Windows's latest update has screwed my system

[selenay]

Has anyone else had trouble with the latest Windows update? (I'm running Vista Ultimate).

Last night when I went to shut down, it said there were 13 updates that needed loading. Being an idiot, I didn't set a system restore point and cheerfully told it to do the updates.

When I tried to start the computer today it came up with an error that said it could not detect the AC Adaptor and advised me to try reseating it. I continued (because the thing is definitely hooked up to the mains) and it took forever to finish booting. It's a laptop and the battery indicator says that it's 96% charged, plugged in but not charging. It's definitely running on AC power but whatever has happened is not letting the battery charge, which could be a problem eventually!

I re-booted and it came to the warning screen again, so I tried the first suggestion and went into some settings. Couldn't find anything and exiting put me straight into finishing booting (which took forever again).

When I finally got in, I went into the system restore centre. The time stamp on the restore point looks to be the time just after these 13 updates finished, but I tried it anyway. I'm guessing it overwrote any other restore points - can anyone tell me whether it's possible to find a restore point further back, though?

Anyway, that didn't help and I got the error screen again when I rebooted. So I tried running system restore again, which said everything is fine.

So I've got a machine that can't charge it's battery but runs fine on AC for now and takes a geological era to boot. It was working perfectly before the Windows updates.

Is this happening to anyone else?

Do any of my IT guru f-listies have any suggestions before I ring Dell and see whether they can help?

Anyone know how I can get these damn Windows updates backed out?

Any help would be gratefully received. Bloody Microsoft!

Comments

[gaspodex.livejournal.com]

Get Windows 7

Seriously - Its the real Antidote to Vista - It really was Vista SP3 - they have fixed pretty much everything that was wrong with vista and streamlined and speeded everything else up.

For once even the IT industry liked an MS OS ...

Plus - System Restore. Turn it off. Get something like Acronis Home and do regular backups. System Restore seldome works the way you think it does, often does more harm than good and slows the machine down.

You can just run an inplace upgrade, but i'd recommend and backup all your files, wipe and reinstall.

I seriously can not sing W7's praises loud enough ...

[selenay]

The dratted machine recognises the AC Adaptor today, grrrrrrr.

Hmm, maybe the plan for the next long weekend should be doing a full backup of everything and looking into Windows 7. A lot of people do seem to be singing its praises and I know you well enough to know that there must be something in it if you're happy with it :-)

[gaspodex.livejournal.com]

Power thing - is it a dell with one of the big flat power supplies by anychance ? How old is the machine ?

[selenay]

Machine is two years old. I'm wondering whether this is the machine's way of telling me that I need to look into a new AC adaptor. I found a thing on the Dell site talking about this error and advising to try unplugging the adaptor, taking out the battery, plugging everything in again and seeing what happens.

Why didn't I find that last night? It would explain why it works this morning and I wouldn't have spent half the night having nightmares about needing a new compy!

Perhaps it's time to start a "just in case, money for replacing computer" fund?

[paranoidangel]

In theory Windows should set a restore point before it updates... I know Vista's moved it all around, though, so it might have older restore points it's not showing you - is there some sort of calendar view?

But I have to say, the one time I tried to use System Restore on Vista/7 it was completely useless and I ended up restoring my C drive from my backup (fortunately my hard drive is partitioned and all my data is on my D drive, C just has programs on it). Which is a pity because I used to use it all the time on XP. I still set a restore point before I install anything, though.

But your problem might not be related to your update, because I've had that exact problem in XP - it uses AC power but doesn't charge the battery and complains bitterly every time you turn it on. It was a long time ago, but I seem to recall that the solution was to buy a new AC adaptor (which are cheaper than Windows 7 :)). I know there are loads of places online that sell them because I recently had to replace the one on my netbook.

[selenay]

System Restore didn't do anything bad, but the issue seems to have been something with the AC adaptor and I think it was sheer coincidence that it all happened at the same time as an update.

The computer recognises the AC adaptor today and is running normally. I found stuff on the Dell site about this error and it's first suggestion is to unplug the adaptor, remove the battery, replace and plug everything in again and see what happens. Huh.

I'm going to look into a new AC adaptor. It's cheaper than Windows 7 (although I'm going to look into that, too) and I'm thinking that's the source of the issue. Ack!

[paranoidangel]

I think I might have had it randomly recognise it as well... But a new adaptor sounds like a good idea anyway, in case it happens again.

I have to say, Windows 7 isn't much better than Vista. I mean, there are some things that are less annoying, but some that are more annoying, and if I hadn't upgraded I'd at least have a working printer... If you're happy with Vista I'd stick with it until you buy a new computer - I only upgraded because I hated Vista (mind you, I think 98 was the pinnacle of Windows achievement :)) and because I could get the teacher & student edition for £30 as I have an ac.uk email address.

[selenay]

New AC adaptor has been ordered from Dell. Better to do that and know that I'll have one if this one decides to die completely than not.

I'm going to look at Windows 7 and what I'd need to do to upgrade. It's things like incompatible printers that always worry me with those upgrades - I've got a nice laser printer here, do I really want to have to change that?

I'm hoping that everything keeps running with no hitches, but the AC adaptor is on its way so I've got something as a backup, just in case!

[paranoidangel]

In theory my printer works with Windows 7 if you download an update - in practice even HP gave up trying to get it to work. So now I'm really paranoid about whether any will work with mine. If you know someone with Windows 7 you could see if you can try installing your printer on their computer and see if it works.

[nic]

I've been having computer problems for the last 3 weeks. Like you, it's a Dell running Vista.

I've narrowed it down to either the Windows updates or the McAfee updates. Thankfully, system restore DOES work for me and I'm going to wait until I have a good day spare to let those updates download again.