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Best Answer phillpower2 , 15 March 2018 - 11:27 AM

Glad to hear that the clean install went well and that you are now back up and running Windows 10   Two things that I would suggest. 1: Create new system restore points before reinstallin... Go to the full post »


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#16
phillpower2

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When I am in the "Choose an option" screen I click on Troubleshoot (Reset your PC or see advanced options).

 

 

You should click on the Reset your PC option but only continue if it gives you the option to keep all of your personal data.

 

If you would like to try and recover your data first (recommended) see info below, going offline now but will check back asap tomorrow, good luck  :thumbsup:

 

 

 Give Puppy Linux a try "how to" below.

===================

***Required Hardware***


CD Burner (CDRW) Drive, 


Blank CD, 

Extra Storage Device (USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive)

===================

1. Save these files to your Desktop/Burn Your Live CD:

 

  • Download Latest Puppy Linux ISO (i.e.: lupu-528.iso) 


    Download BurnCDCC ISO Burning Software
     

    There are instructions on how to boot from flash drive with puppy 
    here; / 

    For computers that have UEFI as opposed to legacy BIOS, to be able to boot from your USB device you may need to disable secure boot and change UEFI to CSM Boot, not all computers and BIOS are the same, please refer to your user manual if you have one as the following steps are only one such example.

    Restart the computer, Windows 8 and 8.1 from the Start or desktop screen move your mouse pointer over the upper or lower right corner of the screen, when the Windows Charms appear click the Settings Charm, click on Power and then the Restart option.

    Windows 10, Click on Start,Power and then Restart.

    While the computer is re-starting,you will need to continually tap or hold down the particular key that will allow you to access the BIOS on your computer, we will use the F2 key as an example here;

    After restarting the computer, when the screen goes black, press and hold down the F2 key, wait for the BIOS to load.

    Select Security -> Secure Boot and then Disabled.

    Select Advanced -> System Configuration and then Boot Mode.

    Change UEFI Boot to CSM Boot.

    Save the changes and Exit the BIOS, commonly F10.

    If your computer will not boot into Windows at all, power up or restart the computer continually tap or hold down the key that will allow you to access the BIOS on your computer and then do the following;

    Select Security -> Secure Boot and then Disabled.

    Select Advanced -> System Configuration and then Boot Mode.

    Change UEFI Boot to CSM Boot.

    Save the changes and Exit the BIOS, commonly F10.
  • Open BurnCDCC with Windows Explorer 
  • Extract All files to a location you can remember 
  • Double Click  BurnCDCC 
  • Click Browse  and navigate to the Puppy Linux ISO file you just downloaded 
  • Open/Double Click that file 

    IMPORTANT: Adjust the speed bar to CD: 4x DVD: 1x 
  • Click Start 
  • Your CD Burner Tray will open automatically 
  • Insert a blank CD and close the tray 
  • Click OK

Puppy Linux Live CD will now be created

2. Set your boot priority in the BIOS to CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second
 

  •  
  • Start the computer/press the power button 
  • Immediately start tapping the appropriate key to enter the BIOS, aka "Setup" 

    (Usually shown during the "Dell" screen, or "Gateway" Screen) 
  • Once in the BIOS, under Advanced BIOS Options change boot priority to: 

    CD-ROM 1st, Hard Drive 2nd 
  • Open your ROM drive and insert the disk 
  • Press F10 to save and exit 
  • Agree with "Y" to continue 
  • Your computer will restart and boot from the Puppy Linux Live CD 






3. Recover Your Data

 

  • Once Puppy Linux has loaded, it is actually running in your computer's Memory (RAM). You will see a fully functioning Graphical User Interface similar to what you normally call "your computer". Internet access may or may not be available depending on your machine, so it is recommended you print these instructions before beginning. Also, double clicking is not needed in Puppy. To expand, or open folders/icons, just click once. Puppy is very light on resources, so you will quickly notice it is much speedier than you are used to. This is normal. Ready? Let's get started. 


    3a. Mount Drives 

     
  • Click the Mount Icon located at the top left of your desktop.  
     
  • A Window will open. By default, the "drive" tab will be forward/highlighted. Click on Mount for your hard drive. 
     
  • Assuming you only have one hard drive and/or partition, there may be only one selection to mount. 
     
  • USB Flash Drives usually automatically mount upon boot, but click the "usbdrv" tab and make sure it is mounted. 
     
  • If using an external hard drive for the data recovery, do this under the "drive" tab. Mount it now.

3b. Transfer Files.
 

  •  
  • At the bottom left of your desktop a list of all hard drives/partitions, USB Drives, and Optical Drives are listed with a familiar looking hard drive icon. 
     
  • Open your old hard drive i.e. sda1 
     
  • Next, open your USB Flash Drive or External Drive. i.e. sdc or sdb1 
     
  • If you open the wrong drive, simply X out at the top right corner of the window that opens. (Just like in Windows) 
     
  • From your old hard drive, drag and drop whatever files/folders you wish to transfer to your USB Drive's Window. 
    For The Novice: The common path to your pictures, music, video, and documents folders for XP is: Documents and Settings >>All Users (or each individual name of each user, for Vista and above C:\Users\$USERNAME\[...]. CHECK All Names!) >> Documents >> You will now see My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos.

Remember to only click once! No double clicking! Once you drag and drop your first folder, you will notice a small menu will appear giving you the option to move or copy. Choose COPY each time you drag and drop.

YOU ARE DONE!!! Simply click Menu >> Mouse Over Shutdown >> Reboot/Turn Off Computer. Be sure to plug your USB Drive into another working windows machine to verify all data is there and transferred without corruption. Congratulations!


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#17
Barbara W

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Okay, I'm finally back.  Had a hard few days, but got the files (documents, photos, etc.) downloaded on a thumb drive and I can see them on my laptop. 

 

When I am in the "Choose an option" screen I click on Troubleshoot (Reset your PC or see advanced options). --- I don't think I explained this very well.  When I select that option to "Reset your PC or see advanced options"  there is not a reset option there - only the advanced options. 

 

Would there be any use in me trying to go back to a previous version of Windows?   I am ready for the next step that you want me to try.

 

Thanks,

Barbara


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#18
phillpower2

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Glad to hear that using Puppy Linux has enabled you to secure your data  :thumbsup:

 

Regarding the reset, see if the tutorial here helps any.


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#19
Barbara W

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Hello, I read the information from the link you gave me.   I still cannot get to “reset my computer”.

Here is the path I followed using the USB bootable thumb drive.

 

This opens a Windows Setup screen, I verify English, etc. and click Next.  My choices are Install now or Repair your computer.  I choose repair your computer.  This takes me to Choose an option with these choices: 

 

Continue (Exit and continue to Windows 10),

Use a device (Use a USB drive, network connection, or Windows recovery DVD),

Turn off your PC,

Troubleshoot (Reset your PC or see advanced options).    I choose Troubleshoot.

 

Troubleshoot takes me to the Advanced options screen (no mention of Reset your PC).  The choices are:

 

System Restore (Use a restore point recorded on your PC to restore Windows) – [we did that one already],

Command Prompt (Use the command prompt for advanced troubleshooting),

System  Image Recovery (Recover Windows Using a specific system image file),

UEFI Firmware Settings (Change settings your PC’s UEFI firmware),

Startup Repair (Fix problems that keep Windows from loading) – [we tried that one, too]  and

Go back to the previous version.

 

I did see the reset my computer on my laptop, but only when I could get into Windows to access it as an option.  I used the bootable USB drive on my laptop and it did not have the reset my computer available then either.

 

I know this is long, but I have really tried to follow the directions.  I just can’t get to the right place.

Thank you for continuing to work with me on this.  I really appreciate your help.

 

Please let me know what I should do now, and if I should leave the boot menu in legacy or UEFI, and if I should leave the Secure Boot Control enabled or disabled.  Thanks!


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#20
phillpower2

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Hello,

 

Please leave the boot settings as they are for now and if not done already try the following option that you list above;

 

Use a device (Use a USB drive, network connection, or Windows recovery DVD),

 

 

You are welcome btw  :)

 

NB: No worry about the length of the post, better to have the full picture rather than nothing to go on  :thumbsup:


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#21
Barbara W

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Hello Phil,

 

I should probably know what I need, but my brain is almost fried, lol.  When I click on "use a device"  it gives me options on which device to use,  including the bootable usb thumb drive (that I used to get to this point), the UEFI OS, a dvd, or my hard drive.  Is this where I need the Windows 10 ISO file on the usb or dvd?

 

Thanks.


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#22
phillpower2

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Hello Barbara,

 

The device to select is indeed the bootable USB that you have  :thumbsup:


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#23
Barbara W

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But do I tell it to use the Windows ISO file on the USB?


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#24
phillpower2

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Yes.


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#25
Barbara W

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Okay, I'm not having any luck.  It boots up using the usb drive, but it can't see the iso file - it only seems to be looking on the computer.  I've reloaded the usb to make sure I hadn't deleted any of the files.  What do I try next?  I can probably burn this same files to a dvd if you think it might work that way.


Edited by Barbara W, 11 March 2018 - 04:00 PM.

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#26
phillpower2

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If it is booting up using the USB device the ISO on the thumb drive must be being used.

 

Using your other computer you can test the ISO on the thumb drive to make sure that it is bootable using a program called Qemu which you can download for free from here

 

Sorry but calling it a day shortly as I am up at 5am and it is late here, will check back tomorrow.


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#27
Barbara W

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Thanks.  Have a good night.


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#28
phillpower2

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:thumbsup:


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#29
Barbara W

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I haven’t gotten anywhere with using the repair portion.  So I chose the Install option.  It begins setup and then takes me to accept the license terms.  The next screen has me choose which type of installation I want. 

 

The first choice is Upgrade:  Install  Windows  and keep files, settings and applications.

The second option is Custom:  Install Windows only (advanced)  The files, settings, and applications aren’t moved to Windows with this option.

 

I chose the upgrade option and got this message:

The upgrade option isn’t available if you start your computer using Windows installation media.

If a copy of Windows is already installed on this computer and you want to upgrade, remove the installation media and restart your computer.  After Windows has started normally, insert the installation media and run Windows setup.

 

So that is where I stopped again.  Hope you have a good Monday.


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#30
phillpower2

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If a copy of Windows is already installed on this computer and you want to upgrade, remove the installation media and restart your computer.  After Windows has started normally, insert the installation media and run Windows setup.

 

 

This is the option that you need but impossible to do without a working keyboard, only thing to do is boot without the USB ISO inserted and then insert it once you get to the screen where you have previously had no functional keyboard, long shot but it just may load the generic Windows keyboard drivers from the USB drive.

 

A rainy Monday in the UK as is normal for us, hopefully yours is a bit more cheery.


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