Who's good with computers?

[heatherwillard0614]

Fingers crossed this works for. Computer issues can be a pain that's for sure..

 

[Purrfect Meow]

Here is something you can try if nothing else works: (You don't necessarily have to have the lastest update if updates are not working)
This has fixed a multitude of problems for me when windows get finicky.


System File Checker is a utility in Windows that checks for problems with files on your computer. To run it, follow these steps:

1. Make sure you've installed the latest updates for Windows, and then restart your machine. To find out more, read Update Windows.
2. In the search box on the taskbar, type command prompt, and right-click or press and hold Command Prompt (Desktop app) from the list of results. Select Run as administrator, and then selectYes.
3. Type DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth (note the space before each "/"), and then press Enter. (Note: This step may take a few minutes to start and complete.)
4. After you see a message that says "The operation completed successfully," type sfc /scannow (note the space between "sfc" and "/") and press Enter.
5. After you see a message that says, "Verification 100% complete," type exit and press Enter.

 

[Jem]

Poop. Update failed...

 

[Purrfect Meow]

Poop. Update failed...

Jem, I am not sure if you can see my reply as it says waiting for moderator approval. But when it posts try it.

 

[Jem]

Jem, I am not sure if you can see my reply as it says waiting for moderator approval. But when it posts try it.

I just typed in the first part...it hasn't done anything yet but I'll wait a bit.
All it says is "Deployment Image Servicing and Management Tool
Version: "bunch of numbers"

Image Version: "bunch of numbers"


I have done a few sfc scans throughout this process and they have all failed at 44%...maybe it'll work with this new command prompt typed before it...

 

[CyberTiger]

It's only like 5-6 years old, 8GB with 6.95GB space left.

That's old for a laptop, and that's a really low amount of space left.

You said none of the restore points go back far enough, right? Then creating a new restore point wouldn't help. It would only be a snapshot for how the computer currently is, not in the past. Unfortunately, any sort of backup has to be made when things were good in the past. Can't do it in the present.

You could try freeing up your hard drive so you have at least 20GB of free space. That would give your computer some breathing room for updates and things.

But if problems persisted after that, you probably should look into getting a new laptop and migrate over to that.

Otherwise, I'd get a couple SSDs and make a couple full clones of my hard drive (so I don't miss anything and I have a spare if one randomly fails). Then, make a list of all my installed programs for easy reference. And then just reinstall Windows from scratch and pull my files out of one of the clones. And once things are good, start with making backups.

I've found switching old laptops to a lightweight Linux distro extended their use age limit by a fair deal (as long as there wasn't any unrepairable hardware malfunctions). But Linux does take work to set up and willingness to learn something new and a bit more technical (particularly with the more lightweight versions). People who don't rely on Windows apps should at least look into Chromebooks for an inexpensive laptop option. But the Linux fam (including Chromebooks) requires pretty much not needing anything Windows and/or Mac only.

 

[Mighty Orange]

To me, it sounds like your storage drive is starting to fail. You might want to look into a replacement unit while you can still transfer your needed data.

 

[Mighty Orange]

EaseUS Todo Backup - Best Free Backup Software for Windows 11/10/8/7 I use the back-up software had to restore 3 times due to changing machines. You might want to try the data recovery so you can get the hard drive fixed to transfer your data off it.

 

[CyberTiger]

Yeah, I agree with Mighty Orange about the hard drive possibly failing. And that looks like a good backup software to use. I don't want to drop anymore names to be chosen from because as long as it does the job, it's good.

If you can't get to a new laptop soon to move to, I would definitely work on a couple separate full drive clones/backups asap. You can get a couple of the old fashioned hard drives (HDD) if getting multiple SSDs is too expensive. The HDD external hard drives are cheap and ready to connect, and it doesn't matter if you have a desktop or laptop to use them.

They should be at least the same size GB as your current hard drive, if not bigger. And then you can reuse them for backups when you're done. (Though if you plan on moving to a new laptop, then go for at least that hard drive size so you can use it for backups with that.)

Seagate, Toshiba, Samsung, HSGT, and Western Digital (WD) are some of the well-known hard drive brands, if that helps.

 

[Purrfect Meow]

Lots of good people here offering lots of possibilities. Who knew you would get computer help on a cat site. But I always knew cat people were lovely people. Kudos to all of you!

 

[Purrfect Meow]

I just typed in the first part...it hasn't done anything yet but I'll wait a bit.
All it says is "Deployment Image Servicing and Management Tool
Version: "bunch of numbers"

Image Version: "bunch of numbers"


I have done a few sfc scans throughout this process and they have all failed at 44%...maybe it'll work with this new command prompt typed before it...

Jem, good for you for trying everything. An old computer is like an old friend, comfortable to be around but a little bit crotchety at times.

 

[Jem]

Jem, good for you for trying everything. An old computer is like an old friend, comfortable to be around but a little bit crotchety at times.

I'm just cheap and don't want to spend money! LOL!

You could try freeing up your hard drive so you have at least 20GB of free space.

But it only had 8 to begin with...with 6.95 left.
And 5 years is old?!?!?! Jeez...I guess I'm going to try and start saving up...maybe closer to Christmas I'll be able to get a good deal on something new.
This laptop is not compatible if I want to upgrade to windows 11 and I guess it's only a matter of time before they stop supporting my version of windows 10...they already have for some versions.

 

[Jem]

Purrfect Meow
I just started the thing you mentioned again. The first time it didn't work because the update tried to start again and the computer lagged so bad...disk at 100% as usual. I've tried to change the settings to manual instead of automatic but it didn't take for whatever reason...

So anyway, it's sitting at 40% and counting so we'll see if this works!

 

[Mighty Orange]

Yeah, I agree with Mighty Orange about the hard drive possibly failing. And that looks like a good backup software to use. I don't want to drop anymore names to be chosen from because as long as it does the job, it's good.

If you can't get to a new laptop soon to move to, I would definitely work on a couple separate full drive clones/backups asap. You can get a couple of the old fashioned hard drives (HDD) if getting multiple SSDs is too expensive. The HDD external hard drives are cheap and ready to connect, and it doesn't matter if you have a desktop or laptop to use them.

They should be at least the same size GB as your current hard drive, if not bigger. And then you can reuse them for backups when you're done. (Though if you plan on moving to a new laptop, then go for at least that hard drive size so you can use it for backups with that.)

Seagate, Toshiba, Samsung, HSGT, and Western Digital (WD) are some of the well-known hard drive brands, if that helps.

If she gets a USB hard disk drive she can use it on her new lap top for back up. I have been using todo backup for years and it works well. You will also need 1 usb stick for your recover boot.

 

[Jem]

So the Restorehealth command didn't pan out. It could not be performed due to an I/O device error (1117)
Then it tells me where I can find my DISM log files.

So now I'm looking up how to fix an I/O device error and the Restorehealth command from before seems to be the third step to a longer command to try...this is what it says to start with, so I'm gonna give it a go.

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore
sfc /scannow

 

[Jem]

Well the first command wasn't right...It didn't "recognize the command-line option "Online"...WTF I just used "Online" in the other command...ugh!

 

[Jem]

I'm almost thinking I have a hardware issue at this point...I guess I'm going to go on the hunt for my USB stick, save my documents I don't want lost and just keep using this computer without updates until I go buy another one...
Luckily I don't have that much on my computer.

 

[susanm9006]

Yeah, it’s either new computer or the price of a repair. USB sticks have gotten so big and fast, I used a USB, 3.1 or 3.2 I can’t remember, but it was so very fast to copy and move everything. Great for backing up files.

 

[Purrfect Meow]

This is from superuser.com: (Usually the volume drive letter is C: so the command is chkdsk c: /r /f) Again this is done from the command line prompt as per the previous commands)


I/O Error 1117 is the very unwelcome harbinger of hardware failures. What is especially troubling, in your case, is that it is not obvious whether the error message refers to your external disk, or to your internal disk.
To shed more light on the matter, I suggest you run this command
chkdsk <volume drive letter> /r /f


on each drive you have, until you find the culprit. When you issue the command, you will be asked whether you wish to schedule the check at next boot (if the disk to be checked is the internal one); you should reply yes, turn the pc off and on, and then expect the check to take even a few hours, in the case of very large partitions.

 

[Jem]

What is especially troubling, in your case, is that it is not obvious whether the error message refers to your external disk, or to your internal disk.

What other drives would a laptop have other than C? When you mention "external disk" are you talking about a USB stick or a separate drive that I need to plug in? I don't have any of those...so it must be the C drive that's the problem right?
I did look into the D drive (It's called Recovery D in my system), and it's almost full. I tried to do a disk cleanup specifically for it but when I click disk cleanup in the properties, it says that there are 0 bytes that can be removed.

And I have done the dskchk C: /f on reboot....it didn't help.....will adding the "/r" make that much of a difference?