General steps for fixing problems with Windows 11

General steps for fixing Windows problems.

Whenever you have a problem, you should always make your own topic, with as much detail (not length) as possible. Include appropriate screen shots as well. This is just the general direction in which you should proceed.

This won't fix: Games, 3rd party programs, 3rd party drivers, user profiles, etc.
These steps are for fixing Window's file corruption problems...
Whenever Windows is acting weird... run these commands...


Open a command prompt as Admin, and run... sfc /scannow <----- System File Checker

IF... SFC finds any errors (fixed or not fixed), run this command next... Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth



Then... if Windows still isn't working properly...

An In-Place Upgrade "compares" what is installed on the computer, with the Windows ISO image.
Then, it overwrites any corrupted Windows files, with clean copies from the ISO image.
This is how it "repairs" Windows while allowing you to keep your programs and personal files.

If the In-Place upgrade doesn't work... then you're down to this...

There's a couple of issues with this, an in-place upgrade is just a feature update effectively and if that doesn't work then it doesn't nesscarily mean that a clean install is required.

I was hoping that by answering some threads related to SFC/DISM and updates, then other helpers would realise that many seemingly unresolvable problems aren't difficult to fix and do not require a clean install.

I would have at least added that if DISM and/or SFC fails then the user should at least attempt to look at their DISM or CBS logs since they'll often tell you the reason why. If they aren't comfortable with that then they can open a thread.

As much as I advocate an in-pace upgrade, there are many OS related issues it wont fix. Like recently, member nedi having problems with the search function. An in-pace upgrade wouldn’t fix it, what did fix it was creating a new user profile. An answer which resulted from members helping to troubleshoot.

Troubleshooting with the help of members is possibly a good path to take beforehand?

Ghot said:

If the In-Place upgrade doesn't work... then you're down to this...

Click to expand...

Isn’t that like saying there isn’t a member here that could help.

There exist a whole plethora of other steps that the user can attempt to fix Windows problems and that can also be considered to be general steps. One of the most obvious examples of this is to launch one of the various built-in Troubleshooters that are present in Windows itself.

Yes... all true.
I used the term "general" for a reason.

If anyone wants to make addendums to the OP... feel free.
But in this post I'm just trying to lay out the "general" direction folks should proceed in.

I'll add to the OP that folks should always create their own topics for every problem.
And other goodly things.




There... that should do it. Thanks all for the very useful input.

I have never had an in place upgrade fail or not fix any OS problem. I have not done a clean install in years. If I can't find the answer here, Google is your friend (maybe).

Josey Wales said:

I have never had an in place upgrade fail or not fix any OS problem. I have not done a clean install in years. If I can't find the answer here, Google is your friend (maybe).

Click to expand...

Same. Other than the few things I mentioned in the OP... the In-Place upgrade fixes just about any Window's file corruption issues.



And ofc, we all know that the true, bestest troubleshooting tool is... backup software.

x BlueRobot said:

I would have at least added that if DISM and/or SFC fails then the user should at least attempt to look at their DISM or CBS logs since they'll often tell you the reason why. If they aren't comfortable with that then they can open a thread.

Click to expand...

Yeah... I'm not a huge fan of the UN-readability that is the DISM or CBS logs.
IMO... they are just barely useful as long as you don't mind the migraine that comes with. :/

Microsoft seriously dropped the ball on those logs.
While they might be great for IT geeks or engineers, they are practically useless for the normal Windows user.

They should say things like...

...your RAM is failing
...your drive is failing
...your driver(s) are corrupt

...with an explanation underneath, and some sort of legible formatting.

Ya know... English. ^^



This however, is pretty much useless...





Oh, hey honey, the ...Lock: New lock added: CCbsPublicSessionClassFactory, level: 30, total lock:5
...now we can rest easy. LOL

When I installed Windows, I picked US_English. I didn't pick... Micro-speak. :/

I'd wager just as many problems folks have are user related or app related. The problem is the human factor. A lot of folks who come here think everything is a windows problem and don't have enough experience to reason out whether it is or not.

Ghot said:

This however, is pretty much useless...

Click to expand...

It's really not, its pretty useful most of the time but I will admit that there has been some instances where it could have been improved. It's like saying a dump file from a BSOD is useless because you have to some prerequisite knowledge to read it.

That point aside, I really do feel the art of troubleshooting is being lost these days, I've seen so many posts where it seems that no one has even attempted to troubleshoot the issue, they just revert to suggesting an in-place upgrade or clean install when that fails. In my opinion, a clean install should only be considered when all other options have exhausted.

I would say that a very underused tool on this forum is Procmon and Symon, two very good tools when the event logs don't particularly reveal much information. Sysmon would be a great tool for finding out which process is creating X number of files at seemingly random.

x BlueRobot said:

That point aside, I really do feel the art of troubleshooting is being lost these days, I've seen so many posts where it seems that no one has even attempted to troubleshoot the issue, they just revert to suggesting an in-place upgrade or clean install when that fails. In my opinion, a clean install should only be considered when all other options have exhausted.

Click to expand...

I agree.
I try to look for the easiest route to a repaired Windows. Considering time spent.

I was more or less raised on troubleshooting, but in a lot of cases, the In-Place Upgrade is by far the faster solution.

I also have the sneaking suspicion, that MS is "trying" to make Windows, more and more difficult to troubleshoot.
This ofc, will work to their advantage, if they are aiming for Windows as a Service.
Convincing users that they in fact DO need MS's assistance, on a daily basis.

This is pretty much all I want to discuss on a public forum.
Suffice it to say, that although I do agree with what you've said... I also think that it's not always the best option, when helping someone else.

Ghot said:

General steps for fixing Windows problems.

Whenever you have a problem, you should always make your own topic, with as much detail (not length) as possible. Include appropriate screen shots as well. This is just the general direction in which you should proceed.

This won't fix: Games, 3rd party programs, 3rd party drivers, user profiles, etc.
These steps are for fixing Window's file corruption problems...
Whenever Windows is acting weird... run these commands...


Open a command prompt as Admin, and run... sfc /scannow <----- System File Checker

IF... SFC finds any errors (fixed or not fixed), run this command next... Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth



Then... if Windows still isn't working properly...

An In-Place Upgrade "compares" what is installed on the computer, with the Windows ISO image.
Then, it overwrites any corrupted Windows files, with clean copies from the ISO image.
This is how it "repairs" Windows while allowing you to keep your programs and personal files.

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

If the In-Place upgrade doesn't work... then you're down to this...

Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

If the SFC & DISM commands don't work then restore from your last working Reflect backup to recover your PC in 10 minutes!

Hmmm I still think this is possibly leading newcomers astray. If this starts popping up in Google, I think that’s problematic. The title is somewhat final and the fact it’s in this forum possibly seems “substantiated or endorsed” as “The” solution or a “Must do first”
I am not saying it isn’t an option (I actually advise these processes a lot but very rarely all at the same time and not without troubleshooting where possible.)

“GHOT’s General steps for fixing problems with Windows 11”?
Also, I believe questions should precede any radical steps taken:

• Check your Computer is turned on
• Are you facing your Computer?
• Are you sure it’s not a Mac?
• What version of Windows 3.11 are you running?
• Is there anyone… anyone at all other than you that we could be talking to?
• Have you got more than 6 tweak apps loaded on your computer <- there’s your problem
• What have you installed on your PC that requires you to do a chicken dance?
• Do you use Macrium Reflect? (You must have a science degree)
• If a train is traveling at a speed of 80 km/h and it takes 4 hours to travel from City A to City B, how far apart are City A and City B?
  • - If your answer is Potato, could you please get your mother to come to the computer.

Post Script:
“We don't know what you want. If you are looking for answers, we can tell you we don't have any. But what we do have are a very particular set of skills, skills we have acquired over very long careers, skills that make us a nightmare for people like you. If you let the mouse go now, that'll be the end of it.
We will not look for you, we will not pursue you, but if you don’t, we will look for you, we will find you and we will upgrade you.”

Having said all the above, it is still, non the less, very helpful.

Steve C said:

If the SFC & DISM commands don't work then restore from your last working Reflect backup to recover your PC in 10 minutes!

Click to expand...

People that use Macrium Reflect.... don't have problems.

antspants said:

• Is there anyone… anyone at all other than you that we could be talking to?

Click to expand...

My sister.
– Could you please bring her to the phone.

antspants said:

If a train is traveling at a speed of 80 km/h and it takes 4 hours to travel from City A to City B, how far apart are City A and City B?

Click to expand...

320 km

x BlueRobot said:

There's a couple of issues with this, an in-place upgrade is just a feature update effectively and if that doesn't work then it doesn't nesscarily mean that a clean install is required.

I was hoping that by answering some threads related to SFC/DISM and updates, then other helpers would realise that many seemingly unresolvable problems aren't difficult to fix and do not require a clean install.

I would have at least added that if DISM and/or SFC fails then the user should at least attempt to look at their DISM or CBS logs since they'll often tell you the reason why. If they aren't comfortable with that then they can open a thread.

Click to expand...

However, experience shows if an inplace upgrade does not work, it is unlikely that other solutions e.g. sfc will be enough.

However, it is a fair point to try things like sfc first before trying an inplace upgrade.

Having said that, I mostly jump direct to doing an inplace upgrade as this usually resolves most issues. Also an inplace upgrade is usually quite quick on my laptop.