I've updated a lot of machines, both business and personal, to 21H1. All but one upgraded smoothly, so I don't think it's the upgrade itself; rather, it was probably an issue with the machines and chosen paths. Instead of doing in-place upgrades, you'd have been better off doing fresh installs on both PCs. Sure, I know it can be tedious sourcing the apps for re-installation, but at least there won't be a lot of electronic garbage left over.

 

I agree with Colin.
A "clean" install and fresh start will be much more successful.
An "upgrade" install will carry over debris and issues from the older operating system into the newer operating system.
That's why the failure rate for an "upgrade" install (more so in laptops) is about 40%.

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Sorry about being slow to reply, thanks for Y'alls input, Yes a clean install is the best way to go but I have some programs on the laptop that I don't have the registration keys for anymore and I would hate to lose them since they are several hundred dollars each! I still have the original mechanical hard drive put up that I cloned to a SSD last year just in case something happened to the SSD. The SSD made it run like a 2021 laptop! What got me was the 21h1 failed but the 1909 worked fine. That is why I thought something might be wonky about the 21H1 version. Is there a way to get earlier versions like 2004 or 20H2?

 

Sorry about being slow to reply, thanks for Y'alls input, Yes a clean install is the best way to go but I have some programs on the laptop that I don't have the registration keys for anymore and I would hate to lose them since they are several hundred dollars each! I still have the original mechanical hard drive put up that I cloned to a SSD last year just in case something happened to the SSD. The SSD made it run like a 2021 laptop! What got me was the 21h1 failed but the 1909 worked fine. That is why I thought something might be wonky about the 21H1 version. Is there a way to get earlier versions like 2004 or 20H2?

Microsoft has announced that support for version 2004 will end next month.

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What got me was the 21h1 failed but the 1909 worked fine. That is why I thought something might be wonky about the 21H1 version. Is there a way to get earlier versions like 2004 or 20H2?

That would be certainly wrong and a security risk, since having the latest Microsoft updates can patch many of the security holes through which attackers can infect your computer.

From the above you wrote I didn't understand if you did try an in-place upgrade using the media tool.

This will reinstall and update the operating system and fix any corruptions, without removing any file or program.

• Go to this Microsoft page and under the title Create Windows 10 installation media press on Download tool now.
• Save the tool on your Desktop and double click to run it.
• On the License terms page, if you accept the license terms, select Accept.
• On the What do you want to do page, select Upgrade this PC now, and then select Next.
• Follow the instructions and select Keep personal files and apps, when you are asked to.
• It might take a couple of hours, depending on your wifi speed connection, to install Windows 10. Your PC will restart a few times. Make sure you don't turn off your PC.
• After downloading and installing, the tool will walk you through how to set up Windows 10 on your PC.

 

That would be certainly wrong and a security risk, since having the latest Microsoft updates can patch many of the security holes through which attackers can infect your computer.

From the above you wrote I didn't understand if you did try an in-place upgrade using the media tool.

This will reinstall and update the operating system and fix any corruptions, without removing any file or program.

• Go to this Microsoft page and under the title Create Windows 10 installation media press on Download tool now.
• Save the tool on your Desktop and double click to run it.
• On the License terms page, if you accept the license terms, select Accept.
• On the What do you want to do page, select Upgrade this PC now, and then select Next.
• Follow the instructions and select Keep personal files and apps, when you are asked to.
• It might take a couple of hours, depending on your wifi speed connection, to install Windows 10. Your PC will restart a few times. Make sure you don't turn off your PC.
• After downloading and installing, the tool will walk you through how to set up Windows 10 on your PC.

Thanks for your reply, yes I did try an in-place upgrade with 21H1 as you explained and it failed twice! Yes I was asking about the older versions but planned to update to the latest. MS Update assistant helped me get it to 21H1. I did see where a MS rep recommended downloading the full ISO for people that were having issues because of some issue with the MS servers! My error lead me to believe it couldn't download the DISM Package Manager. I did find 20H2 and have it on a USB stick just in case, found the ISO 21H1 also.

 

21H2 (Fall 2021) for Windows 10 has been released.
You can download the new Media Creation Tool from HERE so you can create a bootable DVD or a bootable USB flash drive so you can do a clean install of Windows 10 and get a fresh start.

An "in-place" upgrade isn't advisable because it carries over debris and issues from the current version into the new version.
The upgrade failure rate is also about 40%, especially in laptops/notebooks.

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An "in-place" upgrade isn't advisable because it carries over debris and issues from the current version into the new version.
The upgrade failure rate is also about 40%, especially in laptops/notebooks.

I do not agree with that statement. With an in-place upgrade the system is re-installed, and the old system's files are saved in the windows.old folder. Most of the times it solves problems having to do with the operating system. There are a few exceptions, but certainly not 40%.

 

Thanks for all the reply's, I have another upgrade story to tell. OK my son came to visit and he had a secondary laptop that had been in his trunk for a year (ha,ha). It is a Dell latitude E5440, I checked it out and it had windows 10 ver 1909 on it. I said I can get it updated to the newest version. I was using the wireless(AC) on it since I had it right next to my router. So I got the battery charged up an told it to check for updates It started updating and finally finished 21H1 and needed to restart. I restarted and then I noticed the wireless wasn't working! I could have used the Ethernet but I wanted the wireless to work. Windows put a Microsoft driver for the Intel wireless card and said nothing was wrong! I uninstalled 21H1 and the wireless came back. Tried to update again but it would not update past Ver 2004. Ended up downloading MS Update assistant, downloaded that and it took about 5 hrs but finally got it up to 21H2. Ended up doing a group policy hack that tells windows not to update drivers and installed the correct drivers to get the wireless going again! Cloned the hard drive to a SSD and now it boots in 15 seconds!!

 

I have some programs on the laptop that I don't have the registration keys for anymore

Have you tried to extract the install keys using one of the many "Key finders" available?
I agree with the sentiment for a clean install. I almost never do in-place upgrades. I much prefer a clean install, latest drivers, etc. On a fast system, it takes all of 8 min from booting with the install usb to having the windows desktop up and running. Another hour or so to install drivers, updates, etc and you are done AND you are not taking up a huge amount of disk space with a windows.old folder.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, yes I did try some "Key finders" but all they found was the logins passwords that are already in the browsers. A Kudos for all that recommend not using third party antivirus on Windows 10! I was having occasional blue screens on my 10 year old GA-P43T-ES3G, Core2Duo E8600 (Core 2 quad Q9650 now) this year and realized it still had Avast on it. I used the Avast cleaner to uninstall and let Windows defender take over and have not had a blue screen since!