Hi All,

I had a call fro a customer that had a Windows
build update go foobar. It corrupted him out.

Now I know that I can do an in place reinstall
keeping files of Windows 10, but it requires
that you run it from Windows. (Thank you so
freaking' much!)

I have found this on the web:

How to Reinstall Windows 10 from USB drive

https://www.stellarinfo.com/article/how-to-install-windows-10-from-usb.php#Six_Pointer

https://www.stellarinfo.com/public/image/catalog//article/data-recovery/install-windows-10-from-usb/choose-to-reset-your-PC-image12.jpg

https://www.stellarinfo.com/public/image/catalog//article/data-recovery/install-windows-10-from-usb/choose-to-remove-everything-image13.jpg

Can anyone tell me if the above is still valid with 22H2?

Many thanks,
-T

On 6/7/2023 9:08 PM, T wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I had a call fro a customer that had a Windows
> build update go foobar.  It corrupted him out.
>
> Now I know that I can do an in place reinstall
> keeping files of Windows 10, but it requires
> that you run it from Windows.  (Thank you so
> freaking' much!)
>
> I have found this on the web:
>
> How to Reinstall Windows 10 from USB drive
>
> https://www.stellarinfo.com/article/how-to-install-windows-10-from-usb.php#Six_Pointer
>
> https://www.stellarinfo.com/public/image/catalog//article/data-recovery/install-windows-10-from-usb/choose-to-reset-your-PC-image12.jpg
>
> https://www.stellarinfo.com/public/image/catalog//article/data-recovery/install-windows-10-from-usb/choose-to-remove-everything-image13.jpg
>
> Can anyone tell me if the above is still valid with 22H2?
>
> Many thanks,
> -T

I don't understand.

How are the options offered in the Stellar article, helping ?
I don't see this rescuing anyones bacon.

It's still going to leave a mess.

One way to do this, is one of those user state migration tools,
which copies the user state from an old OS, to a new one, and those
tools cost roughly $50 per usage. You don't buy that software, you
rent it, and... it comes with tech support (which is why it costs $50).
Usually it has trouble with one program, and if you contact the
tech support, they can remote in and finish the job. Part of the
fifty bucks. Laplink has products, and a couple of other competitors
do too. On the product that has a "demo", I ran it here, and the
stupid thing couldn't even list my "old" Program Files folder :-)
I would expect the others, to do a better job, and the others
do not offer a faux demo program. The demo was a joke. It's
not even a decent teaser.

*******

"Windows build update go foobar"

Windows build updates, don't go foobar, not any more.

The initial bug with release upgrades, was on the final reboot,
there could be trouble, and the rollback sequence would not work.
And that is foobar for the user, because the rollback design was
intended to cover everything. But they "missed" the possibility
that the system would not come up on the final reboot.

They fixed that. Now, even if the OS is not ready to boot into
the final OS, the installation process is still in control, it logs
the error condition and starts the rollback. It then rolls back
to the state it had originally (plus or minus a few tiny
registry settings perhaps, like maybe making MSEdge the default browser).

The release upgrade process should keep a Windows.old folder.
That has more than the C:\Windows contents. It also seems to
contains some amount of Program Files content. In an "emergency",
the installer uses this folder, to orchestrate an hour-long rollback. It
migrates the materials back.

*******

What Windows critically relies upon, is the boot menu. In other
words, to the user, when a process "goes off the rails", the
most likely scenario, is the machine is trying to boot
from the wrong disk drive. While normally, during a release
upgrade, it makes a temporary BCD which gets right to the point,
if a process is to run off the rails nicely, it would be
the contents of the BCD which aren't working as expected.
Or, the OS simply isn't even using the BCD it just wrote, at all.

It takes the eagle eye of the user, to notice the boot symptoms
in this case, and relay them to you. Is the screen black, with
some baloney about "no boot media found" ? The user needs to give
you some idea, whether the foobar-ness of the situation, is
cause by a boot issue.

But short of your foobar-ness being a completely destroyed SSD
(hardware/ssd-firmware failure), or an issue with the NTFS file
system, really, the upgrade installer has all the rollback options
it needs. It's generally pretty good about space calculations.
If this was a laptop or a tablet, some of those are cramped
for space, and that raises the odds of some space thing being
calculated incorrectly. But when I've pinched the sucker on
purpose, to test its space calcs, it managed to finish the
install with 3GB of space remaining. Not a lot of space. But,
the space signaled to me that "yes, I know how to calc the space".
For example, it can turf the hiberfile, just so it can finish.
Or adjust the pagefile down, to cinch the deal. Or, it can ask
you to insert a USB stick for "temporary files". I've never been
asked to do that, so that's a tablet option.

I know you just want to push a button and move on, but perhaps
this situation can be salvaged. Maybe all it needs, is some
assistance booting, such as using the popup boot menu and selecting
the Windows Boot Manager on the correct drive. Or some other
clever selection from whatever shows in that screen.

So while there was a "hole" in the initial implementation,
it's better than it used to be. And unless NTFS has been destroyed,
you should be able to see a Windows.old sitting on that partition.
Which contains the materials needed for a rollback. No, I don't
know how to "manually trigger a rollback", with the exception
of restoring the boot process into that installer. So the installer
is in control again. If it's not booting to the installer, the
installer cannot finish the job, one way, or, the other way.

Paul

On 6/7/23 19:33, Paul wrote:
> On 6/7/2023 9:08 PM, T wrote:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I had a call fro a customer that had a Windows
>> build update go foobar.  It corrupted him out.
>>
>> Now I know that I can do an in place reinstall
>> keeping files of Windows 10, but it requires
>> that you run it from Windows.  (Thank you so
>> freaking' much!)
>>
>> I have found this on the web:
>>
>> How to Reinstall Windows 10 from USB drive
>>
>> https://www.stellarinfo.com/article/how-to-install-windows-10-from-usb.php#Six_Pointer
>>
>> https://www.stellarinfo.com/public/image/catalog//article/data-recovery/install-windows-10-from-usb/choose-to-reset-your-PC-image12.jpg
>>
>> https://www.stellarinfo.com/public/image/catalog//article/data-recovery/install-windows-10-from-usb/choose-to-remove-everything-image13.jpg
>>
>> Can anyone tell me if the above is still valid with 22H2?
>>
>> Many thanks,
>> -T
>
> I don't understand.
>
> How are the options offered in the Stellar article, helping ?
> I don't see this rescuing anyones bacon.
Well first I have to make sure there is no hardware problem.
I was looking at a reinstall that keep the users programs
and files, like the one I can do if Windows is still
running
>
> It's still going to leave a mess.
No fooling!
>
> One way to do this, is one of those user state migration tools,
> which copies the user state from an old OS, to a new one, and those
> tools cost roughly $50 per usage. You don't buy that software, you
> rent it, and... it comes with tech support (which is why it costs $50).
> Usually it has trouble with one program, and if you contact the
> tech support, they can remote in and finish the job. Part of the
> fifty bucks. Laplink has products, and a couple of other competitors
> do too. On the product that has a "demo", I ran it here, and the
> stupid thing couldn't even list my "old" Program Files folder :-)
> I would expect the others, to do a better job, and the others
> do not offer a faux demo program. The demo was a joke. It's
> not even a decent teaser.
I can just boot into Fedora and copy his files. That would not keep M$
Office though.
>
> *******
>
> "Windows build update go foobar"
>
> Windows build updates, don't go foobar, not any more.
You live a sheltered life. He flipped the power
off several times.
>
> The initial bug with release upgrades, was on the final reboot,
> there could be trouble, and the rollback sequence would not work.
> And that is foobar for the user, because the rollback design was
> intended to cover everything. But they "missed" the possibility
> that the system would not come up on the final reboot.
>
> They fixed that. Now, even if the OS is not ready to boot into
> the final OS, the installation process is still in control, it logs
> the error condition and starts the rollback. It then rolls back
> to the state it had originally (plus or minus a few tiny
> registry settings perhaps, like maybe making MSEdge the default browser).
Sounds good.
>
> The release upgrade process should keep a Windows.old folder.
> That has more than the C:\Windows contents. It also seems to
> contains some amount of Program Files content. In an "emergency",
> the installer uses this folder, to orchestrate an hour-long rollback. It
> migrates the materials back.
>
> *******
>
> What Windows critically relies upon, is the boot menu. In other
> words, to the user, when a process "goes off the rails", the
> most likely scenario, is the machine is trying to boot
> from the wrong disk drive. While normally, during a release
> upgrade, it makes a temporary BCD which gets right to the point,
> if a process is to run off the rails nicely, it would be
> the contents of the BCD which aren't working as expected.
> Or, the OS simply isn't even using the BCD it just wrote, at all.
>
> It takes the eagle eye of the user, to notice the boot symptoms
> in this case, and relay them to you. Is the screen black, with
> some baloney about "no boot media found" ? The user needs to give
> you some idea, whether the foobar-ness of the situation, is
> cause by a boot issue.
>
> But short of your foobar-ness being a completely destroyed SSD
> (hardware/ssd-firmware failure), or an issue with the NTFS file
> system, really, the upgrade installer has all the rollback options
> it needs. It's generally pretty good about space calculations.
> If this was a laptop or a tablet, some of those are cramped
> for space, and that raises the odds of some space thing being
> calculated incorrectly. But when I've pinched the sucker on
> purpose, to test its space calcs, it managed to finish the
> install with 3GB of space remaining. Not a lot of space. But,
> the space signaled to me that "yes, I know how to calc the space".
> For example, it can turf the hiberfile, just so it can finish.
> Or adjust the pagefile down, to cinch the deal. Or, it can ask
> you to insert a USB stick for "temporary files". I've never been
> asked to do that, so that's a tablet option.
>
> I know you just want to push a button and move on, but perhaps
> this situation can be salvaged. Maybe all it needs, is some
> assistance booting, such as using the popup boot menu and selecting
> the Windows Boot Manager on the correct drive. Or some other
> clever selection from whatever shows in that screen.
>
> So while there was a "hole" in the initial implementation,
> it's better than it used to be. And unless NTFS has been destroyed,
> you should be able to see a Windows.old sitting on that partition.
> Which contains the materials needed for a rollback. No, I don't
> know how to "manually trigger a rollback", with the exception
> of restoring the boot process into that installer. So the installer
> is in control again. If it's not booting to the installer, the
> installer cannot finish the job, one way, or, the other way.
>
>    Paul
His symptom was he was told on shutdown that M$ needed to
do an update. When the reboot took place, he gets the
annoy balls and then a black screen. Monitor status
LED shows connection. Looks to me like the final part
of the update is corrupted.
Could be his hard drive has gone bad or is corrupted.
Probably Winodws is all messed up.
An inplace would be nice, but if there is corruptions
in the registry, it may be best to wipe and reinstall.
He has Carbonite for his backup

On 08/06/2023 04:56, T wrote:
> On 6/7/23 19:33, Paul wrote:
>> On 6/7/2023 9:08 PM, T wrote:
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> I had a call fro a customer that had a Windows
>>> build update go foobar.  It corrupted him out.
>>>
>>> Now I know that I can do an in place reinstall
>>> keeping files of Windows 10, but it requires
>>> that you run it from Windows.  (Thank you so
>>> freaking' much!)
>>>
>>> I have found this on the web:
>>>
>>> How to Reinstall Windows 10 from USB drive
>>>
>>> https://www.stellarinfo.com/article/how-to-install-windows-10-from-usb.php#Six_Pointer
>>>
>>>
>>> https://www.stellarinfo.com/public/image/catalog//article/data-recovery/install-windows-10-from-usb/choose-to-reset-your-PC-image12.jpg
>>>
>>>
>>> https://www.stellarinfo.com/public/image/catalog//article/data-recovery/install-windows-10-from-usb/choose-to-remove-everything-image13.jpg
>>>
>>>
>>> Can anyone tell me if the above is still valid with 22H2?
>>>
>>> Many thanks,
>>> -T
>>
>> I don't understand.
>>
>> How are the options offered in the Stellar article, helping ?
>> I don't see this rescuing anyones bacon.
>
> Well first I have to make sure there is no hardware problem.
>
> I was looking at a reinstall that keep the users programs
> and files, like the one I can do if Windows is still
> running
>
>>
>> It's still going to leave a mess.
>
> No fooling!
>
>>
>> One way to do this, is one of those user state migration tools,
>> which copies the user state from an old OS, to a new one, and those
>> tools cost roughly $50 per usage. You don't buy that software, you
>> rent it, and... it comes with tech support (which is why it costs $50).
>> Usually it has trouble with one program, and if you contact the
>> tech support, they can remote in and finish the job. Part of the
>> fifty bucks. Laplink has products, and a couple of other competitors
>> do too. On the product that has a "demo", I ran it here, and the
>> stupid thing couldn't even list my "old" Program Files folder :-)
>> I would expect the others, to do a better job, and the others
>> do not offer a faux demo program. The demo was a joke. It's
>> not even a decent teaser.
>
> I can just boot into Fedora and copy his files.  That would not keep M$
> Office though.
>
>>
>> *******
>>
>> "Windows build update go foobar"
>>
>> Windows build updates, don't go foobar, not any more.
>
> You live a sheltered life.  He flipped the power
> off several times.
>
>>
>> The initial bug with release upgrades, was on the final reboot,
>> there could be trouble, and the rollback sequence would not work.
>> And that is foobar for the user, because the rollback design was
>> intended to cover everything. But they "missed" the possibility
>> that the system would not come up on the final reboot.
>>
>> They fixed that. Now, even if the OS is not ready to boot into
>> the final OS, the installation process is still in control, it logs
>> the error condition and starts the rollback. It then rolls back
>> to the state it had originally (plus or minus a few tiny
>> registry settings perhaps, like maybe making MSEdge the default browser).
>
> Sounds good.
>
>>
>> The release upgrade process should keep a Windows.old folder.
>> That has more than the C:\Windows contents. It also seems to
>> contains some amount of Program Files content. In an "emergency",
>> the installer uses this folder, to orchestrate an hour-long rollback. It
>> migrates the materials back.
>>
>> *******
>>
>> What Windows critically relies upon, is the boot menu. In other
>> words, to the user, when a process "goes off the rails", the
>> most likely scenario, is the machine is trying to boot
>> from the wrong disk drive. While normally, during a release
>> upgrade, it makes a temporary BCD which gets right to the point,
>> if a process is to run off the rails nicely, it would be
>> the contents of the BCD which aren't working as expected.
>> Or, the OS simply isn't even using the BCD it just wrote, at all.
>>
>> It takes the eagle eye of the user, to notice the boot symptoms
>> in this case, and relay them to you. Is the screen black, with
>> some baloney about "no boot media found" ? The user needs to give
>> you some idea, whether the foobar-ness of the situation, is
>> cause by a boot issue.
>>
>> But short of your foobar-ness being a completely destroyed SSD
>> (hardware/ssd-firmware failure), or an issue with the NTFS file
>> system, really, the upgrade installer has all the rollback options
>> it needs. It's generally pretty good about space calculations.
>> If this was a laptop or a tablet, some of those are cramped
>> for space, and that raises the odds of some space thing being
>> calculated incorrectly. But when I've pinched the sucker on
>> purpose, to test its space calcs, it managed to finish the
>> install with 3GB of space remaining. Not a lot of space. But,
>> the space signaled to me that "yes, I know how to calc the space".
>> For example, it can turf the hiberfile, just so it can finish.
>> Or adjust the pagefile down, to cinch the deal. Or, it can ask
>> you to insert a USB stick for "temporary files". I've never been
>> asked to do that, so that's a tablet option.
>>
>> I know you just want to push a button and move on, but perhaps
>> this situation can be salvaged. Maybe all it needs, is some
>> assistance booting, such as using the popup boot menu and selecting
>> the Windows Boot Manager on the correct drive. Or some other
>> clever selection from whatever shows in that screen.
>>
>> So while there was a "hole" in the initial implementation,
>> it's better than it used to be. And unless NTFS has been destroyed,
>> you should be able to see a Windows.old sitting on that partition.
>> Which contains the materials needed for a rollback. No, I don't
>> know how to "manually trigger a rollback", with the exception
>> of restoring the boot process into that installer. So the installer
>> is in control again. If it's not booting to the installer, the
>> installer cannot finish the job, one way, or, the other way.
>>
>>     Paul
>
> His symptom was he was told on shutdown that M$ needed to
> do an update.  When the reboot took place, he gets the
> annoy balls and then a black screen.  Monitor status
> LED shows connection.  Looks to me like the final part
> of the update is corrupted.
>
> Could be his hard drive has gone bad or is corrupted.
> Probably Winodws is all messed up.
>
> An inplace would be nice, but if there is corruptions
> in the registry, it may be best to wipe and reinstall.
> He has Carbonite for his backup
>
>
For somebody who apparently sells his services as an "IT expert" you
appear to have a frightening lack of expertise.

MikeS wrote:

[snip]

> For somebody who apparently sells his services as an "IT expert" you
> appear to have a frightening lack of expertise.

+1

--
Graham J

On 6/7/2023 11:56 PM, T wrote:

>
> His symptom was he was told on shutdown that M$ needed to
> do an update.  When the reboot took place, he gets the
> annoy balls and then a black screen.  Monitor status
> LED shows connection.  Looks to me like the final part
> of the update is corrupted.
>
> Could be his hard drive has gone bad or is corrupted.
> Probably Winodws is all messed up.
>
> An inplace would be nice, but if there is corruptions
> in the registry, it may be best to wipe and reinstall.
> He has Carbonite for his backup

OK, so you know what to do.

Boot from some media with a WinPE, and it'll be running
as administrator when you type this into Troubleshooting : Command Prompt

DISM /image:c:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions

You would check that there really is a C: present

c:

dir

# Eyeball screen for the usual materials like "Program Files"

When you boot the installer DVD, the "DVD OS" uses X:, leaving
C: available as the "OS to be repaired". But you still have to
check the content of C: , as Windows lettering isn't predictable.
It can be D: for example.

The reason I recommend this procedure, is it said "needed to do update"
and maybe the revertpending thing can handle that.

If you need a KB number, see if there is a

C:\windows\winsxs\pending.xml

That is suggested in a google search, as the state info, but
I'm sure Winston will have a list of files to look at.

Paul

"T" wrote in message news:u5rjgl$1dk9g$3@dont-email.me...
> I can just boot into Fedora and copy his files. That would not keep M$
> Office though.

Office doesn't take much to install.
It's been CTR for some time and necessitates an MSA for activation(similar
but not entirely like Windows, its digitally licensed)
- the product key provided with Office is just a place holder to download
the product. If previously activated, the option to install exists(for
subscription and Stand-alone versions including H/B, Professional,
Professional Plus without need for the product key placeholder) in the
user's online MSA account under subscriptions(stand-alone though perpetual
are treated as subscriptions for install/reinstall for same MSA using the
digital license.
- in all cases, CTR install via media or use of the online 'Install' option
download the minimum bits of the included desktop application and update
additional included features on use(i.e. click to run)
- If using POP3 email accounts need to be setup. If using IMAP, setup too,
If using Exchange(MSA Outlook.com Exchange server backend) and signed in
with the owner MSA in Office, it's a very quick setup. If rules are/were in
use, export to an RWZ file, then import after setup.
Probably Winodws is all messed up.

> An inplace would be nice, but if there is corruptions
> in the registry, it may be best to wipe and reinstall.
> He has Carbonite for his backup

Agreed, if known corruptions or disk related failure, wipe and reinstall is
best.
- Note: where folks add labor/effort is not using the same MSA for Windows
logon as the owner/installer of the Office edition.

There are occurrences where 3rd party non-image type backup restores(but not
Macrium, Acronis, EaseUs Backup) during a clean media install will prompt to
sign- on with an MSA or download via CTR and prompt for an MSA signon in a
local account - extra steps for validation to download bits, install and
activate.
-i.e. the fastest is to use the online install, or download the
offline-installer available in that same online MSA subscription area.

Also, some OEM devices when using bootable media do not provide the option
to 'Keep Files'
- ymmv (which is why a known good Macrium, Acronis, EaseUS image route
restore avoids this possibility)

Paul, referenced me on other files to check.
- Imo, restore an image or wipe/reinstall for best results. This sounds like
a case where diagnosis of the nitty-gritty details are not worth the time or
effort or skill set(good, better, best, less, least)
- i.e. look at this from an admin IT Pro - single device is a no brainer for
restore image or clean(wipe) install. The unfortunate part in a SMB or
consumer enviroment/customer is always(possible not the case with Carbonite)
is poor data management where offline or cloud backup not practiced(or data
only stored on the o/s drive in the user profile's Documents folder(s).

....winston

On 6/8/23 00:13, MikeS wrote:
> For somebody who apparently sells his services as an "IT expert" you
> appear to have a frightening lack of expertise.

Welcome to my kill file

On 6/8/23 00:41, Graham J wrote:
> MikeS wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
>> For somebody who apparently sells his services as an "IT expert" you
>> appear to have a frightening lack of expertise.
>
> +1
>
>

Thank you for helping me update my kill file

On 6/8/23 14:02, ...winston wrote:
> "T"  wrote in message news:u5rjgl$1dk9g$3@dont-email.me...
>>  I can just boot into Fedora and copy his files. That would not keep M$
>> Office though.
>
> Office doesn't take much to install.
Agreed. M$ make it easy.
He have 365, but does not know where his license is.
> It's been CTR for some time and necessitates an MSA for activation(similar
> but not entirely like Windows, its digitally licensed)
> - the product key provided with Office is just a place holder to download
> the product. If previously activated, the option to install exists(for
> subscription and Stand-alone versions including H/B, Professional,
> Professional Plus without need for the product key placeholder) in the
> user's online MSA account under subscriptions(stand-alone though perpetual
> are treated as subscriptions for install/reinstall for same MSA using the
> digital license.
> - in all cases, CTR install via media or use of the online 'Install' option
> download the minimum bits of the included desktop application and update
> additional included features on use(i.e. click to run)
> - If using POP3 email accounts need to be setup. If using IMAP, setup too,
> If using Exchange(MSA Outlook.com Exchange server backend) and signed in
> with the owner MSA in Office, it's a very quick setup. If rules are/were in
> use, export to an RWZ file, then import after setup.
> Probably Winodws is all messed up.
>
>> An inplace would be nice, but if there is corruptions
>> in the registry, it may be best to wipe and reinstall.
>> He has Carbonite for his backup
>
> Agreed, if known corruptions or disk related failure, wipe and reinstall is
> best.
> - Note: where folks add labor/effort is not using the same MSA for Windows
> logon as the owner/installer of the Office edition.
>
> There are occurrences where 3rd party non-image type backup restores(but
> not
> Macrium, Acronis, EaseUs Backup) during a clean media install will
> prompt to
> sign- on with an MSA or download via CTR and prompt for an MSA signon in a
> local account - extra steps for validation to download bits, install and
> activate.
> -i.e. the fastest is to use the online install, or download the
> offline-installer available in that same online MSA subscription area.
>
> Also, some OEM devices when using bootable media do not provide the
> option to 'Keep Files'
> - ymmv  (which is why a known good Macrium, Acronis, EaseUS image route
> restore avoids this possibility)
>
> Paul, referenced me on other files to check.
> - Imo, restore an image or wipe/reinstall for best results. This sounds
> like a case where diagnosis of the nitty-gritty details are not worth
> the time or effort or skill set(good, better, best, less, least)
> - i.e. look at this from an admin IT Pro - single device is a no brainer
> for restore image or clean(wipe) install.  The unfortunate part in a SMB
> or consumer enviroment/customer is always(possible not the case with
> Carbonite) is poor data management where offline or cloud backup not
> practiced(or data only stored on the o/s drive in the user profile's
> Documents folder(s).
>
>
> ...winston

Thank you Winston! All good advice.
Owing to the age of his computer, I talked him
into buying a new computer. He picked up a Lenovo
with 16 GB and and an i7.
I will be finishing the install and porting over
his data.
In these instances, if the old hard drive is still
operable, I like to flip off the boot flag and mount
it as a second hard drive. Makes it easy to copy over
data and look for stuff.
-T

On 6/8/23 03:08, Paul wrote:
> On 6/7/2023 11:56 PM, T wrote:
>
>>
>> His symptom was he was told on shutdown that M$ needed to
>> do an update.  When the reboot took place, he gets the
>> annoy balls and then a black screen.  Monitor status
>> LED shows connection.  Looks to me like the final part
>> of the update is corrupted.
>>
>> Could be his hard drive has gone bad or is corrupted.
>> Probably Winodws is all messed up.
>>
>> An inplace would be nice, but if there is corruptions
>> in the registry, it may be best to wipe and reinstall.
>> He has Carbonite for his backup
>
> OK, so you know what to do.
>
> Boot from some media with a WinPE, and it'll be running
> as administrator when you type this into Troubleshooting : Command Prompt
>
>    DISM /image:c:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions
>
> You would check that there really is a C: present
>
>    c:
>
>    dir
>
>    # Eyeball screen for the usual materials like "Program Files"
>
> When you boot the installer DVD, the "DVD OS" uses X:, leaving
> C: available as the "OS to be repaired". But you still have to
> check the content of C: , as Windows lettering isn't predictable.
> It can be D: for example.
>
> The reason I recommend this procedure, is it said "needed to do update"
> and maybe the revertpending thing can handle that.
>
> If you need a KB number, see if there is a
>
>    C:\windows\winsxs\pending.xml
>
> That is suggested in a google search, as the state info, but
> I'm sure Winston will have a list of files to look at.
>
>    Paul
Owing to the age of his old computer, I talked
him into buying a new computer.
And I love you write up. This is not the first
time you have sent it to me. I printed it out
and carry it in my briefcase. I have used
it several times.
-T
My keeper (you will notice a lot of Paul's
wonderful previous advice in it). I recommend
everyone print this out this for when all hell
breaks loose:

<sfc.dism.System.File.Checker.Howto.txt>
sfc, dism, chkdsk: on line and off line checks:
Reference: http://woshub.com/dism-cleanup-image-restorehealth/#h2.6

Note: "c:" moves to "d:" in PE mode, sometimes
sfc /scannow

Stop a pending upgrade/update
dism /Online /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions

And this is helpful too:
sfc /scannow
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Offline (from installaton boot media) method from installation
media in PE mode:
Open a command prompt from repair -> troubleshooting
The "image" and "offbootdir" referred to in the command
line switches below is the local windows install drive
(Usually D:\ see "diskpart" instructions below).
Use DiskPart to locate the drive letter of the Windows installation
and the "Sources" drive.
"images" would be the largest one (GB).
"X:\Sources" is not the "Sources" drive. The "Sources"
drive is usually one or two drive letterpast the "image"
directory. In DiskPart, it shows as around 5611 MB.
It resides on your boot device (CD-ROM, etc.).
Verify the "Sources" drive, directory, and location with
dir [x]:\sources\install.win
Find "images" and "sources":
diskpart
-> List vol
-> Exit
Presuming the
"image" (local Windows install) is usually D:
"Sources" (your flash drive) is in F: (not X:)
repair a corrupted disk:
chkdsk D: /f (written sectors)
chkdsk D: /f /r (all sectors)
System File Check (sfc):
sfc /scannow /offbootdir=D:\ /offwindir=D:\windows
Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM):
dism /image:D:\ /cleanup-image /restorehealth
/source:wim:F:\sources\install.wim
Stop a pending upgrade/update
dism /image:c:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions
</sfc.dism.System.File.Checker.Howto.txt>

On 6/9/23 10:46, T wrote:
> On 6/8/23 14:02, ...winston wrote:
>> "T"  wrote in message news:u5rjgl$1dk9g$3@dont-email.me...
>>>  I can just boot into Fedora and copy his files. That would not keep M$
>>> Office though.
>>
>> Office doesn't take much to install.
>
> Agreed.  M$ make it easy.
>
> He have 365, but does not know where his license is.
I usually just install Libre Office so the customer
can see their files. Eventually, they do find
their account into for 365. (Usually after
I recover their eMail and they have time to dig
through it.)
Lost password and accounts is a YUGE issue with
a lot of my customers. I usually can get all
that stuff back, but not always. (Apple ID is
a bear, especially if all their 2FA phone
numbers are to discontinued accounts.)
A funny: when I turn to my guy customers and
ask them what their password is for something,
I typically get back "s***!". I start to type
"s***" into the password field and turn and ask
them if the "s" is capitalized. They
look in horror and shout "NO NO NO NO". It
makes everyone have a tiny laugh to break up
the tension.

On 09/06/2023 19:04, T wrote:
>
> I usually just install Libre Office so the customer
> can see their files.

That's very good idea. Just thrust it in their arse whether they want it
or not. That's called good business. You can also use battery powered
vibrators to make them feel the sensation in their body.

Have you told them to disable fast startup? That's also another good
idea of yours posted here few months ago. I've seen even pigs can fly
with this idea.

On 6/9/23 13:54, this is what T wrote:
>
> <sfc.dism.System.File.Checker.Howto.txt>
>
> sfc, dism, chkdsk: on line and off line checks:
>
> Reference: http://woshub.com/dism-cleanup-image-restorehealth/#h2.6
That's a hell of a resource. Thanks. Hope I never use it.
--
Linux Mint 21.1 Cinnamon 5.6.8
Al

On 6/9/23 14:50, Big Al wrote:
> On 6/9/23 13:54, this is what T wrote:
>>
>> <sfc.dism.System.File.Checker.Howto.txt>
>>
>> sfc, dism, chkdsk: on line and off line checks:
>>
>> Reference: http://woshub.com/dism-cleanup-image-restorehealth/#h2.6
> That's a hell of a resource.  Thanks.  Hope I never use it.

You are most welcome.
Testing Murphy's Law: if you do not bring a
spare tire, YOU WILL get a flat tire.
Best to print it out.

On 6/9/23 13:55, Wang Yu wrote:
> On 09/06/2023 19:04, T wrote:
>>
>> I usually just install Libre Office so the customer
>> can see their files.
>
> That's very good idea. Just thrust it in their arse whether they want it
> or not. That's called good business. You can also use battery powered
> vibrators to make them feel the sensation in their body.
>
> Have you told them to disable fast startup? That's also another good
> idea of yours posted here few months ago. I've seen even pigs can fly
> with this idea.

Your trick worked this time ass hole. You are
back in my kill file.

On 08/06/2023 08:13, MikeS wrote:
> snip <
>>
>>
> For somebody who apparently sells his services as an "IT expert" you
> appear to have a frightening lack of expertise.
>

I also was anti T for using free resources to run his business.
However over time he has proved to be a responsible poster on Usenet.
Not only does he solve his customers problems, problems which the likes
of me would never come across, but he also posts additional tips &
information for the benefit of others.

--
Regards
wasbit

On 6/10/23 01:02, wasbit wrote:
> On 08/06/2023 08:13, MikeS wrote:
>> snip <
>>>
>>>
>> For somebody who apparently sells his services as an "IT expert" you
>> appear to have a frightening lack of expertise.
>>
>
> I also was anti T  for using free resources to run his business.
> However over time he has proved to be a responsible poster on Usenet.
> Not only does he solve his customers problems, problems which the likes
> of me would never come across, but he also posts additional tips &
> information for the benefit of others.
>
Hi Wasbit,
Thank you for noticing and the change of heart.
I try to give back as much as I take, if not more
and even at the cost of non-billable hour.
It is only fair. But I also enjoy helping others.
Often times I am just bouncing off my colleges.
This one is an example. W10 and 11 each build
are always changing things. What worked on
21H1's install might not work on 22H2.
“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he
who does not ask remains a fool forever.”
― Mark Twain
-T