Just last week I was extolling the virtues of Windows 10 and O how much I enjoyed it.
That was then.
With the 10130 update, I had the misfortune of restarting my PC. Upon logging in again, I was faced with a Critical Error. The message said, “Log out to fix this problem, then log back in.” I tried that.
I tried it again and again. Each time the Critical Error box came up. The Windows 10 beta was stuck in a loop.
Upon researching the error, I discovered that the problem was pretty darn common. The bug affected only Windows 10 beta testers whose computers had only one account. That was my PC.
On my laptop, which has multiple accounts for test purposes, the Windows 10 beta worked just fine. In fact, it’s the same beta I glowed about last week. But on the PC, the system was hopelessly locked.
In an attempt to add another user, I ran the msconfig utility to restart the system in Safe Mode. It turns out that step was a fatal blunder. For some reason, adding Safe Mode on top of this bug in Windows 10 completely thrashes the entire PC. The Critical Error message continues to appear, but on my system, I lost all network access.
All the solutions offered online failed.
With a deadline looming for my latest book, I pulled out my original Windows 7 disc and re-installed Windows. I really, really didn’t want to do that, but it was a must.
Twelve hours later, my system was restored. And thankfully I had a recent backup, so I didn’t lose any files. But it did take a while to re-install all the software.
I know that I’m running a risk anytime I install beta anything on a computer. Microsoft can sure take the blame for the beta blunder, but it’s not their fault. The software is beta! Crap is going to happen, although it surprises me that apparently no one at Microsoft has a single-user PC that was restarted before the beta was released. Or maybe they did, but released the beta anyway and just didn’t tell anyone?
For now, I’m using the laptop to test the Windows 10 beta. The release copy of Windows 10 is due out — free to all current Windows 7 and Windows 8 users — on July 29. That’s probably the day I upgrade my PC.
Which is why I haven’t upgraded yet. I must admit I was a little ‘is he really doing that?’ when you said you were upgrading everything. I mean I still have a Windows 2000 box, OK I have used it once this year (it had some Electronics Simulation Software I need to use which wont install on anything after XP) but my theory has always been since 95 have a system you know works and don’t mess with it. So if that happens you can always get going on work and un-brake the broken when you have time.
Comment by glennp — July 6, 2015 @ 6:10 am
Trust me, if I didn’t have to write books about new crap, I would never upgrade. I’d probably be using some ancient Red Hat Linux box.
I believe the Windows 10 update will be solid, however. I’ve found a few bugs and curiosities. My guess is that they won’t be shipping any more updates after the 10130 version. We’ll just have to hang on three more weeks until the official update is released. Even then, there are PCs in the office that won’t be updated.
Comment by admin — July 6, 2015 @ 9:00 am