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Windows Shutdown
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Sep 9, 2021 19:09:09   #
Dave Flash Loc: South Jersey
 
A recent startup of my windows 10 computer completely shutdown. Windows offered an attempt to repair itself but to no avail.
A windows boot disk was created to reboot windows and a clean version was installed. My data was spared, however all of the programs, specifically Lightroom 6, PS4, PS Elements now reside in a file named windows.old. Does anyone have a recommended procedure to recover my Lightroom organization or do I have to start all over?
A newbie to the forum so please be kind.

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Sep 9, 2021 19:28:55   #
therwol Loc: USA
 
Dave Flash wrote:
A recent startup of my windows 10 computer completely shutdown. Windows offered an attempt to repair itself but to no avail.
A windows boot disk was created to reboot windows and a clean version was installed. My data was spared, however all of the programs, specifically Lightroom 6, PS4, PS Elements now reside in a file named windows.old. Does anyone have a recommended procedure to recover my Lightroom organization or do I have to start all over?
A newbie to the forum so please be kind.


This is my understanding. You can retrieve files from the windows.old folder. You cannot retrieve programs. They must be reinstalled in the new installation of Windows. Note that this folder will go away after a month. The entire previous Windows installation is in this folder in case you want to revert to it, which may not do much for you, since there was something wrong with it.

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Sep 9, 2021 19:33:04   #
Dave Flash Loc: South Jersey
 
Therwol
Understood, thank you for your reply. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case.

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Sep 9, 2021 19:34:56   #
Dave Flash Loc: South Jersey
 
Therwol
Understood, thank you for your reply. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case.

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Sep 9, 2021 19:48:55   #
Haydon
 
You might want to investigate this a little further. It's possible you may have some failing hardware and/or a lack of cooling that initially caused this problem. This problem could return in the future if it's not inspected properly.

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Sep 9, 2021 20:15:53   #
Dave Flash Loc: South Jersey
 
Thank you Haydon I check that out.

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Sep 9, 2021 20:37:06   #
rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA
 
From past experience, if you could not get a Windows installation to repair itself (never happened to me), you have to reinstall a clean copy. Then copy your data from windows.old the new locations. Your applications are, well gone, and cannot be transferred to the new installation of Windows.

Haydon has a good point, you should boot into setup mode and run the BIOS diagnostics to see if anything fails or is faulty. I had a failing RAM chip once that caused a severe memory corruption which hosed the system. Diagnostics found it and I was able to swap out.

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Sep 9, 2021 20:39:03   #
JBRIII
 
For the future, there is a software package called Acronis which will allows you to make mirror images of the entire disk for reloading everything, including programs on a new drive.

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Sep 9, 2021 20:41:22   #
11bravo
 
Dave Flash wrote:
A recent startup of my windows 10 computer completely shutdown. Windows offered an attempt to repair itself but to no avail.
A windows boot disk was created to reboot windows and a clean version was installed. My data was spared, however all of the programs, specifically Lightroom 6, PS4, PS Elements now reside in a file named windows.old. Does anyone have a recommended procedure to recover my Lightroom organization or do I have to start all over?
A newbie to the forum so please be kind.
My condolences, just take this as a lesson learned (and I've learned plenty due to negative incentives).

For your reference, if a computer is POWERED off before a shutdown completes, disk corruption can occur (been there, done that). A boot disk will allow access to other recovery tools before a nuclear clean install.

1. I recently found out that windows automatically creates restore points when it updates or when other criteria are met. It recently restored my notebook that I "fingered" somehow and while windows would boot, it said it didn't have my profile so my personalizations (windows and programs) were gone. Jumping back to a restore point solved the problem rather quickly rather than a restore from backup (though I will say, from practice, I have LIMITED faith in restore points).

2. For the future (and perhaps the past), get a free copy of Macrium Reflect and create an image of your drive on another drive (external fine). Now the working windows is saved. Then see if you can go back to the corrupted version (undo the fix), and try restore points. However, if you did a clean install, the corrupted version might be gone. Hopefully you have your installation media and serial numbers available for the "old" programs. No disrespect, but a "clean install" is the solution of last resort.

Once you have an image, with periodic updates (Macrium does that), when (not if) a problem occurs, it's straightforward to reinstall the old image and everything is as it was, minus the changes since the last backup. Has saved my a** a number of times (even with something as simple as a config change that didn't go as planned - easier to restore than try and backtrack).

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

Once everything is reinstalled, a number of programs that will collect your software keys, or at least a lot of them. I've used Belarc Advisor:

https://www.belarc.com/products_belarc_advisor

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Sep 9, 2021 20:54:46   #
Dave Flash Loc: South Jersey
 
Thank you rgrenaderphoto, jbr111, and 11bravo for you collective good advice. It appears that I have a bit of work to do.

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Sep 9, 2021 21:17:04   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
11bravo wrote:
My condolences, just take this as a lesson learned (and I've learned plenty due to negative incentives).

For your reference, if a computer is POWERED off before a shutdown completes, disk corruption can occur (been there, done that). A boot disk will allow access to other recovery tools before a nuclear clean install.

1. I recently found out that windows automatically creates restore points when it updates or when other criteria are met. It recently restored my notebook that I "fingered" somehow and while windows would boot, it said it didn't have my profile so my personalizations (windows and programs) were gone. Jumping back to a restore point solved the problem rather quickly rather than a restore from backup (though I will say, from practice, I have LIMITED faith in restore points).

2. For the future (and perhaps the past), get a free copy of Macrium Reflect and create an image of your drive on another drive (external fine). Now the working windows is saved. Then see if you can go back to the corrupted version (undo the fix), and try restore points. However, if you did a clean install, the corrupted version might be gone. Hopefully you have your installation media and serial numbers available for the "old" programs. No disrespect, but a "clean install" is the solution of last resort.

Once you have an image, with periodic updates (Macrium does that), when (not if) a problem occurs, it's straightforward to reinstall the old image and everything is as it was, minus the changes since the last backup. Has saved my a** a number of times (even with something as simple as a config change that didn't go as planned - easier to restore than try and backtrack).

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

Once everything is reinstalled, a number of programs that will collect your software keys, or at least a lot of them. I've used Belarc Advisor:

https://www.belarc.com/products_belarc_advisor
My condolences, just take this as a lesson learned... (show quote)


Your download folder should have all your application installation files which may save you some pain. And as 11 Bravo said, going forward, applications such as Macrium (which I like) is an excellent imaging application, and Belarc advisor is a first rate utility to gather all your passwords and detailed system information. I run it periodically, print the results, and keep a copy with the manuals for all my HW.

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Sep 9, 2021 21:36:10   #
11bravo
 
Dave Flash wrote:
Thank you rgrenaderphoto, jbr111, and 11bravo for you collective good advice. It appears that I have a bit of work to do.
Not to be a nag but the FIRST thing to do is create an image on a DIFFERENT drive (HDD or SSD) than your boot drive (and other partitions if that drive is partitioned). HDD's/SSD's are cheap. Windows has built-in tools to create an image, but I prefer Macrium (I put the free version on every computer I support), and I have a paid package (4 computers) for my own personal computers (additional capabilities). NOW, no matter what you do, you can get back to where you came from. Having Macrium schedule periodic backups (free version does differencials which are the changes since the last FULL backup) is worth the price; it's FREE.

Plus, with its "explorer like" interface, you can access any directory/file on the image (windows.old won't disappear). AND, Macrium does a great job at cloning a drive for when you want to move to a bigger drive or an ssd.

Also, for educational purposes:

https://www.makeuseof.com/ways-to-boot-into-the-windows-recovery-environment/

https://www.minitool.com/lib/windows-recovery-environment.html

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-check-your-pc-memory-problems-windows-10

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Sep 10, 2021 09:34:32   #
lukevaliant Loc: gloucester city,n. j.
 
JBRIII wrote:
For the future, there is a software package called Acronis which will allows you to make mirror images of the entire disk for reloading everything, including programs on a new drive.



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Sep 10, 2021 09:58:06   #
Dave Flash Loc: South Jersey
 
Thanks to all of the hoggers for your helpful advice. I will do my best to avoid this situation in the future.

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Sep 10, 2021 10:30:01   #
kernel bleep Loc: Charlotte, NC
 
I'm very glad you saved your data. Backup early and often...

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