gwong1 Loc: Tampa, FL

I have an older Windows 7 desktop PC that I have upgraded over the years, including Windows 10. The latest update for Windows 10, Windows 10 April 2018 Update (version 1803), caused a serious systems crash and long story short, I had to take it to our local Best Buy Geek Squad for repair. Today is the 5th day that they have been working on it, and the best they can do is go back and install the original Windows 7 and updates, then reinstall all of my data.

Has any one else have this or a similar issue? The Geek Squad claims it is a hardware issue and that they are starting to see a lot of issues with the Windows 10 upgrade on Window 7 machines.

Thank you, Gary

therwol Loc: USA

There are ways to remove any Windows update, but if the machine won't boot to Windows, it can be tricky, and I don't think that I can explain it. There are references on the Internet.

I too have a machine that has been through all of the "upgrades" since Windows 7. There are some odd things like the monitor never turning off when it is supposed to that never happened with Windows 7. I've never had it crash. The only question, assuming you want to keep the machine, would be whether to do a clean install of Windows 7 (with support ending in 2 years) or Windows 10. Once a machine has been registered with Microsoft as a Windows 10 machine, you can reinstall it without any hassle. It may be that a clean install would work fine.

TBerwick Loc: Houston, Texas

Additionally, there is a huge Win10 update coming in the fall. I fully expect a major mess with my client's systems. Win10 is definitely not my favorite operating system.

11bravo

Macrium Reflect backup, free, is your friend.

It might even be windows induced, but the underlying problem an old driver. Check the manufacturer's site for compatibility and current drivers.

I have several old laptops (Lenovo T420s and T430) that run 1803, no problems, though my T410 could not upgrade from Windows 7.

therwol Loc: USA

One annoying thing about Windows 10 is that the updates and upgrades will happen if you're not paying attention and your computer is left on (unless you specify that you're using a metered connection.) You have to make sure you're backing up frequently if you don't want to potentially lose something.

11bravo

Just stumbled across this article, appropriate if you're running Windows 10 Pro

https://www.pcmag.com/article/362284/how-to-delay-major-windows-10-updates

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Without arguing the point that Windows 10 is generally regarded by computer pros as the most stable release of Windows yet and that most problems are caused by out-of-date drivers, let me just say that Geek Squad is the LAST entity I’d allow to work on my computer if I didn’t feel competent to do so myself. i’m sure some are competent, but many aren’t, and the quality of their work is just too variable to trust. The question I’d have is does the computer exceed the minimum requirements for Windows 10? In reality, you really need a BARE minimum of an I-3 CPU (and very preferably and I-5 or I-7) or AMD equivalent and a MINIMUM of 8GB of memory (4 GB is NOT adequate). If not, then stick with 7 IF that was working adequately for you.

Steve DeMott Loc: St. Louis, Missouri (Oakville area)

Last time I went to Best Buy, they tried to sell me vista memory because it only works with the vista operating system at 3 time the cost.

I've sent them a Christmas card every year since then stating "This is another year I haven't been to your store"

Stardust Loc: Central Illinois

Having had computers since 1986 in days of DOS, then I got one with Windows 3.0 (instantly updated to 3.1) based on my experience sooner or later you will ALWAYS have problems with a computer that has the OS upgraded to the next version of Windows. It is usually not the version itself that is the problem but trying to get all old programs, drivers, memory, etc. in sync to work with the new OS. It is double the effort - upgrading plus carrying everything forward, thus twice the odds for problems. I had a few problems when I updated one computer from Win 7 to 10 - and I had plenty & fast everything already on it - but my new one that came with Win 10 has never ever even had a burp in doing anything. As stated usually your old computer & system just barely has enough speed or memory to run the newer version, and sooner or later something overloads it. So, having gone thru at least 9-10 Window versions, that is my experience. Every 4-5 years I go to a new computer regardless - life is too short for the problems.

Oh, and ditto on the Best Buy squad. From what I have heard from friends, they seem good to add a virus scanner program or additional RAM memory, but wouldn't want them working on mine if I had important stuff on it and/or a serious problem.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Updating an operating system on an older machine always carries a certain amount of risk. This however is the first time I've heard of a machine which was successfully upgraded to Windows 10 and then had a problem with newer Windows 10 upgrades.

therwol Loc: USA

I agree with everything you say here. I've had mixed success in going through the upgrades on older hardware. I'm typing this on an 11 year old Dell 530 laptop. It has been through XP, Windows 7 (skipped Vista, even though Dell gave me a disc that I discarded.) Windows 8 and 8.1 and now 10. Some problems surfaced with 8, having to reset my wireless adapter every time I boot the machine. I'd get random blue screens. That increased with Windows 10. I got tired of it, did a clean install of Windows 10, and everything works better.... sort of. I still have to reset my wireless adapter every time I boot the machine, but the blue screens went away. I tried about 5 versions of the Intel software for my wireless adapter. No difference, but at least I can get it to work.

I held onto this because I needed to transfer a lot of digital tape to digital files. It has a firewire input that my camcorder needed for the transfer. I'm done with that. I've already bought a replacement, and it works fine, but I have a lot of my work software installed on this machine. After I retire in a couple of months, this machine goes.

I should mention that I've upgraded the hard drive twice, first to a 750 gig hybrid and now a 250 gig SSD, and the memory is maxed out at 4 gigs. Without these upgrades, this machine would be totally useless. (Started with 80 gig hard drive and 1 gig of RAM). This is also one of the drawbacks to keeping a machine this long.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

The occasions are legend where this has happened (I had two PCs that did just that). Since the upgrade from Win 7 to Win 10 has already been done then the license (or the hardware) has already been registered with MS so no problem there. I would suggest installing from scratch one of the earlier versions of Win 10, not the last update but maybe one or two before it. If you get a running system (this means a system that actually allows you to get a working system that stays running for at least a 1/2 hour) go to your motherboard manufacturer and download EVERY current Win 10 driver and install it. Then apply each successive update checking that each works before moving onto the next. Hopefully then I would hope that the latest update can be installed with no problem. And I would then recheck with the manufacturer again.
This took me three days full time to get back a working system.
I think the problem was that a lot of motherboard manufacturers did not get their latest drivers to MS in time for the update. And of course MS told nobody that there may be more issues than usual because this would have required a bit of consideration on their part.
And before anymore updates check yet again with the manufacturer.
You can see how an operating system that was meant to be very user friendly has turned out to be a major nightmare.

nison777 Loc: illinois u.s.a.

The geek squad was your first mistake.
Go get your computer away from them...

gwong1 Loc: Tampa, FL

I want to thank everyone for sharing your opinions, experiences and stories. I have decided to purchase a new computer and a graphics card, the old one is about 10-11 years old and it has been limping along for a long time, but able to patch it together one last time unti now.

As far as Best Buy's Geek Squad goes, I have to tip my hat to them. I paid for a one time update and repair, system check etc. If I upgrade to the one year subscription, and buy the PC from them (there price for the same machine is the same from anyone else who carries it, they will back up and install all of my data, install all of my free programs, MS Office 365, remove two hard drives from the old machine and install into the new, along with a couple of other parts, such as a 4 port USB 3.0 card so I now have 8 USB 3.0 ports instead of only 4. I am purchasing a graphics card and that gets installed as well with no additional cost. I am very happy with the South Tampa Best Buy and would consider them in the future.

My son is an IT professional and I have asked his opinion and he thinks it is a good deal for me, he no longer does OS anymore and did not have time to take a closer look at my old machine.

Thaks again, Gary

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

In my household, there are six assorted PS's all but one was upgraded from Win7 to Win10 (1803) without any problems at all. The remaining PC already had Win10 installed and that has also upgraded without any problems. By the way, the PC's are all laptops except for one, which is a mini desktop attached with a Vesa mount to a monitor.