I'm pretty sure Windows 10 bricked my Laptop

[+Asmodai MVC]

There should be a log file in the hidden folder at "C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources\Panther\Setupact.log". Do a search for "FatalError" starting at the end of the file. If you then look above that line there should be some indication of what kind of things it was doing when it failed.

The upgrade process starts off very much like a clean install. The old OS is moved into the "Windows.old" folder to get it out of the way and then Win10 is installed normally. By that 32% point it has already installed Win10 and has moved on to migrating things (settings, drivers, applications, etc) back from the old OS and other tasks.

The best way to do the installation is to run the media creation tool to download and create an install disc (or USB flash drive.. or ISO). If you run setup.exe from there (Don't boot from it. You have to run setup from within Windows to do an upgrade), you get asked whether you want to keep any of your old data and settings (upgrading through Windows Update never asks you that). I assume you won't want to keep anything. If so, then the only thing it keeps are drivers (as far as I can tell). I'm not yet certain under what conditions it will use the old driver vs. one from the Win10 media vs. one from Windows Update. It wouldn't hurt to check for updated drivers from your PC manufacturer before doing the upgrade.

Some other things that have worked for people:
- Open a command prompt as admin and run this to clear up unused drivers in your drivers store: "rundll32.exe pnpclean.dll,RunDLL_PnpClean /DRIVERS /MAXCLEAN"
- Disable your network access during the actual upgrade (by unplugging cables or disconnecting from wi-fi). Or don't. It will grab some things from Microsoft during the install and that might be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what is causing the problem in the first place.

Ok I found he setupact.log and searched for "FatalError"... there aren't any.  Searching for just "Error" gets a lot of results but most are in the description... the last Error in the Warning, Error, Info status column (right after the entry date/time) occurs a full 4 minutes and many log file lines before the end of the file so I doubt that has to do with anything.

The very last lines in the log is appear to be stuck in some sort of loop:

SPPNP: Waiting for device installer to start...

SPPNP: Status: Starting...

SPPNP: Status: Total = 0, Complete = 0, Progress = 0% (0%)

Those three lines just repeat (with updated timestamp, over and over presumably until I give up waiting and force a reboot.)

I'm not sure what it's trying to do specifically there... I was hoping it would say loading driver X and I could just go and uninstall that driver in windows 7 and try again... I don't see anything that gives me any indication of what "device installer" it's trying to start or why it keeps doing apparently the same thing over (there's no failure line after the 0% line indicating something went wrong and it's retrying).

 

[Seahorsepip Veteran]

Did you bother to read any of this thread before you posted... like maybe the first post even?  I can NOT select keep nothing on upgrade because the upgrade breaks BEFORE I even to get that prompt.  I've even stated multiple times already my plan IS to do a clean install after I've upgraded once and got my hardware registered.  So maybe you shouldn't be so lazy and should actually read the thread you are posting to before you start accusing others.

Upgrade breaks before that point? It's the first screen you're getting when starting the update before the system even reboots or actually does something.

https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/4940/windows-10-tip-successfully-clean-install-windows-10

At the end of the article in the above link you see how the screen looks like when starting the upgrade.

[+Asmodai MVC]

Upgrade breaks before that point? It's the first screen you're getting when starting the update before the system even reboots or actually does something.

https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/4940/windows-10-tip-successfully-clean-install-windows-10

At the end of the article in the above link you see how the screen looks like when starting the upgrade.

I NEVER got that screen, it doesn't give you that option if you use windows update instead of an ISO or the media download tool or whatever..

[jaffar]

I NEVER got that screen, it doesn't give you that option if you use windows update instead of an ISO or the media download tool or whatever..

because choosing the upgrade by using the tool that come from windows update means you just want upgrade with no other option, it is like installing any patch it only give you the option to schedule the install or the reboot

[+Asmodai MVC]

because choosing the upgrade by using the tool that come from windows update means you just want upgrade with no other option, it is like installing any patch it only give you the option to schedule the install or the reboot

Right, which others here seem to not understand.  I didn't know it either when I started but I didn't jump in here telling people they were lazy or whatever for not just picking an option that doesn't even exist in the install path I clearly stated in the original post.

My problem (well one of them) is that in trying NOT to be bleeding edge with an OS upgrade I tried to use the method that my grandma would use instead of being geeky and using some special alternate route.  The logic being the method grandma would use would be the most error free option as MS would want to make the most error free option for the non-techy general public.  Apparently that's not the case.  Grandma isn't going to know to download and run the media creation tool, windows update is just going to tell her it's ready and ask if she wants to go ahead and install it.  I didn't want to upgrade before Windows said I was ready (or before the first patch that came out Wed.), but I'm on attempt #3 now and trying to go the Media Creation Tool route after 2 failed attempts using Windows Update...  Hopefully this one will work and at least I've been able to roll back after both failures...

[ShareShiz]

You should just be able to download the ISO and do a clean install. Clean installs are always the way to go.

He first need his hardware registered with the server before doing anything at all.

Yesterday I ran into a HUGE problem. I upgraded my dads computer, everything went fine. But then, I had to move him from a local account to an MS/Outlook account. Somehow going from a Local account to a MS account that corrupted the account, causing only Google Chrome not to work (and yes uninstall/install didnt fix it). I was trying to make MS support fix it all since it was really their problem. But after 4 hours of dealing with support I said screw it. I ended up deleting the account and recreating it. Problem fixed. Except doing so I lost all the settings and whatnot, causing me to spend a few more hours re-configuring settings.

While talking to support and getting very frustrated I asked them "Can I just get a CD key for Win10 so that I can do a clean install"

The support person said "You cannot get a CD key because this is an upgrade. No your hardware isn't detected. You would have to buy a CD key to do a clean install"

I was shocked. From everything I have read online it says after doing an upgrade I can do a clean install whenever I want and without a CD key. But MS support says that you cannot.

Yesterday I spent over 6 hours upgrading a computer to Windows 10. If I were to have done a clean install, it would have only taken an hour max. But now I fear I will never be able to do any clean installs again.

 

Can someone confirm what the correct answer is. For a clean install, Do you need a CD key, is hardware detected, and how can I get a Win10 key from my Win7 key. etc.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

 

Yesterday I ran into a HUGE problem. I upgraded my dads computer, everything went fine. But then, I had to move him from a local account to an MS/Outlook account. Somehow going from a Local account to a MS account that corrupted the account, causing only Google Chrome not to work (and yes uninstall/install didnt fix it). I was trying to make MS support fix it all since it was really their problem. But after 4 hours of dealing with support I said screw it. I ended up deleting the account and recreating it. Problem fixed. Except doing so I lost all the settings and whatnot, causing me to spend a few more hours re-configuring settings.

While talking to support and getting very frustrated I asked them "Can I just get a CD key for Win10 so that I can do a clean install"

The support person said "You cannot get a CD key because this is an upgrade. No your hardware isn't detected. You would have to buy a CD key to do a clean install"

I was shocked. From everything I have read online it says after doing an upgrade I can do a clean install whenever I want and without a CD key. But MS support says that you cannot.

Yesterday I spent over 6 hours upgrading a computer to Windows 10. If I were to have done a clean install, it would have only taken an hour max. But now I fear I will never be able to do any clean installs again.

 

Can someone confirm what the correct answer is. For a clean install, Do you need a CD key, is hardware detected, and how can I get a Win10 key from my Win7 key. etc.

Whoever you talked to is misinformed. Once you've successfully upgraded to Windows 10 from an eligible OS (e.g. Windows 7/8/8.1), you can perform a clean install on the same hardware. You won't need a product key in order to re-activate it as long as you don't change your motherboard (and possibly your CPU).

[jaffar]

Whoever you talked to is misinformed. Once you've successfully upgraded to Windows 10 from an eligible OS (e.g. Windows 7/8/8.1), you can perform a clean install on the same hardware. You won't need a product key in order to re-activate it as long as you don't change your motherboard (and possibly your CPU).

Microsoft help desk employees have bad reputation and no one trust them anymore

[Ryoken]

Whoever you talked to is misinformed. Once you've successfully upgraded to Windows 10 from an eligible OS (e.g. Windows 7/8/8.1), you can perform a clean install on the same hardware. You won't need a product key in order to re-activate it as long as you don't change your motherboard (and possibly your CPU).

I can vouch for this, as I've done this no fewer than 6 times now.

MS is making product keys less important, and instead saving your hardware profile, as long as your hardware, specifically the motherboard since that's the big thing it checks against, remains the same, you'll be able to keep installing it. Should you need to change that, then you'll likely need a product key, or if it was an upgrade, to reinstall 7/8 on the new system, then upgrade.. Possibly you'll be able to call MS to get it sorted.. It's a rather grey area atm, and I'm okay with that, lets get Windows 10 out for everyone, THEN worry about what you'll do a in a year or more

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I can vouch for this, as I've done this no fewer than 6 times now.

MS is making product keys less important, and instead saving your hardware profile, as long as your hardware, specifically the motherboard since that's the big thing it checks against, remains the same, you'll be able to keep installing it. Should you need to change that, then you'll likely need a product key, or if it was an upgrade, to reinstall 7/8 on the new system, then upgrade.. Possibly you'll be able to call MS to get it sorted.. It's a rather grey area atm, and I'm okay with that, lets get Windows 10 out for everyone, THEN worry about what you'll do a in a year or more

I think it's great because it's one less thing to worry about. Motherboards are rarely upgraded and if that's the main thing they check, then the vast majority of users will be fine. Even as a gamer myself, the only thing I'd upgrade is the video card, memory and hard drive. I've never upgraded my CPU or motherboard and I rarely come across someone that has, even on the internet.

[Jose_49]

Does your 2008 laptop have an built-in optical drive?  Just curious and I'll definitely check the boot options in the BIOS when I get home if it doesn't recover.

Yup. Dell XPS M1530 With a built-in Optiaric DVD+RW drive!!!

[Jose_49]

I'm really glad that your device managed to rollback!

[+Asmodai MVC]

Status Update #2...

Tried by third attempt... this time I downloaded the Media Creation Tool instead of using Windows Update.  I told it to save nothing.  It got past 35%!!!

Then froze at 40% this time... I'll check the logs tomorrow... Day 4, attempt 3 is yet another failure.

[darkgtx]

Download Hard disk sentinel and see if the drives smart data reports any problems. If not factory restore your PC and reattempt the upgrade. 

[+Asmodai MVC]

Status Update #2-2:

Rebooted after the 40% freeze last night and recovered back into WIndows 7.  The Media Creation Tool version of the install kindly pops up a window when you first log in after a rollback with the error instead of making you have go find it.  The error I got this time was:

0xC1900101 - 0x30018

The installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during SYSPREP operation.

In the setupact.log file there is still no fatal errors and the final records (all "Info" type from "SYSPRP") are similar to the prior ones except instead of getting stuck in the loop the last few entries go back and forth like:

SPPNP: Status: Active

SPPNP: Status: Total = 29, Complete = 5, Progress = 17% (17%)

SPPNP: Status: Active

SPPNP: Status: Total = 29, Complete = 6, Progress = 20% (20%) 

Again I wish I had some indication of what specific drivers or whatever it was doing so I could possibly disable the device (in BIOS if necessary/possible) so the install could go further.

The system shipped with Vista since I bought it about a month or so before the Win7 launch and I got the free upgrade to Win7 when it was released.  As such while the system does have a recovery partition I'm not sure if restoring it to factory defaults will restore it to the Vista it shipped with (which isn't eligible for upgrade) or if the recovery partition was upgraded as part of the Win7 upgrade.  In any event as I suspect there is no rollback possible from a factory reset I'm not prepared to go to that extreme of a measure without a strong believe it will work.  At this point if indeed the "keep nothing" option is essentially a clean install I have no such belief that a factory reset will help at all.

My plan going forward is to try to find help with the specific errors and worst case I'll do the factory reset near the end of the 1 year free upgrade period and just hope that the updates between now and then resolve whatever issue is hanging my install.  In the meantime I guess I should start looking for my physical media/keys. :-(

Based off of this experience I won't be upgrading any of my other PCs nor recommending any friends or family do so with theirs until closer to the end of the 1 year free upgrade period. (I'm not going to actively run around discouraging people but I don't want to be the one who told them it was fine and go ahead in case they have a similar experience... especially those with 5+ year old laptops.)

[+Asmodai MVC]

Update 3:

I tried a 4th time, 2nd via the Media Creation Tool instead of the Windows Update method.

This time I tried running "rundll32.exe pnpclean.dll,RunDLL_PnpClean /DRIVERS /MAXCLEAN" as admin but got some error about pnpclean not being there or something.  Maybe the path is missing or something?  I didn't spend much time on it because the main thing I wanted to was just try with the network disconnected...

So I made sure the wifi was off (hardware switch on the front of the computer) and when the install got to the point where it rebooted out of Windows 7 I disconnected the ethernet cable.  Got to 40% again and hung so no luck there.

[hhh222]

Well, maybe it's just the sony vaios as mine appears to have just done the same thing. 10 installed and was working for 15 minutes and now i'm stuck in "go back to previous build" 

[binaryzero]

SW_DVD5_Win_Pro_10_64BIT_English_MLF_X20-25557.iso - has worked on every machine I've thrown it at. 

[hhh222]

Sony has officially announced their vaio laptops are NOT ready for windows 10 and advise waiting until october if u originally had windows 8.1 and november if windows 8

[+Asmodai MVC]

Sony has officially announced their vaio laptops are NOT ready for windows 10 and advise waiting until october if u originally had windows 8.1 and november if windows 8

Sony has officially announced their bundled Windows 8.x VAIO software is NOT ready for Windows 10.  If you want all that stuff (I don't) then they advise you waiting until October (if your system came with 8.1) or November (if your system came with 8.0)

Along the same lines they have officially announced they will NOT be providing updated drivers or software for VAIO laptops that shipped with Windows 7 (or earlier).  Since my laptop falls in that category there is nothing to wait for as the October/November software drop will only be for Win8.x systems.

They DO say they'll provide "Upgrade information" in August 2015 (any day now?) for Windows 8.x and Windows 7 systems... so maybe they'll at least clue me in on what it is that isn't compatible so I can possibly disable/remove it and the install can actually complete.

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