HUGE Windows 10 update. Took two tries but it's done! YAY!
RAMWolff
Posts: 10,343
Was wondering what was going on the past couple of days with things kinda jerky and slow at times. Guess the system was downloading the updates and this AM it wanted to restart, I had NO IDEA it was going to be a big one but it failed and thanks to the auto roll back function my system was fine. I then went on line and found a bit that got the tangle fixed and allowed for the update to take...
http://www.tenforums.com/installation-setup/34542-unable-upgrade-windows-10-v1511-build-10586-a.html
Scroll to #4 and that's what I did.
Not sure what changes happened as it didn't list them.
One thing that's sort of annoying is that my main hard drive where my C drive resides now has 3 other partitions, I don't like that one bit....
Richard

Comments
This was one I didn't have trouble with.
All went smoothly.
Thanks for the heads-up!
I suspect mine is doing the same thing, even now! (It might also explain where all of my bandwidth is going; I have a cellular internet provider, and I'm on Verizon's XXL data plan -- 20 GB per month, and it's mostly gone within a week! And you can't turn updates off!) I really should have stuck with my Mac!
Sadly, I can't; Windows and dot-net are my bread and butter, so....
I had to totally install Windows 10 from scratch and switched my hard drive to UEFI/GPT fom MBR. It seems that sometimes when Windows 10 crashes and you have an MBR formatted hard drive you might end-up with a locked partition and unable to fresh install Windows 10.
The message will be: "The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again."
I tried everything I read online and I never could unlock the damned thing.
Those partitions are normal. They should always be there. Maybe you didn't realize they were there before?
Oh, I am not seeing an update available for me.
I see, that's the November Update. Why are you guys getting that now?
Not sure. I guess it's how MS did it with the initial upgrade for Windows 10 where they released it in groupings to keep their servers from becoming too overwhelmed.
Is that a Windows 10 thing?
Yes. It is the UEFI/GPT formatted drive.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn898577(v=vs.85).aspx
You've got to learn to ration.
The download data. ;-) I am in the same boat.
@Ken OBanion and @Jan19 - look in advanced network settings and change the option of your network connection to be metered, and that will stop automatic downloads.
I recall something about Windows 8 also per default creating an extra partition for some start files or something when you install it, I didn't like that and found a way to get everything installed on one partition. That was on a MBR drive though and it's a couple of years ago so I don't really recall much about what I did.
Those partitions are hidden, so you will not see them unless you use a disk management software. If Windows 10 decides to crap all over you, like it has on me three times, they really are a life saver as they contain recovery tools. Otherwise you will have to pull out a USB UEFI formatted recovery drive to help you get things back in working order. I was lucky that I was able to create one using my notebook for my last Windows 10 crapfest.
Disregard this, I quoted the wrong post..
man, this comment thing is goofy...anyhow, Windows always has some hidden partitions on hard drive...not just Windows 10.
Yes, but nothing like what Microsoft has provided with Windows 10. I believe Microsoft knew Windows 10 was going to be a headache for many and they planned ahead with all the tools to help you "try" and get things in order again once you become the latest victim to Windows 10 tantrums.
So I guess those three partitions need to stay that surround the main "C" partiition? Seems a bit overkill to me.
You seem to have two recovery partitions. I read some about it but people seem to speculate that one of them must have been left from a Windows 8 to Windows 10 upgrade. Is that the case for you?
Some have claimed to have deleted one, but which one is mapped into the boot is the tricky part. You will have to do some reading to figure it out.
According to this guide, you can create a USB recovery drive, like I did, and delete the recovery partitions and reclaim the hard drive space.
http://www.howtogeek.com/139710/remove-your-pc’s-recovery-partition-and-take-control-of-your-hdd/
I think a third party nondestructive disk management software will be needed to move the C partition to the beginning of the hard drive, after deleting the recovery partitions, and then extending it. Seems like a lot of work.
Yea, I'll probably just leave them be unless someone has some good experience about which is safe to delete. LOL
I've never really liked or trusted Windows own system restore or recovery tools (or 3rd party tools for that matter) - they fail too often. Instead I create images of my systems to restore from if something goes wrong. Has always worked fine.
As do I. I use Macrium's Reflect Free Edition. It creates mirror copies of the partitions and allows me to mount them so that I can browse them, for when I need a file I might have messed up, or to look for old files in past backups from older computers.
I've never had any issues with Windows 7 or Windows 10. They do update without telling you and that sometimes causes things to act strangely. For example, you click on things and nothing happens, or a program no longer functions like it should. In Shade for example, I suddenly couldn't zoom in in the view. I closed Shade and restarted and then I couldn't even create a primitive. Then when I rebooted, Microsoft said they were updating thing, please wait. But other than that I really can't complain. It's been very stable. A few older programs like Coral Photo-Paint X3 would no longer work, so there is that too. But all in all, I like it.
I use the purchased version of Macrium Reflect for you backups.
I don't know if my system has already done this big update or not. If it is from November, then I would guess so. And if so, then I never really even noticed. A couple of days ago all my most used applications suddenly disappeared. Not sure what caused that. I suspect and update, but I don't know.
Wait, I thought you said you didn't have an issue with Windows 10? And this happens? LOL! I call that a big issue. So where are your applications?
Sorry I wasn't clear. My applications never disappeared. Just the MOST USED links that windows puts at the top of the Start menu. I could still get to them from the desktop or from the start menu. And as I started using them, the MOST USED apps started to repopulate again. Not sure what cleared the MOST USED links though.