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Cannot get Windows 10 to start normally on a 2012 Dell Inspiron laptop after installation of 64-bit Win 10 update on 2-25-2020

Anonymous
2020-02-28T21:45:28+00:00

I bought a Dell 15R Inspiron laptop computer in 2012 with Windows 7 SP2 preinstalled.   When Windows 10 became available I downloaded and installed a free upgrade and I have updated Windows 10 ever since.  To my knowledge, I never had a digital key number for the Windows 10 upgrade.

After the latest installation of the last Windows 10 update (1909), KB4535996, I think, my Dell laptop will not start normally at all.  None of the automatic repairs would work, because of an indication that my D:/ drive could not be found or somesuch.

I created a USB drive with the Windows 10 reinstallation software on it, but I was unable to install as an update because I did not have a license key.  And I was not permitted to do a complete install from the USB drive because none of the partitions on the hard drive were "available."

The Dell pre-boot diagnostics that I ran show that all hardware within the computer is working normally.

Now, I cannot boot the computer from the USB drive or from any other  media. I can't get to the Advanced Startup Options.    I get indications in the top left corner of the screen that "media" is being checked, but after about 5 minutes the screen says that there is no bootable media and I am invited to restart.   I can get to the simple boot menu by pressing F12, but I cannot see advanced options any longer.

Earlier today, everything that I tried (restoring prior to a restore point, uninstalling bits of Windows 10) failed to work.   I do not work with command line interfaces and really don't know what the heck I am doing when things go THIS  WRONG with Windows 10.  l hate this.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-02-28T22:53:05+00:00

    Hi Karen,

    please check Dell's site for updated BIOS and drivers compatible with 1909 or ask Dell support.

    One may suppose laptop just is not compatible with latest Windows updates unfortunately.

    Use restore point to roll back to previous date and stop all updates.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-02-28T23:44:37+00:00

    Thanks for the suggestions.

    I will check  Dell's web site, but I doubt there are any drivers that I  lack.  This computer uses the UEFI, not the legacy BIOS.  I see two choices available:  UEFI onboard LAN IPv4 and UEFI onboard LAN IPv6.  I have no idea what the difference is.

    I have had no trouble in getting all previous Windows 10 updates to work, so it would surprise to learn that suddenly, an Inspiron laptop that has worked well with Windows 10 for several years would suddenly stop being compatible.

    I tried rolling back to prior to 3 different restore points but Windows was not able to complete the roll-back.   So, whatever bad magic the latest Win 10 update has done, it's done it pretty thoroughly.

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