Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st

Subject: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: G-Force
Date: 31 Oct 17 - 05:07 AM

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but ever since a Windows 10 Feature update went through on October 21st, I've been having problems.

I don't like to keep shutting down and booting up, nor do I like to just leave the computer running all day, so I usually take the 'sleep' option if I'm not going to be using it for a while. This was never a problem, but now when I try to wake the computer up from its slumbers the computer seems to come back to life but the display doesn't. If I investigate, a box comes up telling me that the monitor isn't getting a signal from the computer, followed by another box saying the monitor is entering powersave mode. So I have to switch off and boot up again anyway.

Is this likely to be a Windows problem, or have I suddenly got a hardware fault? I'm afraid I'm not much of a techie.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: Nick
Date: 31 Oct 17 - 05:24 AM

We have Windows 10 on a couple of machines and use sleep on both without the same problem so I don't think it is necessarily a windows problem. However there are several versions of Windows 10 so you may have a different version to me.

If you press the windows key and the letter 'R' and type 'winver' it will tell you which build you are on. Just in case I am giving you duff advice. My desktop is on version 1607 (build 14393.1770) but my wife's laptop is on version 1703 (build 15063.0674). If you bought a machine recently I think it might be on 1709

Perhaps post which one you have?

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: Nick
Date: 31 Oct 17 - 05:43 AM

And is it a laptop or a desktop?

Did you actually apply the update on the 21st?

And the problem has been since but wasn't there before?

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: G-Force
Date: 31 Oct 17 - 07:08 AM

Version 1703. Desktop. And I think the update just ran itself, like they always seem to.

Thanks for the replies.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: DaveRo
Date: 31 Oct 17 - 07:35 AM

The screen is often blank until you move the mouse or hit a key - usually ESCape. Did you try that?

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: Nick
Date: 31 Oct 17 - 08:28 AM

There are quite a lot of posts on internet of other people on 1703 who have the same problem and there is some suggestion that it is down to a display adapter driver

BUT

Rather than suggest you tinker about rolling back drivers or downloading stuff, I'd suggest you wait until Microsoft fix it and in the meantime shut down the machine rather than use sleep!

My desktop had an error when rebooting after one of the upgrades (it didn't spot it had a mounted drive) so I 'undid' the upgrade and waited a week or so before running the upgrade. This time it worked fine suggesting that MS had fixed it.

Time is a great healer and sleep is (in this instance) not doing you any favours so I'd give up sleeping for a while

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: G-Force
Date: 31 Oct 17 - 10:17 AM

Thanks Nick. I'll wait and see if anything happens.

And thanks, DaveRo, I tried all that. This is a new problem, just in the last 10 days or so.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 01 Nov 17 - 06:33 AM

......the computer seems to come back to life but the display doesn't. If I investigate, a box comes up telling me that the monitor isn't getting a signal from the computer, followed by another box saying the monitor is entering powersave mode.

I have had the same problem but well before the recent Windows update.

In my case, it could happen as I was using it, not just on waking it up. If I re-booted straight away, the problem often re-occurred. If I left it to cool down before rebooting, the problem went away, at least for a while.

One of the cooling fans started catching on start-up and it sounded like the computer was spitting out nuts and bolts. When I opened it up for inspection, the inside was full of dust and some of the holes in the casing were blocked. I removed the dust with a vacuum cleaner and haven't had the blank screen problem since.

It could be that your computer is overheating and the Windows update is just a co-incidence.

DC

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: GUEST,A Man Who Thinks Microsoft Are a Bunch of Cr
Date: 01 Nov 17 - 09:37 PM

All my machines are on XP with the update options switched off.

Fingers crossed and touch wood but I don't seem to have the problems all the latest versions have.

I also sometimes do things in Dos - wow.

I'm afraid with windows all their best days are behind them but they have to "move on" to survive.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: DaveRo
Date: 02 Nov 17 - 04:36 AM

I agree with Nick's prescriptions. In my experience sleep mode (and hibernate) usually works well on laptops but often poorly or not at all on desktops. 'Budget' desktops often have 'on board' graphics and the drivers for the graphics part don't handle sleeping well, or not at all. It may not be Windows fault, though the update (if it was the big one - the "fall update") may have replaced the driver with the latest one Microsoft have. The manufacturer may provide Microsoft with a newer driver - or may not.

If it doesn't fix itself after a month or so you could try just updating the driver - the procedure is here. Easy enough. But I've done that for a video card and got 'you already have the latest...'. I had to get a driver from the manufacturer's website. I've never tried rolling back a driver - i.e. going back to the previous one.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows 10 update October 21st
From: G-Force
Date: 03 Nov 17 - 01:08 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions. I eventually got our local techie on the case and thirty quid later (thank you Mr. Gates) we are now on version 1709 of Windows 10 with all the latest drivers and it seems to be working OK.

Maybe I'm thick but I wouldn't have known how to identify which was our video card.