Solution for Broken Windows 10 computer after the Update 1803

Before attempting the solution below, please try the Solution provided by Microsoft Agent on the thread located here:

I discussed a wide issue hitting systems running a 3rd Party Antivirus and attempting an update to Windows 10 1803 aka April Update where the system was unable to boot and was booting to recovery mode where none of the options work including doing a Reset from Recovery options. The only fix was to do a clean install. You can read the post here:

What to do if the computer is broken after Windows 10 1803 update

Now A solution has been come up by a user on Reddit(You can find the thread here .) which claims everything would be preserved-just it needs some technical skills and the following.

1. A Flash Drive
2. A computer having an Internet connection

I would discuss it in detail:

Solution

First, as this problem is caused by the third party Antivirus, the first step we need is to remove the Avast or any 3rd party Antivirus you have. Then we need to do a repair install using an Installation media that would preserve everything including files, applications etc. Let us quickly start with Part 1.

Uninstall Avast/3rd party Antivirus

The first step is to uninstall Avast or a 3rd party Antivirus. Follow the instructions below:

1. On a spare computer, download and copy Avast removal tool from the following website from here. Please put it in the USB drive. Do the same if you have another Antivirus, for example, AVG-for it go to AVG’s website and download the same and put.
2. Boot to the blank desktop on the affected computer which says “Desktop is unavailable”. It is the third option usually saying Windows 10 on volume X. You might have to be patient in order for the blank desktop to appear.(If you are asked to press okay in an Unknown hard error, do so.)

3. 

4. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager or right-click the Taskbar and select the same.
5. Click File>New Task. Check the checkbox create the task with admin privileges.
6. Click Browse.
7. Navigate to the USB drive and select the cleanup utility and Press OK.
   

   

8. If you are asked to boot into Safe mode, do so and do the same steps in Safe mode. For booting into Safe mode, here is a guide by our fellow MVP Shawn Brink:
   https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2304-boot-into-safe-mode-windows-10-a.html
9. Reboot the computer.

Download the Setup media of 1803 and put it in the USB drive

Now it is somewhat technical. What you need to do is download Windows 10 ISO on a normal computer and run an in-place upgrade on the affected computer. There are two cases here. If the affected computer has an Internet connection and one if not.

If the affected computer has an Internet connection

In this case, it is relatively straightforward. You just need to download the Media Creation tool, put it on the USB drive and run it on the affected computer. Here are the steps:

1. On a working computer download the Media creation tool.
2. Put it on the USB drive. Proceed the same steps as above-I am writing again too.
3. Boot to the blank desktop on the affected computer which says “Desktop is unavailable”. It is the third option usually saying Windows 10 on volume X. You might have to be patient in order for the blank desktop to appear.(If you are asked for pressing okay in Unknown hard error, do so.)
4. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager or right-click the Taskbar and select the same.
5. Click File>New Task. Check the checkbox create the task with admin privileges.”
6. Click Browse.
7. Navigate to the USB drive and select Mediacreationtool.exe
8. Press OK.

When the tool starts, simply select ‘Upgrade this PC now’. The PC would automatically do a repair install. For more information on how this works see:

How to do a repair Install using a windows 10 ISO to fix a broken windows.

When the PC doesn’t have an Internet connection

For this case, you need to download the ISO first, extract it and run Setup.exe to start the upgrade. Here are the steps:

1. On a working computer, download a Windows 10 ISO of version 1803 from the following link. Select Windows Final>Windows 10 1803>Windows 10>32/64 bit according to your system>Select the Language that is currently installed.
2. When the download completes, double-click it to mount it as a virtual drive. It would have 6/7 folders and some files
3. Press Ctrl+A to select all and Ctrl+C to select Copy.
4. Paste the contents in the USB drive.
5. Follow the steps 2-6 in the Solution heading.
6. Navigate to the USB drive and select Setup.exe.
7. It would start preparing.
8. Skip checking for updates.
9. Click on Next and next and Next.
10. After some restarts, you would have working computer. For a better understanding of this, see method 3 here:

Upgrade to Fall Creators update manually

Credit for the screenshot and the solution:

http://www.thecomputercellar.com/windows-10-1803-upgrade-issues-the-black-desktop-of-death-and-how-to-fix-it/