that disappeared and I started tutoring classes for seniors who wanted things to be simple I put shortcuts to everything on the Desktop as they were seeing my PC on the classroom screen! I've since retired so it's time for a change.I think my issue's pretty much resolved so thank you again. Five stars!

 

Glad it helped. In the Tutorial section the yellow section of the tutorial on upgrading points to more references e.g. for error messages.

Ultimately a few who still can't upgrade find they need to do an in-place upgrade repair of their current build before upgrading.

Sometimes it helps to do the upgrade manually and not accept updates during that process.