Big Switch fixed W10 !

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W10 locked and I had to use a FORCED SHUTDOWN [ PRESS the ON/OFF button until the system shuts down] (aka Big Switch). This took quite a while and the restart was even longer.

A number of unresolved issues (that started after the W10 update on July 28, 2016) were FIXED.
According to the Control Panel, no MS updates have been installed since W10 install on July 28, 2016

Anyone know why?
1) Why a Forced Shutdown fixed W10?
2) Why no MS updates , or could this be because of privacy or Firewall settings?
3) have there been no W10 Home updates after July 28?

Background:
W10 update installed using Customize.
Win10 Home edition, version: #1511.
EDGE, Store, Internet Explorer 11, Search, did not work.
Yes, I know I may not want them all to work, but I wanted to at least start with them working.
and yes, the time and date were/are correct.

FireFox (my default) did work so I could look for solutions here, at Microsoft.com (no help) and a number of other sites that have been helpful before. No answers.

After the Forced Shutdown, the system restarted with all of the above “working” at least reasonably with EDGE being as slow getting started as the old dial-up days.

Hope this helps someone and thanks if anyone knows why this worked.

Paul

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1) Why a Forced Shutdown fixed W10? – perhaps a pending update needed a complete shutdown. The normal shutdown be default in Win10 is a fast shutdown which is not really a complete shutdown.

2) Why no MS updates , or could this be because of privacy or Firewall settings? – because there aren’t any available. The Anniversary update is being rolled out gradually.

3) have there been no W10 Home updates after July 28? – see #2

--Joe

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JoeP517
If it was a pending update, but when I looked for updates, none have occurred since July 28, the day I updated to W10 and none are pending now. I guess there could be secret or “hidden updates”. That would be troubling for those who diagnose Windows issues.
Paul

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I suppose, given your other issues, that when you choose Settings > Update & security > Windows Update > Advanced options > View your update history there’s a chance the GUI element of Update history may be damaged. To check, try this:

[*]Right-click on Start.
[*]Select Command Prompt (Admin).
[*]Copy/paste the following: wmic qfe list brief /format:texttablewsys > “%USERPROFILE%updates.txt” and press RETURN (or ENTER).
[*]In File Explorer, navigate to Users and in your user folder you should see the updates.txt file showing any installed updates.

Hope this helps…

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If you don’t have IE11 immediately available, right click in the taskbar and select Task Manager/File/Run new task then type iexplore.exe and press enter – you can then pin the e to the taskbar.

If Task Manager just comes up with little detail in its window then click on More details in the lower left corner.

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Thanks Rick
I followed your excellent instructions and this is the System response:
Update KB3139907 NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM 4/27/2016
Security Update KB3140768 NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM 4/27/2016
Update KB3142588 NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM 4/27/2016
Update KB3173428 NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM 7/28/2016
Security Update KB3174060 NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM 7/28/2016
Security Update KB3172985 NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM 7/28/2016

7/28/16 is the day I updated to Win10.

Rick, since our systems agree that there are no updates since 7/28/16, I have to conclude that the
BIG SWITCH (aka Forced Shutdown) technique did something to fix the problems I listed without using a “transparent update”.

Now that we have that update hypothesis out of the way, does anyone have any other ideas why the Big Switch would provide such a dramatic improvement to an otherwise deficient W10 upgrade?

Paul

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ps I Thank Rick for his response, which for some reason I received, but is not posted here.

ROFL – Sorry, I deleted my post thinking I had mis-interpreted the thread.

In case it helps others, I’ve added the steps back in again below:

If Update history isn’t showing any results then there’s a chance the GUI element may be damaged. To check, try this:
1. Right-click on Start.
2. Select Command Prompt (Admin).
3. Copy/paste the following: wmic qfe list brief /format:texttablewsys > “%USERPROFILE%updates.txt” and press RETURN (or ENTER).
4. In File Explorer, navigate to Users and in your user folder you should see the updates.txt file showing any installed updates.

I’ve just checked and on my Win 10 devices (none of which have the Anniversary Update installed) the last updates were actually on 7/27/16 itself.

45226-w10-updates
Click to enlarge

Hope this helps…

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Be default Windows is configured to use Fast Startup. See The Pros and Cons of Windows 10’s “Fast Startup” Mode[/url] for a description of what fast startup does in addition to the pros & cons. The first “con”:

“When Fast Startup is enabled, your computer doesn’t perform a regular shut down. Since applying new system updates often requires a shutdown, you may not be able to apply updates and turn your computer off. Restart is unaffected, though, so it still*performs a full cold shutdown and restart of your system. If a shutdown doesn’t apply your updates, a restart still will.”

Your forcing a shutdown bypasses fast startup and forces a complete re-initialization of the system when it is powered on.

--Joe

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Update:
After two days, W10 reverted to its prior non-apps behavior.
One clue was apps being “unable to make a connection”.
Langlist had an article about SLEEPING devices.
I used StartDevice Manager and found the Network Adapter, then the modem.
Selected “Properties”.
then Power Management
Unchecked: allow the pc to control the device to save energy
Selected “Restart”.
This time I decided not to use a “Big Switch” forced Shutdown, about which some have experienced other problems.
Form JoelP517’s post I learned about W10’s hibernation aka “shut down” mode. When I looked up the difference between
1) Restart = a cold boot
2) Shut Down/Fast Start = a form of hibernation
I wanted a cold boot / system refresh so I figured that Restart was better than Big Switch.

IT WORKED.

Now, how long will it last this time? Was it the sleeping modem or the restart that fixed the problem?

Note: In my research I came across similar issues having to do with User Accounts and suggestions to create a new User Account, which might have the same effect of “starting over”.

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How long did it work? ANSWER: Two days and then the problems returned. RESTART fixes the connection problems and here is a simple way to painlessly use RESTART.

Turn off FAST STARTUP and get a faster shutdown and startup.

I discovered that shutdowns are now quicker (10 seconds) and my startups now only take 30 seconds!.
And if you uncheck Fast Startup, you get a cold boot that connects the modem, the network, the internet and accordingly fixes connections for Edge, Store, Search, Internet Explorer and Outlook.com and the online Help files also work.

Note: During the update to Win10 I all but one of the privacy switch settings was set to OFF.

And I am getting MS UPDATES, for better or worse.
But, I am not syncing to the MS OneDrive Cloud because I have not chosen to sync.

By avoiding Fast Startup, I think you avoid creating a complete hyberfil monster file when shutting down and that saves some time. When you startup, you are effectively doing a RESTART (aka cold boot).

This may not apply to every PC, but this may fix some balky problems until MS figures out why the Fast Startup is not faster (maybe due to the system trying to negotiate internal errors which eventually resolve to starting up, but with many broken apps.

Paul

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