I come again with hat in hand, wheezing old Win10 PC in tow.

I can't "refresh" Win10. There seem to be several ways to get to refresh, through settings, control panel or boot up access. "Refresh" is never where I'm supposed to find it. I can find reset, restore or reinstall Win10, which can lose apps or not get far enough back without losing a bunch of files.

The PC went goofy a few weeks or more back. Odd "view" stuff like I can't hide file extension names or toggle hidden files on/off (a couple ways to do that, they don't work). Right clicking to refresh screen or access dialog box can be quite sluggish. Some functions/apps seem to work normally, others very sluggish.

Full malware and virus scans show nothing. Extensive hardware checks -- Sea Tools or Passmark performance test -- show nothing except an old PC. I say that but I put in an SSD HD about a year ago, what a fantastic improvement that was! Command line stuff like scannow have produced no changes. I do have some info about regedit, specific to stuff like hide file extensions but this just seems to address a specific problem.

I'm holding off messing with regedit until I find I cannot get to "refresh pc", hoping the fix covers all the problems.

Pure speculation here, I had installed a video editing program only to find out my PC wasn't up to the job. Upon uninstalling, I got error messages, files missing and such.

Back in the day, I put Win10 on top of an existing Win7 when it was offered. There have been other Win10 features I couldn't find in the past, the PC still identifies as Win7 in the control panel.

I really don't want to do a reinstall or even a reset, who needs it? Where is refresh, arrrrghhhh.

**UPDATE**

A cautious Woo Hoo! Win10 updated today and things mostly seem back to normal. File name extensions can now be hidden, a lot less messy PC. Programs, refresh screen and dialog boxes coming up quickly. Show/hide hidden files still not working right, looks like a regedit fix may be in store. Not a big deal but I seem to remember needing to access hidden files in the past so yeah, needs to be fixed.

Still I'd welcome any advice on why "refresh PC" can't be accessed.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ripley,

Are you signed in as administrator?

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Are you signed in as administrator?

Yep. Between the MS update and another run through of the command line repair and scannow, things mostly work well, waiting a couple little tweaks. A pleasure to be back up to speed after slogging for a couple three weeks. Never did find "refresh pc".

I do not see a "refresh" option on my Windows 10 Pro PC.

Reset this PC is the only option I see.

I can "Keep my files" or "Remove everything". Nothing appears to keep your application installations in place.

I would make an image of your current install before you proceed with any built in windows refresh/reset process.

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:
I do not see a "refresh" option on my Windows 10 Pro PC.

Reset this PC is the only option I see.

I can "Keep my files" or "Remove everything". Nothing appears to keep your application installations in place.

I would make an image of your current install before you proceed with any built in windows refresh/reset process.

I searched for "refresh Windows 10" and found this


How to refresh, reset, or restore your PC



Oh wait, what's this, Windows 8.1?! I didn't know there was such a thing. The "refresh" option made too much sense, let's dump it for Win10.

So I wasted a lot of time barking up the wrong tree, wasted bandwidth here but at least got things working as they should.

Mods, please delete this pointless thread.

Back up your files.

Get an external drive, setup to do it automatically.

Reformat your computer and reinstall a fresh copy of Windows every 2 or 3 years.

Your computer is the equivalent of one of those rolling hoarder cars with trash filled to the headliner.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Back up your files.

Get an external drive, setup to do it automatically.

Reformat your computer and reinstall a fresh copy of Windows every 2 or 3 years.

Your computer is the equivalent of one of those rolling hoarder cars with trash filled to the headliner.

Good to backup but to reformat every two or three years = LOL.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:


Good to backup but to reformat every two or three years = LOL.

You and I could get by a much longer, as can anyone else with good OS hygiene.

The typical person, I would argue could benefit from a nuke and pave every 2-3 years.

With how fast computers and network connections are, it's pretty painless.

I have two external HD's and backup with Windows built in function and VEEAM. I also replaced my primary HD with an SSD less than a year ago so things weren't that cluttered and messy.

As I mentioned, I think an uninstall of a dense video editing program caused my problems. I was hoping to make squaring things easier than a bare metal recovery. I put up with diminished performance for too long to rely on available rollback recovery options.

On the face of it, the not available "refresh your pc" choice would sure have been nice.

Still not sure why things work now. After yesterday's Windows update, I ran through the command line stuff again, repair and scannow, which showed no problems but things were working as they should, hallelujah. I did have to tweak the show/hide hidden files view with regedit. The command line hadn't fixed things a week or two back. Go figure.

quote:

I did have to tweak the show/hide hidden files view with regedit.

You don't see that option in file explorer?

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:


The typical person, I would argue could benefit from a nuke and pave every 2-3 years.

Wouldn't it be easier just to do some regular maintenance like updates, some disk utility tools, malware software and the like?
Along with actually learning how to use a computer.
There are a lot of tools easily obtainable online with YT or other that can assist with issues too.

I still say that all in all it is not necessary.
It is like saying to rebuild your car engine .... just because.
Sure if you have something substantial hit you like some deep seeded malware but not as a general policy.
Usually, it is recommended because one doesn't know how or where to address an issue.
There can be other exceptions too like a power failure or something with an update (although I have never experienced having to reinstall for an update).
But I get it some people just want a clear path and starting over could be one.
Just not as something to do as maintenance, IMO.
YMMV

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:

quote:

I did have to tweak the show/hide hidden files view with regedit.

You don't see that option in file explorer

At least a couple ways to tick that box, didn't work.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Back up your files.

Get an external drive, setup to do it automatically.

Reformat your computer and reinstall a fresh copy of Windows every 2 or 3 years.

Your computer is the equivalent of one of those rolling hoarder cars with trash filled to the headliner.

This except I do it every year. I am amazed at how fast it starts to slow down. And Windows 10 loves adding widgets that are of no use to me but take up resources.