Download Of Windows 10 Running Forever

[mjcairney]

Gary, I am sorry to hear that you are having so much hassle and hope that, by following Trouble's advice, you get things sorted out.
By the way, can I ask whereabouts in the world you are, not that that will make any difference whatsoever, I am just interested to know?
Best of luck,
Martin.

 

[Gary Labowitz]

I am running out of patience ... and getting scared. What if I can't get this laptop to function .... ever.
I put the DVD in, set boot to CD/DVD, and power up the laptop. The DVD light came on once, the Windows 10 logo (blue window), then circle of dots starts displaying (but if it's a gif it will just go forever), and the hard drive light comes on sporadically. I left it in this state for over 2

 

[Gary Labowitz]

[now my posts are not working]
I set boot on laptop to CD/DVD. I finally shut down my "upgrade" after over 24 hours. When I boot up with DVD there is a blink on the DVD drive light (one), the windows 10 logo appears (the window in blue), the circle of dots begins (if a gif it will go forever), and the hard drive light blinks on and off sporadically. I don't see the DVD disk light go on at all. I would have expected seeing that a lot. Meanwhile, the laptop screen is simply gone blank. I had set dim, sleep, screen off, etc. to NEVER. At this point I'm getting scared I will never get the laptop to run at all.
I have my wife switched to using my desktop for e-mail, but her contact list is gone. She can get new messages and answer them. That's all.
I have run out of things to try. Maybe redownload of the ISO files. Maybe. That seemed to go okay, including doing the burn to disk. I was impressed, but I'm getting less so.
When I upgraded my desktop everything went as advertised and I'm quite pleased with windows 10 and Edge. But I'm not very impressed with Microsoft and their processes. It's hard, I know, with millions of users on all kinds of equipment but you'd think standard stuff would work right off.
Would frantic be the right word here? I'm something like that.
If anyone has any other ideas I will try just about anything.
Thanks to all the folks who spent time giving my advice. Most of it made sense.

 

[Trouble]

Can you provide the specs on the problem computer.
Manufacturer's Name, Model Name, Model Number and there is usually an extended model number which might include something like a part number. For instance a DELL XPS 17 is not helpful as there are several DELL XPS 17 models and they all have a different part designation or extended model number (XPS 17 L702X, XPS 17 L701X, etc).

 

[mjcairney]

Hi Trouble, I sincerely hope that you are going to be able to help Gary get his problems sorted out because personally I have no idea as to what he can/should try next.
Martin.

 

[Trouble]

I have no idea as to what he can/should try next.

Running low on ideas myself.
He's going to have to be able to boot from the installation media for sure and he seems to be having trouble doing that.
That's why I asked for specs on the machine we're dealing with. I suspect that he might not have created the installation media correctly, especially if the problem laptop is UEFI / GPT.
Another thing about laptops is, they don't always shut down.... they seem to love to sleep and hibernate, so he may not actually be getting the thing to turn off completely and that may be why he keeps seeing the same screen over and over again.
Usually holding the power button for a count of 10 or so will do it but sometimes it takes a hard reset for some reason. Unplug the AC, remove the battery, press and hold the power button, count to 30 and then replace the battery and plug it back in.
I'm wondering if he might have read my post here https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/please-for-your-own-peace-of-mind.794/
Before he started the upgrade project.

 

[Gary Labowitz]

I have tried your technique by unplugging the AC cord. It did go to the CD/DVD to start, the Windows 10 logo came on, and then I got a message that windows didn't load properly. I got a message asking if I would want to try to fix the windows. I selected an option to try to fix windows. This seems to have failed, but I got another message (window, actually) with two options: Reset, keeping user files, or Reset and delete all files. I chose the Reset keeping user files and got a message that the system would be reset, removing all apps that did not come with the os installation, leaving user files intact. It then began the circle of dots with a percentage done showing. I am now at "Resetting this PC 95%" and waiting without breathing for it to get to 100%. This is the farthest I have ever gotten in this process.
I had re-downloaded the Media Creation Tool, ran that and re-downloaded the Windows 10 install/upgrade data, 32 bit this time, and burned a new DVD. I set primary boot to CD/DVD and secondary boot to Hard Drive, and have reached this point using this set up, with the AC cord unplugged. Some of this seems like "magic" rather than science, but if it works, so be it.
I'll post again after the PC is 100% reset ... if it ever is.
Thanks for coming up with new things to try.

 

[Gary Labowitz]

News of a better sort. The "reset" of the PC finally finished and after a couple of blanked out screens, followed by the logo, a new, encouraging window came up: "Installing Windows" with a circle of partially lit up circumference showing "15%" in the middle. Below this is says "Installing features and drivers 25% Configuring settings." I have yet to see the CD/DVD drive light on, but it is around on the side and I wasn't watching it. Screen just went blank. Since I had set all the power saving to "Never" I don't think the PC was sleeping or hibernating on me. When it went off, it went off. Also, the hard drive light is blinking madly at present, but the Hopeful installation screen has disappeared. More of same angst.
More later.
(I didn't mention that while playing with boot from hard drive I got a screen that gave me an option to perform "advanced options." Trying this I got a command screen. I browsed the directories of the folders in the CD/DVD disk. Wow, sitting here trying to remember the DOS commands in order to change directories, list files and properties was bringing back memories of the old days. I tried running a couple of files from there (like an update file and windows.exe) but got nasty response like: "file to perform this function is messing." and the like.
I just got a line saying "To boot from CD/DVD press any key ...." and I pressed one. Windows 10 logo again.
Something is going on in there.
When I feel comfortable moving the laptop around (and checking the bottom) I'll send specs on the unit. It is a Dell Inspiron, but I don't have the details. Maybe I can run Belarc on it later. If it ever works like a PC again.
BTW, what is the ERROR message I get every time I post saying I can't do the function until 29 seconds (sometimes 30 seconds)?
New screen: Windows Setup with choice of Language to install, Time and Currency format, and Keyboard. I'm off to try and get this thing started.

 

[Gary Labowitz]

Another marathon. A window states that it will now Install Windows 10. I worked a bit and then asked me if I want to Install as update or as a new copy (celeting all files). I chose the update leaving user files. It began. After running a while I was instructed to remove the DVD, Close down and reboot the computer. When asked, reinsert the DVD and upgrade windows.
I followed orders, but when the computer restarted it just started the old blank screen with blinking hard drive light. I haven't put the DVD back in yet, so no upgrade going on. What the heck is it doing? However, it did restart all this booting from the hard drive (thus, the remove DVD bit). But it hasn't asked for it again yet.

 

[Gary Labowitz]

Another marathon. A window states that it will now Install Windows 10. I worked a bit and then asked me if I want to Install as update or as a new copy (celeting all files). I chose the update leaving user files. It began. After running a while I was instructed to remove the DVD, Close down and reboot the computer. When asked, reinsert the DVD and upgrade windows.
I followed orders, but when the computer restarted it just started the old blank screen with blinking hard drive light. I haven't put the DVD back in yet, so no upgrade going on. What the heck is it doing? However, it did restart all this booting from the hard drive (thus, the remove DVD bit). But it hasn't asked for it again yet.

Oh, something I forgot to mention. A screen asked for the user to be loaded. I selected the only user they found "Connie" (my wife) and then it asked for a key. I skipped past that and selected the "I don't have a key" box and then clicked next. This is when it said it would install windows, and back to the blank screen.
I'm still running with the AC out and wonder just how much time I have left on the battery. I suppose I can plug it back in any time.... maybe.

 

[mjcairney]

Oh, something I forgot to mention. A screen asked for the user to be loaded. I selected the only user they found "Connie" (my wife) and then it asked for a key. I skipped past that and selected the "I don't have a key" box and then clicked next. This is when it said it would install windows, and back to the blank screen.

Is there not a label on the laptop with the Windows 7 key printed on it? That, to the best of my knowledge, is quite normal.
Martin.

 

[Trouble]

I had re-downloaded the Media Creation Tool, ran that and re-downloaded the Windows 10 install/upgrade data, 32 bit this time, and burned a new DVD

There is no upgrade path between bit versions of any Windows Operating System, so....
You probably shouldn't or should not have pursued this.
Additionally it sounds like you are trying too many things to rescue a PC that is seriously trying to rescue itself..
Perhaps waiting for something to actually finish and then examining the results might be a better option.

 

[Gary Labowitz]

I am going to retire this thread! Here's the latest scoop. After an all night session with my two computers, I have the laptop working again. Well, sorta. I tried to download and burn the ISO with both 32 and 64 bit, but ran out of room on DVD. Would not fit. So I downloaded just 32. Burned it. Reset computer to boot from DVD first and HD second. Turned on computer with DVD in it. It not only booted the disk (I don't remember telling it to be self boot, but I guess it's automatic with ImgBurn) and then it voluntarily went to installing Windows 10. The lights appeared to show it working, and then screens came up asking me what I wanted to do. Then it started working with a big circle indicating the percentage done. I sat with it through 15% and then wandered away. When I came back (dinner, nap, quick trip to the store) the computer was sitting there ... off. I started it up, and it booted, but I had forgotten to take the disk out! Disk out, then restart computer. Windows 10 started up as I know it to be, and a few items were there. I got busy and found Mail, Live Mail, and Chrome and put their shortcuts on the taskbar. Mail seemed to work ok, so I set up an account for my wife, it seemed to be running, and I sent and received test messages from both machines. Edge was there and seemed to be working. I set a bunch of preferences so it looked about like she was used to in IE. Set weather location, etc. Then disaster struck. E-mail is driving me nuts. I tried to logon using Live accounts and nothing would work. I worked on resetting passwords and account names for a couple of hours and finally got them working. But, after all the changes my e-mail readers (both Live Mail, and Mail) cannot connect to the providers servers. This was with no changes made to their accounts!
Upside: Windows 10 finally worked through 1) using ISO with correct bit size, no internet connection, and AC cord not plugged in; 2) mail accounts both work on my desktop. I never had to download Framework, but I suppose that's because it was still on both machines from before (Windows 7 with updates).
Downside: I can't seem to get the right combination of passwords to my comcast accounts. Live works/doesn't work on both machines. I'm tired of changing Live passwords and switching back forth between machines. Also, I'm tired and have started making stupid mistakes (typing on the wrong keyboard, grabbing the wrong mouse, etc.) and I need sleep.
Great side: Comfort and suggestions from members of the forum have pulled me through. I've learned some things I needed, and everyone stayed encouraging ... from all over the world! (Scotland is on Earth, right?)
Thank you all. Let's get this thread marked solved. And wait for the next guy to come along, in the dark, like me. So how does it get marked "Solved?"

 

[mjcairney]

Gary, delighted to hear that Windows 10 is now installed, up and running. The other problems you'll get solved in time, I have no doubt.
Scotland is on Planet Earth - I think!
How you get it marked as solved I know not, but reckon that Trouble will, so leave it in his capable hands.
All the best,
Martin.

 

[Trouble]

Only the thread starter can mark a thread solved.
In this case glennmcp....
Somewhere along the line, this thread got seriously highjacked, but....
Glad to hear that you (Gary) have managed to get something going again.

 

[Gary Labowitz]

Only the thread starter can mark a thread solved.
In this case glennmcp....
Somewhere along the line, this thread got seriously highjacked, but....
Glad to hear that you (Gary) have managed to get something going again.

Only it was a mirage ...
Suddenly, on my desktop, the icon for Windows 10 has disappeared. The search doesn't work, and the start button doesn't respond. Nothing. The logon screen at boot has my name, but when I enter my password it says its incorrect. I put in my wife's password and it changed the name to hers and opens. Now the start button works, but only for her stuff.
Can I just reload Windows 10 again? If so, I'm going back to the 32 bit version and see if it works okay. It's a lot of work to get all the apps and data realigned, but I need it working.
Also, my wife can no long send emails on her account. She's receiving, though. This is using Live Mail. I managed to import her contact list (which I had exported from before) and I also have mine. Skype doesn't have a contact list, but it was small and she can reenter it easily. Apparently her Facebook is okay, and those three apps are all she uses. I don't use Facebook but I need mail. My Live Mail seems to be working for both send and receive. Funny, when I send something to my account, the email shows up in both my account and hers. Something is screwed up between her Windows 10 account and mine.
I almost sure that I have to reload Windows 10. I just hope I get the chance to "upgrade" without losing data and apps.
What a life.

 

[mjcairney]

Gary, you are most certainly not having an easy life with Windows 10. I must admit I am totally confused by your problems and hope that Trouble can offer some good advice. The one point I would make is that surely it is the PC architecture which determines which version of Windows, 32 or 64 bit, is required - it's not a choice that the user makes.
As you say, what a life.
Martin.

 

[Trouble]

I'm not sure I have anything constructive to add, except to say....
That you can not upgrade from one bit version of any Windows Operating System to another, so doing so will almost certainly result in a loss of installed programs as well as possibly all you data, as converting from one to the other will require a clean install.
Any system with 64 bit archtecture will run Windows 10 32 bit, but....
IF the system has more than 4 gigs of RAM installed anything in excess of 3.5 gigs will be wasted, so that should be one consideration also.
I think I would certainly take this opportunity to make a backup of all your critical data as well as making a complete disk image of any and all hard drives on the system as well as all partitions on those drives.
https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/please-for-your-own-peace-of-mind.794/
Before doing anything else.

 

[mjcairney]

Gary, what's the latest? Any improvement?
Martin.

 

[Gary Labowitz]

Gary, what's the latest? Any improvement?
Martin.

Well, Martin, thank you for asking.
I have managed to logon as my wife's account, and I did get my contacts reloaded in Live Mail. Since I had Google, I reinstalled that, so I have a browser. By right click on start button I get the administrator functions, with signout, and shutdown, so I am running pretty well. However, my Live Mail is for my account, so my wife has to do her mail directly on Comcast. Her laptop ran out of battery power, but I ordered a new converter ... it looked like the original must have burned out with the power surge.
My new plan is to get all my data and important stuff into the cloud and I have it backed up on Backblaze. I just ordered a tablet so we will be able to get to everything there. (And is it OneDrive?) Next will be to blow out the data with a reinstall of Windows 10 on my machine. I have tried most of the options with the ISO, but it always finishes with "Cannot complete install" due, apparently to a missing dll, and I even tried resetting to an old restore point, but that didn't work for the same reason. So, I'm sitting with what I think is a corrupt user setup (can't change names or passwords) but we are still operating and I can get to my business stuff.
It's nerve wracking, but I am still plugging along. BelArc reports that I am running Windows 8, but the system runs as Windows 10 missing a few items. I don't have Edge or Mail, but I have substitutes, so I'm okay for now.
Don't worry ... eventually I'll buy a new computer, clean this one out and start over. I don't seem to have lost any data along the way.
Thanks again to you and Trouble (?) for all the help.