Cannot Install a Windows 10 Feature Update

I had a customer who had trouble installing Windows 10 Fall Creator’s Update (Feature Update 1709) and who had Trend Micro antivirus. For some reason, Windows said it wouldn’t install because Trend Micro 2009 was installed. Some people have noted that Windows balks about other older versions. This link was a good start. But the problem remained.

What fixed it for me was to go to the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\UpgradeMigration, delete the file or folder listed, and then delete the registry key data. Most likely the update still won’t install normally. So I took a chance and choose the option to restart and update. That worked. So if you have an old program possibly causing issues, go to that registry key and then reboot and update instead of using the normal update way.

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Windows Shuts Down Before Logging In

Here is a problem I just encountered. Windows was getting past the initial boot screen and then looked like it would let you log in. But before you could or before you could even enter a password, it immediately began to shut down. Safe mode worked just fine. The problem ultimately was a bad Intel driver. Specifically, the Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Generic driver. Once I disabled that, everything worked fine.

If your computer will not let you log in for any reason then most likely it is a driver causing the problem.

Here is what did not work. I first turned off fast boot because it causes more problems than it helps. Everyone should turn off fast boot, no exception. The user account had no password, so putting in a password in safe mode didn’t help either. It would shut down before you even log in. I couldn’t try Last Known Good Configuration because Microsoft in their idiotic selves decided to remove this most helpful feature. Seriously, the people who decided to get rid of that and F8 need to smack hard in the head every day for the rest of their life, and twice on Sunday. I am not joking. Neither did System Restore or system refresh work.

I only figured this out by doing a fresh install. When I installed the Intel drivers, immediately the system began to shut down. So in Safe Mode, I disabled all Intel drivers and then re-enabled them in a normal boot one-by-one until I found the problem driver. There may be more than one problem driver, so make sure you repeat until all possibles have been found.

REMEMBER that Stupid Windows 10, by default, updates drivers. It is my belief that drivers should not be touched except in these rare situations: something is not working well or you are a gamer. Even then, I only update my video card driver. What this means is that when Windows 10 updates your drivers — without your permission — then this problem will re-appear. Microsoft has become like the music and movie studios, that the product is theirs and you are given permission to use it. I am of the opinion that if I paid money for it, then it is mine and if I want to delay updates or not install a driver, then that is my right.

UPDATE March 2020: This problem only happens when the laptop is plugged into the power. Running on battery, it will never shut down after logging in. I also discovered even if you applied this fix, the processor would run at the slowest speed when plugged in but operate normally when on battery. If you put the computer to sleep, it will charge normally and would not shut down unless it woke up while the power was still connected. I have now concluded that this is likely a motherboard flaw, maybe an Intel flaw.