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Question

Installing updates takes forever

Jan 1, 2014 10:22PM PST

I have Windows 8, and I hate it. Received a Toshiba Satellite p875 last year for Christmas. Recently when I shut down my laptop it goes into "installing update" mode, only it does not install anything. It will stay in this mode for hours or until I physically shut it off. Any help appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
What messages do you get?
Jan 1, 2014 10:51PM PST

You probably are installing all the updates that came out between the time you laptop was built and now. That can take quite a while - maybe a couple of hours. Did you get ANY messages giving a percent of updates? That's the usual procedure. Powering off during this process is very dangerous because it can sometimes cause your computer to become unusable, depending on what was being updated at the time.
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When you power your laptop back up, run Windows Update and see what updates have been installed and what is remaining. That should give you an estimate of how much has been done and how much remains.
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When you've gotten your system back like you want it, I urge you to get yourself an external hard drive and a good 3rd party backup program. You can set it up to do everything automagically at the time and frequency of your choice. 1 TB external hard drives are about $60 these days and a really good FREE backup program is the Easeus Todo Backup Free. That can save you a lot of time and frustration the next time something like this happens. Sooner or later it happens to all computers for one reason or another.

Good luck.

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Answer
I forgot to mention Classic Shell
Jan 1, 2014 10:55PM PST

If you want to make Windows 8 look and feel like older versions of Windows, you can download and install Start8 from Stardock for $5 or Classic Shell from classicshell.net - it's free. Both of these restore the traditional Start button & menu, restoring Windows 8 back from the ridiculous to something usable on desktops & laptops.
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Good luck.