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Windows 10 Anniversary Issue

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Was in the process of updating Windows 10 to Windows 10 Anniversary and the update failed due to locked Recovery Partition. Had just in the last couple of weeks done a fresh install of all computer software to an SSD so am not keen on doing a complete rebuild again.

Have a full backup copy of all the System files and Program. What I was wondering is if I do another clean install of Windows 10 with the Anniversary program download then install all the HP drivers etc. would I be able to us the Acronis Universal Restore to install all the other programs I have.  

Just hoping that this might just save me sometime in getting my computer updated.

Regards David

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Hi David,  Universal REstore only generalizes drivers within the OS so that you can move the OS from one piece of hardware to another and make it bootable without getting a BSOD due to a bad driver.  I don't think it's what you're looking fore.

Do you have a backup of the system just prior to running the anniversary update?  If so, you could restore to it and try again with some recommendations...

If you are running the update from within Windows (windows update), I would hold off on that and instead, use the Windows 10 media creation tool to create a bootable Windows 10 flash drive.  Then run the update from that.  HOWEVER, even before then, I would RESTART/REBOOT your system to make sure that any existing "pending" updates have been applied.  A RESTART/REBOOT will ensure a full shutodwn and restart fo the machine which may unlock the recovery drive as well.  By default, Windows 10 uses fastboot/fast start which only puts the system into hibernation when you do a SHUTDOWN.  This saves a hibernation file system state and I've read in other Windows 10 forums that it prevents the system from being able to properly boot into other types of recovery media.  Perhaps this is part of the problem.  Also, how much free space do you have on your drive - needs to have a little more than twice what is actively in use (anticipate more if you have a large recovery partition from the manufacturer too). 

To recap (if you have a backup you can restore to), this is exactly what I would try to do:

1) Use Windows 10 media creation tool and build a USB installer - don't use Winodws update to upgrade

2) Make sure your OS drive has more than 50% free space left.  The upgrade saves the old Windows install so you basically need twice the space free.  60-70% would be ideal in case there are hidden recovery patitions too.

3) Run SFC /Scannow to scan for and attempt to resolve OS corruption (just in case)

4) REBOOT/RESTART the machine - don't shutdown (shutdown may only be putting the machine into hibernation and locking the system drive as a result)

5) Log into your system with an admin account.  Launch the Windows 10 upgrade from the flash drive you created, but right click and "run as administrator"

Hopefully the upgrade works.