@ColoradoBoo My couple of years old Dell Precision desktop has a problem, which i found a work-around for online and ColoradoBoo actually explained why it worked: Why did this fix computer? | PriusChat Essentially; whenever we had a power outage, the computer would not start when power came back. If all accessories were unplugged (keyboard,etc) the computer would start and everything could be plugged back into the box. HOWEVER, going through some old papers, I found a letter from Dell which they apparently sent and I apparently ignored but saved. It addresses the very problem. It claims a driver update will solve issue. Well merrily went ahead and downloaded said driver from Dell and was just about to start it up when I read a warning that basically said MAKE SURE ALL RUNNING PROCESSES ARE STOPPED BEFORE UPDATING DRIVER. If that is not done, you risk turning said computer into an inoperative brick. Well, what does that mean? How do I stop all running processes?
Your taking the instructions too literally. 1. I would disconnect everything from the laptop; except the power cord. 2. Backup your entire hard drive, BEFORE proceeding. 3. Shut-down any programs/apps you have running in the background 4. Turn-off antiviral software. The rest of the processes shouldn't interfere with the update, except maybe the antivirus software your running - which I asked you to turn-off or put to sleep. Ctl+Alt+Del then select task manager. Shut-down anything in the process, you'll see the task manager too. From my experience, Dell units tends to be more 'touchy' than say a Lenovo or HP units. Good Luck......
Yep, I concur with Biomed! (And would only add "say a prayer"!!) I have a problem at my house...my very old desktop controls the house router but it's Windows 10 and can no longer get any updates...which can be a security issue but it's not used, we do everything on cell phones or laptop. (Even the printer isn't connect, runs on WIFI) So I may be looking for a deal on Black Friday for a bare-bones Win 11 desktop. Oh if folks print a lot (my daughter is a school teacher so often comes by to print) get yourself one of those Epson Eco Tank printers. Man, those huge ink bottles last a VERY long time and aren't even expensive...dump that rip-off ink jet printer!
HEY, thanks for the quick responses. One question: 3. Shut-down any programs/apps you have running in the background So, how do I know they are running in the background? Will the task manager step that care of the things running in the background?
Sorry; I mistyped - anything under apps needs to be shut-down. "background processes" will be fine, except for antivirus. Antivirus will sometimes block updates because it's changing computer basic functions - that's why it need to be turned off. Microsoft updates has been really good about bypassing this, but individual computer vendors are way behind the curve. You can tell it's been a long time since I've done programming work; they're now called Apps. Our group hired a kid to do a lot of our computer based control issues - He calls an IPL (Initial Program Load), "bounce the system". So I asked him; "are you suppose to pull the processor out of the rack and throw it on the ground??" I guess it sounds cool and upper management seemed to be impressed with him - until he hit a wall where rebooting the system didn't fix things. I let him swing in the wind for about a week before I sneaked in there to fix the real issue. As I stated, I'm an old coder that don't need stupid menus, so I side-step the login process. If they weren't so stupid, I'm sure they could look at the IT closet camera's and key access panel to figure out who really fixed the problem; but everyone was too busy congratulating themselves and making up stories on how "they" fixed it to look into it.
