TheArkive
May 28th, 2018, 05:33 PM
I have consistently encountered issues when custom themes are active while doing a major milestone update and reboot (ie., 1803, 1809, 1903, etc). The result is either I'm unable to login, ie. after login I get kicked back to the login screen again, or I can log in, but I get no start menu when using ClassicShell (a start menu replacement to bring back the Win7 start menu in Win8 and Win10). I can't speak to other start menu replacements like StartIsBack.
======== INTRO ========
This has happened to me 2 different times so far, and in both cases a custom theme was active during the update and reboot after the update. I've determined this to be the cause of issues after applying a major Windows update and rebooting. To avoid this, simply apply a default windows theme before allowing a reboot after a major update.
If you didn't know about this and your PC won't boot, or is more glitchy than normal, keep reading...
======== INSTRUCTIONS ========
Here's what I did to get my PC back:
1) boot with windows installation media (I actually used an old Win 8 install disk, it worked ok, same should be true for a Win7 boot disc)
NOTE: For generic boot disc media from Microsoft, check this thread:
Windows 8/10 - Recover from Black/Grey/Flashing Screen After Reboot (http://virtualcustoms.net/showthread.php/75394-Windows-8-10-Recover-from-Black-Grey-Flashing-Screen-After-Reboot?p=323053&viewfull=1#post323053)
2) press SHIFT + F10 to enable the command prompt
3) delete or rename the .theme file (and related folder) causing the problems (remember the original file name!!!!)
4) copy and rename "aero.theme" to "[theme causing problems].theme"
5) boot into safe mode
6) after the animation plays out and then you finally see your desktop again in safe mode, just restart normally
7) at this point everything should work ok, however you may experience some glitchy looks in the theme which is normal when recovering from a theme issue.
8) revert to the default windows theme at this point.
9) uninstall UltraUxThemePatcher and reboot.
10) reinstall UltraUxThemePatcher, and reboot (as always, check for an updated UltraUxThemePatcher first).
11) reapply your custom theme, or a theme built for the new update.
NOTE: Your theme may actually break after these types of major updates, and you'll have to apply the Windows Style Builder scripts released by the super geniuses on this forum (ie. Mr GRiM, Nicely, etc).
===========================================
Additional Notes
===========================================
- When in safe mode, the ClassicShell start menu (a program that brings back the Windows 7 style start menu) didn't work, meaning I had NO start menu. Fortunately I had a taskbar icon for the command line so it wasn't an issue, and CTRL + ALT + DELETE still worked of course. After the on-screen animation played out in safe mode I was able to restart via the command line "shutdown /r", or just press ALT+F4 when the desktop is active and use the keyboard and TAB/ENTER keys to initiate shutdown and/or reboot. After reboot into normal mode, I was able to see the following dialog:
- ClassicShell needs to reconfigure for the new operating system ... or something like that.
After that, ClassicShell returned to normal functionality. No updated needed, though if I were you I would always check for one.
- OldNewExplorer doesn't affect any of this and usually needs no modification
- If you prefer automatic logon to your profile at boot, NETPLWIZ seems to not work for me anymore. I'm now using AutoLogon (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autologon), a wonderful program released by Microsoft, super small and free program, but also still effective, with a very simple GUI (more simple than NETPLWIZ). The article in the Autologon link was published 29 Aug 2016.
You can bypass automatic logon by holding SHIFT as soon as you see the spinning dots or Windows logo. This will temporarily disable automatic logon so you can then choose another account (if you set up a backup account just for stuff like this) in order to enact some procedure to recover your main account. You can also, of course, disable autologon just by running the AutoLogon program and clicking DISABLE.
- PC Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Advanced Startup > Restart Now (button)
From here you can easily get into Safe Mode (which is all I need) or enact any other method of recovery including booting off a USB drive. You should be able to do this on many laptops anyway if you have your boot options setup to allow such a thing, or by pressing F10 or F11 to enable "alternate boot" methods and then select your already plugged in USB drive or CD/DVD.
Hope this helps someone...
======== INTRO ========
This has happened to me 2 different times so far, and in both cases a custom theme was active during the update and reboot after the update. I've determined this to be the cause of issues after applying a major Windows update and rebooting. To avoid this, simply apply a default windows theme before allowing a reboot after a major update.
If you didn't know about this and your PC won't boot, or is more glitchy than normal, keep reading...
======== INSTRUCTIONS ========
Here's what I did to get my PC back:
1) boot with windows installation media (I actually used an old Win 8 install disk, it worked ok, same should be true for a Win7 boot disc)
NOTE: For generic boot disc media from Microsoft, check this thread:
Windows 8/10 - Recover from Black/Grey/Flashing Screen After Reboot (http://virtualcustoms.net/showthread.php/75394-Windows-8-10-Recover-from-Black-Grey-Flashing-Screen-After-Reboot?p=323053&viewfull=1#post323053)
2) press SHIFT + F10 to enable the command prompt
3) delete or rename the .theme file (and related folder) causing the problems (remember the original file name!!!!)
4) copy and rename "aero.theme" to "[theme causing problems].theme"
5) boot into safe mode
6) after the animation plays out and then you finally see your desktop again in safe mode, just restart normally
7) at this point everything should work ok, however you may experience some glitchy looks in the theme which is normal when recovering from a theme issue.
8) revert to the default windows theme at this point.
9) uninstall UltraUxThemePatcher and reboot.
10) reinstall UltraUxThemePatcher, and reboot (as always, check for an updated UltraUxThemePatcher first).
11) reapply your custom theme, or a theme built for the new update.
NOTE: Your theme may actually break after these types of major updates, and you'll have to apply the Windows Style Builder scripts released by the super geniuses on this forum (ie. Mr GRiM, Nicely, etc).
===========================================
Additional Notes
===========================================
- When in safe mode, the ClassicShell start menu (a program that brings back the Windows 7 style start menu) didn't work, meaning I had NO start menu. Fortunately I had a taskbar icon for the command line so it wasn't an issue, and CTRL + ALT + DELETE still worked of course. After the on-screen animation played out in safe mode I was able to restart via the command line "shutdown /r", or just press ALT+F4 when the desktop is active and use the keyboard and TAB/ENTER keys to initiate shutdown and/or reboot. After reboot into normal mode, I was able to see the following dialog:
- ClassicShell needs to reconfigure for the new operating system ... or something like that.
After that, ClassicShell returned to normal functionality. No updated needed, though if I were you I would always check for one.
- OldNewExplorer doesn't affect any of this and usually needs no modification
- If you prefer automatic logon to your profile at boot, NETPLWIZ seems to not work for me anymore. I'm now using AutoLogon (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autologon), a wonderful program released by Microsoft, super small and free program, but also still effective, with a very simple GUI (more simple than NETPLWIZ). The article in the Autologon link was published 29 Aug 2016.
You can bypass automatic logon by holding SHIFT as soon as you see the spinning dots or Windows logo. This will temporarily disable automatic logon so you can then choose another account (if you set up a backup account just for stuff like this) in order to enact some procedure to recover your main account. You can also, of course, disable autologon just by running the AutoLogon program and clicking DISABLE.
- PC Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Advanced Startup > Restart Now (button)
From here you can easily get into Safe Mode (which is all I need) or enact any other method of recovery including booting off a USB drive. You should be able to do this on many laptops anyway if you have your boot options setup to allow such a thing, or by pressing F10 or F11 to enable "alternate boot" methods and then select your already plugged in USB drive or CD/DVD.
Hope this helps someone...