Upgrade 23H = huge mess for me (SOS!!!!)

LadyLee · Oct 12, 2024

Holy Socks I ended up with a huge mess. I did the upgrade and had two USB external hard drives active at that time. What I ended up with is a mess. I have 2 drives in the tower Windows is installed one is a Sata for drive C. The D: Drive WAS one big partition only & holds all my file data and personal files. But D: partition ended up with a Sub directory in it which is one of the external drives. So I now used to have a D: drive and now I have D: (D) and a D: (E:). What it did is just crazy and what was on D: is now in two places on D: (D:) and D: (E). I ended up trying to move all the things from D: (E:) to the D: (D) folder of all files and then removing the D: (E:) but it will not allow me to remove the E: sub dir. it just made a bigger mess.

Now, I am forced to do a format and install I believe? That I am not sure of but it sounds logical.
Another problem if I do that I do no longer have my password keeper so no clue now of what my Microsoft account is and this is a digital version of Win 11 product so I do not have the actual product license number if I reinstall from a thumb drive iso file. And I do not want to have to purchase Windows 11 if I can help it.

Does anyone have any ideas ??? I am wrung out trying to figure things out it is so tangled up. Thanks for any ideas

Ghot · Oct 12, 2024

@LadyLee

1. A digital license is the one you "want". If you ever do have to do a clean install, it will automatically activate (no charge).
2. Whenever you do something major, like an upgrade, you should always disconnect all external devices, first.
(except keyboard, mouse and monitor)
3. BEFORE you do something major like a Feature Upgrade (e.g. 22H2 to 23H2), make a topic on here and ask for suggestions.
4. For example... there's an Enablement Package for upgrading from 22H2 to 23H2. It's like a small update.
5. Lastly, most of the regulars on here, use 3rd party backup software. When something like this happens, it's a godsend.

I'm giving you ten reaction points just for filling out your computer specs.

Have you tried, unhooking the external drives and just doing a System Restore?

Please post a screenshot of Disk Management in it's present condition. You will need to stretch out the Disk Management window, so we can read everything.

For example... we need to see the things in the RED boxes (red boxes were added to this pic)...

To post a screenshot on this forum...
1. Take the screenshot, (or camera pic), edit it as desired, save to your desktop as .png or .jpg (max. size = 2MB)
2. Left click in your post, where you want to place the screenshot.
3. Click the Attach Files button at lower left, browse to your pic and click Insert.
4. After clicking Insert, I usually choose the Thumbnail (smaller) option, or there is a Full Image (larger) option.

The END

bobkn · Oct 12, 2024

I'll second "Ghot's" request for a shot of your Disk Management. (Use Windows 11's snipping tool.)

For a Lenovo PC, the Windows license should be embedded in its BIOS. That's in addition to the digital license that should also exist for the machine on Microsoft's servers.

If you've lost your Microsoft account password, you can reset it. Reset a forgotten Microsoft account password - Microsoft Support

antspants · Oct 12, 2024

You forget your Microsoft account?

Details should be in the accounts section of Windows settings, your login is your Microsoft account something@whatever

You can find info on how to get your details, within this tutorial I believe

Check Account is Local Account or Microsoft Account in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to check if a user account is either a local account or a Microsoft account in Windows 11. Having different accounts on a shared PC lets multiple people use the same device, all while giving everyone their own sign-in info, plus access to their own files, browser...

www.elevenforum.com

Ghot · Oct 12, 2024

@LadyLee

Are you overwhelmed yet?

Just take your time. Don't let anyone rush you.
Sometimes we forget that there was a time when we too made topics like...

"OMG I wrecked my computer - someone help me - Pleeeease"

antspants · Oct 12, 2024

Ghot said:
Don't let anyone rush you.

We must be reading different threads, there’s been 3 replies, none with any urgency.

Ghot · Oct 12, 2024

LadyLee said:
Here is a screenshot of the drives..........

Have you tried just right clicking the Disks with the double letters and choosing "Properties"
...and setting the "Volume Label" back to the what it should be... aka... blank

The drive letter in the parenthesis, with the colon, should be the correct drive letter.
Sort of like your (C:) drive

Windows has been around a long time. It's getting old. Sometimes... it just gets confused.

/edit Please see my changes above. I should have said: "right click and choose 'Properties'"

Scott · Oct 12, 2024

LadyLee said:
The D: Drive WAS one big partition only & holds all my file data and personal files

@Ghot Pretty sure the D drive is one 2TB drive that got partitioned into two partitions.

EDIT: It actually adds up to almost 3TB, hmmm

Ghot · Oct 12, 2024

Scott said:
@Ghot Pretty sure the D drive is one 2TB drive that got partitioned into two partitions.

EDIT: It actually adds up to almost 3TB, hmmm

I dunno...

I just realized that the extra letter was in the Volume Label text box.
See, my Disk Management above.

I don't have an extra letter... I have volume labels. But you can change them on the drive's right click / properties sheet.
If you notice, all my volume labels come "before" the actual drive or partition letter that's in parenthesis.

I'm assuming here that having the externals attached during the "upgrade", just confused Windows or Disk Management.

The (F:) is the actual partition letter, whatever is to the left of (F:), is the Volume Label.

So in the OP's case... I would just right click drive (E:), and choose Properties... and delete the D from the volume label text box.

I don't think any "data" was actually moved around. I just Windows or Disk Management got confused.

antspants · Oct 12, 2024

Just right click in Disk Management or File Explorer. If what you see when selecting "Rename" is "D" then it's just a label.

You can call it whatever you like.

If this is not the case, let us know.

Ghot · Oct 12, 2024

@LadyLee

Using just the "Disk numbers" we need you to identify which drives were the two externals.

We can see that Disk 1 is your Windows drive, and we can see that Disk 0 is a 2TB drive, and that Disk 3 is a 1TB drive.
I don't see a Disk 2 at all.

Maybe you can clarify, just using the Disk (numbers)?
Also, if there should be a Disk 2... how big was it?

Or.... if it's easier... make two Disk Management screenshots.
One with the external drives disconnected, and the other with them connected.

I'm guessing that the screenshot you posted in post #7... is with the external drives connected.
If that's the case, then please disconnect the externals and post another Disk Management screen shot.

Your Disk 0 and your Disk 3 only have one big partition on them.
Your Disk 1 has the three normal Windows partitions.

It "seems" as if the "file path" to (Disk 2, I'm guessing), is now corrupted, and Windows "thinks", it's on Disk 0 and Disk3.
What we need to do is fix the file path to Disk 2....

Did the "free space" look like this, before this all happened?

Disk 0 (D:) looks almost empty.
Disk 3 (E:) looks like it's just under 1/2 full.

That's all I got.

bobkn · Oct 12, 2024

What happened to "LadyLee's" post of Disk Management? I only see it (?) in Ghot's follow-on posts.

The boot drive is listed in "My Computer" as 2TB. However, Lenovo's spec has it as 1TB max. Also, while it's possible to assign a drive letter to a partition, all partitions of a single physical drive would appear in Disk Management under a single drive number.

My guess is that the boot drive is a 1TB SSD (Disk 1). There's also a 2TB HDD (Disk 0), which has somehow been named "D:". (It's not supposed to be permissible to use a colon in the name of a drive, but I tried it. It sort of works.)

I presume that Disk 3 is a 1TB external drive. Maybe another one was connected as Disk 2, but isn't being seen now.

I think that nothing has been lost from the internal drives in the PC.

I wonder how the drives got renamed? A Windows upgrade shouldn't have done anything like that.

LadyLee · Oct 12, 2024

I am not getting a reply button to any of the nice people trying to help me

antspants · Oct 12, 2024

LadyLee said:
I am not getting a reply button to any of the nice people trying to help me

Please look at this post, then the post after it.

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/cant-find-reply.29459/post-512106

Ghot · Oct 12, 2024

bobkn said:
What happened to "Lady Lee's" post of Disk Management?

That whole post is.... gone??

I have reproduced parts of it in post #11

antspants · Oct 12, 2024

LadyLee said:
I am not getting a reply button to any of the nice people trying to help me

Here:

Ghot · Oct 12, 2024

@LadyLee

To quote someone... use the Quote button in the lower right.

You won't see a Post Reply button, until you type something in a post.

As a test... use the Quote button at the bottom of THIS post, and in the window that opens... type: Ah, I got it now.

Then you should see a Post Reply button in the lower right.

ElevenForum is a tricky and mysterious place.

antspants · Oct 12, 2024

Well, It's always visible, it just wont do anything until you add text

LadyLee · Oct 12, 2024

Ghot said:
@LadyLee

To quote someone... use the Quote button in the lower right.

You won't see a Post Reply button, until you type something in a post.

As a test... use the Quote button at the bottom of THIS post, and in the window that opens... type: Ah, I got it now.

Then you should see a Post Reply button in the lower right.

ElevenForum is a tricky and mysterious place.

oh, i think I will try this, thanks

LadyLee · Oct 12, 2024

bobkn said:
What happened to "Lady Lee's" post of Disk Management?

I can't find a reply button on the original post

Upgrade 23H = huge mess for me (SOS!!!!)

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