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Resetting my Desktop PC


James M. Fisher

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James M. Fisher

Since I have time on my hands these days (and have to keep off my knee), I decided to tackle an issue my desktop PC was having. For some time now, it would not alwys perform a complete shutdown, or even a restart at times. It would just hang there, saying "Restarting..." or "Shutting Down...."

So I said enough of this, let's try some of the new Windows 8 Recovery options.

The first option was to restore windows but keep my personal files. This would have meant that I would have to reinstall any drivers, apps and programs I installed since I have had the computer. OK, I was willing to accept this. I had just made a True Image backup a day or so before, so I wasn't worried bout my files and downloaded programs. I clicked to proceed with this option, but agin, the restart would hang. In fact, I couldn't use any of the options under the Recovery app.

Then, I discovered in the small User guide that came with this PC, there is something called OneKey Recovery. Upon shutting down (I had to do a hard shutdown) and while restarting, hitting the F2 key would boot to this option. I chose to do a 'wipe and reinstall' of Windows, thus sending it back in time to when I unpacked it.

Once that proved successful, there was the GBs of updates to tackle. I install the first round of updates, then run an errand while this was ongoing.

I come back to find this message:

"Failure configuring Windows updates. Reverting changes. Do not turn off your computer"

 

Sigh...I searched and found this KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949358

So I let windows do it's thing, restarting several times until at last it acheived the Start screen. I proceeded to install updates with no more issues. I think it must have been the attached USB devices I had, but they were not turned on.

Finally, The windows Store allowed me to download and install the 8.1 update.

Now I am backing up the present state of this PC should I ever have to start this process over. At least all the updates up to and including 8.1 will be installed.

Good thing I was not pressed for time! :sweatingbullets:

 

Next up: reverting my ThinkPad back to Windows 7...... :biggrin:

Edited by James M. Fisher
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James M. Fisher

LOL...thankfully, it never got to that point, but I have felt that way in the past, especially when someone asks you for help and you see it would be better to 'nuke' their PC tthan spend the time trying to fix it.

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amenditman

I love to see Eric's nuke it posts, but most real world Windows problems I have faced involve saving the user's data/files.

Because....no backups were ever made.

Usually backups are the only thing I talk to them about as I go about charging them ridiculous amounts of money to save their precious files.

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amenditman

i'm guessing close to 0% of users backup anything, ever.

yeah, ya'll go ahead and post: "i do too back up my suff..." yeah, you are the micro-fraction of a percent that do.

Exactly!
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James M. Fisher

I'm spending the day doing backups and checking image files. With so many cloud services, there's no excuse for not having important files (esp. photos) stored offsite.

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amenditman

Backups? We don't need no steenking backups.

 

stinking+badges.jpg

Boy have I heard that before.

Right before I have to spend hours rescuing their precious photos and documents.

Cha-Ching!

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V.T. Eric Layton

Yup. Sadly, most of my saves like that have been for aunts, uncles, brothers, cousins, etc. In other words, NON-PAYING customers. :(

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I've really worked hard to get myself out of the Family Tech Support plan......

 

It involved me educating my sister in basic remote support, and she takes care of my mom and dad for me. :P

 

Adam

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abarbarian

I've really worked hard to get myself out of the Family Tech Support plan......

 

It involved me educating my sister in basic remote support, and she takes care of my mom and dad for me. :P

 

Adam

 

Your some smart cookie that is a neat trick. :clap:

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I've managed to ditch all family/friend tech support over the years. Being over 1000 miles away helps. :P

 

Adam

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Guest LilBambi

I've managed to ditch all family/friend tech support over the years. Being over 1000 miles away helps. :P

 

Adam

 

Deja vu! ... Was it the same cat or did it just look like the same cat? (The Matrix)

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Looks like I'm going to have to pry the MSI notebook out of the missus tight grasp and give it a clean out . She's been complaining that it's going very slow lately .

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I love to see Eric's nuke it posts, but most real world Windows problems I have faced involve saving the user's data/files.

Because....no backups were ever made.

Over at Debian User Forums I often see posts "I lost all my files! Please help." I take great twisted pleasure in replying "Just restore your Backup." Before recommending Photorec. My sig over there reads -

 

“ computer users can be divided into 2 categories:

Those who have lost data

...and those who have not lost data YET ” Remember to BACKUP!

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