Question Windows 10 forced update broke my computer

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OurFreeSociety

Jul 9, 2024
19
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10
and maybe my external HD and I'm FURIOUS!!!

I don't know what to do.

I can't reformat this laptop. I have a piece of software on it that is the only copy I have, & only works because I was logged in when they got rid of it and forced everyone to go with the newer version I don't want. Not to mention it has all of my info on it in offline mode.

1. I didn't realize the update affected my external HD which has all of my files on it until I tried to play some music & it kept spinning. Then I started to get a popup saying it needs to be formatted. OMG. I plugged it into my desktop that has Win 7 on it & it also wants me to reformat it. WHY??? What did Windows do to it?

2. I had to restart my laptop 5 times before the Open shell would load & it takes forever to load. Someone else is saying that maybe Open shell caused this. I have noticed recently even on my Win 7 computer that it keeps popping up saying there's a new update or something & I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it.

I HOPE it didn't break my computer. I've been using it for years.

3. The Windows 10 update broke my Thunderbird, but now I know why my emails never loaded, it's because it can't get access to my external HD. But even so, even the look of TB looks different now.

I can't believe this. I don't know what to do & no, I don't have a thumb drive with the restore point thingy on it. I needed that, didn't I?

But how would that fix the external HD?

At least I don't think I have it. I may have put it on a thumb drive, but I can't remember & wouldn't even know how to tell.

4. It even broke my backup software. It went missing from my computer and they had to come onto my computer to re-install it because I couldn't.

I have most (not all) of my files backed up using my backup software, but I'm still very nervous about reformatting the external. I don't even know if it will work after reformatting. sigh

Someone said:

"you can navigate on linux live system, on your computer and your hard drives" but when I went to the link he gave me, I can't figure out how to use it because it says it wants to burn an ISO. I'm confused.

Please help me. I haven't slept all night because of this. I'm going to have to go to sleep. I'm exhausted. I'll check back when I wake up.

Thanks
 
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1. The drive might've ended up corrupt, if the drive behaves the same way on a donor platform.

Have you tried reinstalling your chipset drivers in hopes that whatever the update broke was related to your chipset/USB ports? To add, are you on the latest BIOS version for your laptop?

this laptop.
Speaking of which, what is the make, model and SKU to your laptop?

I can't believe this. I don't know what to do & no, I don't have a thumb drive with the restore point thingy on it. I needed that, didn't I?
You don't need a bootable USB installer/drive to trigger a restore point. You merely need to get into Recovery Environment;
Press and hold shift key>restart the system while the shift key is depressed>Troubleshoot>Advanced options>System Restore.
^ if you didn't delete any prior system restore points or they're not corrupt, then you should be good to go.
 
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Lutfij said:
1. The drive might've ended up corrupt, if the drive behaves the same way on a donor platform.

Have you tried reinstalling your chipset drivers in hopes that whatever the update broke was related to your chipset/USB ports? To add, are you on the latest BIOS version for your laptop?

this laptop.
Speaking of which, what is the make, model and SKU to your laptop?

I can't believe this. I don't know what to do & no, I don't have a thumb drive with the restore point thingy on it. I needed that, didn't I?
You don't need a bootable USB installer/drive to trigger a restore point. You merely need to get into Recovery Environment;
Press and hold shift key>restart the system while the shift key is depressed>Troubleshoot>Advanced options>System Restore.
^ if you didn't delete any prior system restore points or they're not corrupt, then you should be good to go.
Click to expand...

1. I don't think it's the external that's the issue. I mean it is, but it's WINDOWS 10 that caused all of this because Open Shell wouldn't start quickly, I lost my backup software & other software took a long time to load, & I also had settings change on ShareX, so I really don't think it's the power cord or the external that did this.

2. Chipset drivers - no clue how to do that. I have them for my desktop, but I can't remember how to do it for the laptop. Same with BIOS.

3. Asus K55N-DB81 - where do I find the SKU? That's not the serial is it?

4. System restore - Nope, I'm not sure I've ever even done one on this laptop, but the problem with that (I just thought of this) is that the external won't be saved. When I thought about the system restore, I had no idea the external was corrupted & I just thought about it now. The restore may fix only the laptop, but I need the external. I have no room on my laptop for all of the files on the external which is 4 TB, although it's not full. sigh

Also, that won't ruin my software that I have to have & can't replace if the laptop HD gets reformatted, will it? I'm pretty sure it won't, but I have to ask just in case.

I will look at your response when I get up. I'm exhausted & need to sleep.

Thanks a ton. :)
 
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OurFreeSociety said:
Nope, it crashes disk management when plugged in.
It wants me to reformat it.
Click to expand...
What does that mean "it crashes disk management" ?
If Disk Management asks to format, then drive has been detected and it didn't crash.
Show the screenshot.

Anyway - your external drive may have died. And that didn't necessary get caused by windows update.
The drive probably would have died anyway (regardless of the update).
 
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SkyNetRising said:
What does that mean "it crashes disk management" ?
If Disk Management asks to format, then drive has been detected and it didn't crash.
Show the screenshot.
Click to expand...

It means it hangs so nothing shows up in disk management. Then it wants me to closed down that window otherwise it will just stay hung forever.

The reformat message is from Win Explorer I assume.
 
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OurFreeSociety said:
and maybe my external HD and I'm FURIOUS!!!

I don't know what to do.

I can't reformat this laptop. I have a piece of software on it that is the only copy I have, & only works because I was logged in when they got rid of it and forced everyone to go with the newer version I don't want. Not to mention it has all of my info on it in offline mode.

1. I didn't realize the update affected my external HD which has all of my files on it until I tried to play some music & it kept spinning. Then I started to get a popup saying it needs to be formatted. OMG. I plugged it into my desktop that has Win 7 on it & it also wants me to reformat it. WHY??? What did Windows do to it?

2. I had to restart my laptop 5 times before the Open shell would load & it takes forever to load. Someone else is saying that maybe Open shell caused this. I have noticed recently even on my Win 7 computer that it keeps popping up saying there's a new update or something & I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it.

I HOPE it didn't break my computer. I've been using it for years.

3. The Windows 10 update broke my Thunderbird, but now I know why my emails never loaded, it's because it can't get access to my external HD. But even so, even the look of TB looks different now.

I can't believe this. I don't know what to do & no, I don't have a thumb drive with the restore point thingy on it. I needed that, didn't I?

But how would that fix the external HD?

At least I don't think I have it. I may have put it on a thumb drive, but I can't remember & wouldn't even know how to tell.

4. It even broke my backup software. It went missing from my computer and they had to come onto my computer to re-install it because I couldn't.

I have most (not all) of my files backed up using my backup software, but I'm still very nervous about reformatting the external. I don't even know if it will work after reformatting. sigh

Someone said:

"you can navigate on linux live system, on your computer and your hard drives" but when I went to the link he gave me, I can't figure out how to use it because it says it wants to burn an ISO. I'm confused.

Please help me. I haven't slept all night because of this. I'm going to have to go to sleep. I'm exhausted. I'll check back when I wake up.

Thanks
Click to expand...
And you've just learned a valuable lesson, the hard way, that backups made before attempting anything that may be harmful to your data must be made BEFORE doing that dangerous thing. Fixing it after the fact is not going to be easy or inexpensive.
 
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You should be furious about yourself, not Windows or Microsoft. Computers don't last forever and can fail anytime, and external HDDs are even worse (they die all the time). You had very important stuff on an external HDD with no other copies whatsoever? You only have yourself to blame.

If the drive is still detected you can try TestDisk to recover your data. If TestDisk can't mount the partition, you can try PhotoRec but that's really a last resort: it can recover files even from corrupted drives but can't preserve filenames and folder structure (it's really just a "oh here is a file, let's copy it and give it a generic name"), but at least you get your stuff back.
 
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ex_bubblehead said:
And you've just learned a valuable lesson, the hard way, that backups made before attempting anything that may be harmful to your data must be made BEFORE doing that dangerous thing. Fixing it after the fact is not going to be easy or inexpensive.
Click to expand...

I already have backups. I'm not sure why you think I don't. I clearly said that in my post & no, I won't blame myself for MS & their terrible Windows destroying my external HD & software on my computer. It looks like even my graphics card is wonky now because I can see the text on one of my applications isn't clear.

My backups aren't 100% up-to-date b/c the backups were done in the morning & many files weren't backed up as I found out last night. I knew Windows 10 was doing something bad to my computer months ago since it was getting slower & slower & revving my HD all the time. sigh

And who said I attempted to do anything before backing up? Did you not read what I wrote?

It was a FORCED BACKUP which is what Win 10 always does. I tried to turn updates off 2 years ago & it keeps forcing them on me.

And I'm not the only one who has lost their computer because of Windows. I did a search & people have been having this problem going back to at least 2016.

How can I test a drive if every time I plug it in it says I have to reformat?
 
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OurFreeSociety said:
I already have backups. I'm not sure why you think I don't. I clearly said that in my post & no, I won't blame myself for MS & their terrible Windows destroying my external HD & software on my computer. It looks like even my graphics card is wonky now because I can see the text on one of my applications isn't clear.

My backups aren't 100% up-to-date b/c the backups were done in the morning & many files weren't backed up as I found out last night. I knew Windows 10 was doing something bad to my computer months ago since it was getting slower & slower & revving my HD all the time. sigh

And who said I attempted to do anything before backing up? Did you not read what I wrote?

It was a FORCED BACKUP which is what Win 10 always does. I tried to turn updates off 2 years ago & it keeps forcing them on me.

And I'm not the only one who has lost their computer because of Windows. I did a search & people have been having this problem going back to at least 2016.

How can I test a drive if every time I plug it in it says I have to reformat?
Click to expand...
You quite clearly indicated that not all of your files were backed up. What were you planning to do if something else went south and took your files with it? An up to date backup of ALL drives and files is always the rule before launching anything that can trounce your filesystem. As said by another member above, this is entirely on you and no one else. And, the more you futz with things the less likely even an expensive recovery expert will be able to recover anything. And, if you do decide to attempt recovery on your own (not at all recommended) do not attempt recovery on the same drive, always have an identical drive handy to house the recovered files (if any)
 
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