Hoping someone can help. I have a surface pro 2 that was running just fine, until the most recent windows update.
The update seemed to install fine. Upon restarting (which took forever) the audio no longer works. When I run the diagnostics it says something hasn't started and it's unable to fix it.
Attempted to open the control panel, windows explorer froze up, only way to fix is to restart via the task manager.
Figured something was wrong with the operating system so I decided to back up my files. Any time I opened two windows explorer windows the machine froze up and I again had to restart windows explorer via task manager.
Finally was able to back up my files by copying the folders, navigating to my back up and pasting. Inconvenient but no big deal.
Decided to try to restart, and this is where the real trouble started. Machine started to shut down, got stuck on the "restarting" screen, for hours, manually shut it down and rebooted after holding the volume up button and power button for 15 seconds as referenced on other questions, then waiting 10 seconds to restart. Was able to restart, but only after about 8 failed attempts where the screen stuck on a black screen for hours, or the machine booted up but when I tried to open an app the app said there was a problem opening, or when opening the desktop it was a blank screen in the highlight color but without any options, navigation, or icons.
Finally decided the only way to fix was either to refresh or restore. Neither will work.
When I go to the "Update and Recovery" window it just spins and spins trying to load. If I search "recovery" instead and click on either "refresh your pc without affecting your files" or "remove everything and reinstall Windows" it takes me to the correct screen, but either option just opens a tab that says "Preparing" with the spinning dots. It sits there for hours on end but nothing happens.
Help, please. How do I fix this if I can't get it to rewrite windows? Thanks in advance!