Windows 10 Error 0x800f081f -Source file not found

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tallboy

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I recently upgraded my 64-bit Windows 10 system to version 10.0.105860.0. Most of the time it's OK, but sometimes after leaving it in 'Sleep' mode it comes up with a error when re-activated. I therefore ran sfc / scannow. This came up with some corrupt files that it couldn't fix. (These may or may not be associated with error occurring occassionally when returning from sleep mode.) Following advice from the web site How-to-Geek, I ran the Deployment Image Servicing and Management Tool in an Administrator elevated Command Prompt window.
This reported "Error: 0x800f081f. The source files could not be found". The Command Prompt window goes on to say "Use the 'Source' option to specify the location of the files that are required to restore the feature". It also says For more information on specifying a source location, see a Microsoft Administrator's Forum web site and I decided it's too involved for my low-level of expertise! I also Googled 0x800f081f and the Windows Forum web site came up with a long string of posts from users having the same problem after updating to version 10.0.10586.0 - some suggestion that it's a bug in the update. I also notice several posts on this forum relating to the same error and advise NOT to try the fix listed as it was specific to the person who posted the problem.Is there a simple routine that I can download and run (like the Microsoft Fit-It routines) that will locate the corrupt files and then download replacements for them from a Microsoft database? If not, how can I (a) find out which files are corrupt (possibly from the DISM log?) and (b) access a database of new replacement non-corrupt files? Having noticed a fix for one person (on this site) I hope someone a lot more technical than me can suggest a similar fix for my PC. This is a relatively newly re-built PC with 64-bit Windows 10, a Gigabyte motherboard with Intel i5 processor.


Incidentally, I've also tried going back a few 'notches' of System Restore but Windows said it encountered a file it couldn't change (it suggested it might be 'protected by my AV application - which is Kaspersky Total Security) and hence it didn't restore. At the 'worst case' I do have a system image taken shortly after the November 10 upgrade to version 10.0.10586.0 so if all else fails, I could use that.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Since I'm old and habitually stubborn, I hope you won't mind if I side-step the whole DISM approach & ruminate on the original error regarding hibernation. [System File Checker, for all its abilities, seems to almost always find a few files as corrupted and can't replace... it's been having similar issues since it's appearance in Windows XP ... if the number of supposedly corrupted files was four or six - might just be a repeat of an old glitch ---- and for DISM = that problem really just means what it says, and doesn't necessarily have to do with any error state on your system (the program might simply be looking in the wrong place] ... Should you wish to return to a DISM approach later on, no problem ... I just figured maybe we'd find a quick-fix solution & get lucky.

Check for a Bios Update
So - regarding hibernation - if you wish, post the error message that you receive when you wake your computer from sleep, & we'll see if there's a clue there. In the meantime, though = visit the support website for your computer (hp.com, dell.com, sony.com, toshiba.com, etc....) and see if there's a recent update for your computer's BIOS. If there is a more recent version available than the one already installed, download and install the most recent version. BIOS updates have helped a lot of users with Windows 10 hibernate issues (especially HP and Dell customers).

Be careful to follow the installation instructions exactly when updating the BIOS. Most importantly, if your computer is a laptop: make sure to have the AC adapter cord plugged in during the update (it is not good to lose power during a BIOS update). Most BIOS updates come with complete instructions. Generally you download an executable file (a tiny program), run it - and the program restarts your computer, & installs the update before Windows loads.

See how it goes.


[late edit: ... just to be sure: only download and install a BIOS listed for your exact model ... you want to visit the support page for your exact model only ... (as listed on a sticker on your PC somewhere, or often shown in the Bios Setup screens)]
 
P.S. .... one more thing for you to check:

1) Right-click on the Windows Start icon, and select Device Manager.
2) Left-click on the arrow next to System Devices.
3) Right-click on Intel(R) Management Engine Interface .... (if you don't see it, you can exit Device Manager now .... the issue won't apply to your system)
4) Left-click on Properties.
5) Left-click on the Driver tab.
6) Note what version of the driver is installed, and post that information here.

There is a "known issue" with some machines, that concerns the newer version 11 drivers. Installing either the 9 or 10 versions seems to help a lot of users. A few techs have posted full step-by-step instructions for that, let us know if you'd like those.
 
OldGrayGary said:
P.S. .... one more thing for you to check:

1) Right-click on the Windows Start icon, and select Device Manager.
2) Left-click on the arrow next to System Devices.
3) Right-click on Intel(R) Management Engine Interface .... (if you don't see it, you can exit Device Manager now .... the issue won't apply to your system)
4) Left-click on Properties.
5) Left-click on the Driver tab.
6) Note what version of the driver is installed, and post that information here.

There is a "known issue" with some machines, that concerns the newer version 11 drivers. Installing either the 9 or 10 versions seems to help a lot of users. A few techs have posted full step-by-step instructions for that, let us know if you'd like those.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for the two posts OldGaryGary. I tried the above & would comment as follows:

1. When I Right Click on the Start menu the list comes up but is not active - with either the left or the right mouse click. (I've found this happened a couple of days ago when I wanted a Command prompt.) This may have something to do with the corrupt file problem I'm trying to find / solve. However, if you type Device Manager into the web & windows search, you can call up the Device Manager.

2. The driver is version 11.0.0.1166 issued 31/08/2015. Please let me have instructions as to how to drop this back to versions 9 or 10. (And where to download it from.)

Regarding the BIOS / UEFI Firmware: I haven't checked this out yet - but I will do. My machine was re-built in July last year from my 2009 Eclipse PC. It now has a Gigabyte motherboard and Intel i5 processor. The firmware should be virtually current - but I need to install & run Speecy to get all the info before looking for any later versions. I'll do that in the morning and report back.

I did try running a Repair Install earlier today. That went OK until the screen after accepting the Microsoft licence. That would only let me chose a complete install. I understand that was because I keep all my data files on Drives D: & E: and the process will only accept user files on Drive C: if you select the first option. Since I have over 300GB of user data, I'm not moving it! Why you can (effectively) run the same process when you do an Upgrade with all your files on non-C: drives but can't do it with a Repair Install, beats me.

Incidentally, when I upgraded my wife's 2009 Dell Studio to the latest version of Windows 10 it stopped communicating with the Internet. I had to restore the earlier version, capture all the older drivers, re-run the upgrade and then return to the older drivers to get it to work OK! (So much for driver 'improvements'.)

I look forward to hearing from you about the IMEI driver.
 
Hi again ... sorry for my delay (we have out-of-town visitors this week) ...

I'll paste in here a procedure for going back to a version 10 or 9 driver for the Intel MEI... A smart grad student named Dan G. figured it all out & was nice enough to post it for the rest of us. It is basically leaving your current driver installed, then changing a setting so that your Intel MEI drivers won't get automatically updated by Windows 10 (you have to download a Microsoft tool for that), then "downgrading" to the version 10 or 9 driver. Mr. Dan was nice enough to include links to the Microsoft tool, and to the Intel drivers also ...

Here it is:
  1. Download version 9 or 10 of the Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) Driver.
  2. Download the Windows 10 "Show or Hide Updates" Troubleshooter Package (http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/2/2/F22D5FDB-59CD-4275-8C95-1BE17BF70B21/wushowhide.diagcab).
  3. Change the Windows Update Services setting from Automatic (Delayed Start) to Manual.
    • In the Control Panel, select Administrative Tools and open Services.
    • Scroll down to Windows Update and double-click it to bring up its properties.
    • Click Stop to stop the service from running.
    • Change the Startup Type to Manual and click OK.
  4. Install version 9 or 10 of the Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) Driver. If you receive a dialog warning about replacing a newer version of the software, accept it.
    • NOTE: You do NOT need to uninstall version 11 before installing version 9 or 10. The presence of some version of the driver is required in order to "upgrade" (or in this case downgrade) it.
  5. Run the Windows 10 "Show or Hide Updates" Troubleshooter Package and hide updates to the Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) Driver. (Doing so will block your system from automatically reinstalling or showing updates for version 11 of the driver.)
  6. Change the Windows Update Services setting from Manual back to Automatic (Delayed Start).
  7. Restart your computer.
  8. Rejoice! You can finally sleep and shut down again.
    16x16_smiley-happy.gif
Click to expand...
_______________

If the Intel driver change, and the Bios update, don't provide any relief for the hibernation/sleep issues, some users have luck by turning off the Fast Startup component in Windows 10 (the default behavior of Windows 10 is a sort of hybrid hibernation at system shutdown, rather than a full old-fashioned shutdown). If you want to try that angle as well, here are the steps for that:
1) Go to the Control Panel
2) Go to Power Options
3) In Power options, on the left hand side, select Choose what the power buttons do
4) Select Change settings that are currently unavailable
5) Scroll down to the Shutdown Settings section
6) Remove the checkmark from the Turn on Fast Startup option button
7) Select Save changes
8) Shutdown the computer.
9) Wait a minute or so, and power on again.
_______________

Start Menu issues -- sorry to hear that you are having more issues than just the hibernation trouble. During beta testing there were a few builds of Windows 10 that had Start Menu issues. Most of them were fixed, so I'll look to see if there are any magic spells to restore the Start Menu to health. I'll post what I find here a bit later on.
_______________

"Reinstalling" while saving files ... in Windows 10
You mentioned not having an option to save your personal data while reinstalling Windows 10. Where you using the Reset options in Settings---Update & Security---Recovery---Reset My PC? At that point, you should have seen a screen saying "Choose an option" ... with two options: 1) Keep my files ... and 2) Remove everything. Did you get to that last step and not have the option to "Keep my files"? ... let me know if so.
_______________

.... Time for more coffee & conversation, but I'll check back later on ....
 
OldGrayGary said:
Hi again ... sorry for my delay (we have out-of-town visitors this week) ...

I'll paste in here a procedure for going back to a version 10 or 9 driver for the Intel MEI... A smart grad student named Dan G. figured it all out & was nice enough to post it for the rest of us. It is basically leaving your current driver installed, then changing a setting so that your Intel MEI drivers won't get automatically updated by Windows 10 (you have to download a Microsoft tool for that), then "downgrading" to the version 10 or 9 driver. Mr. Dan was nice enough to include links to the Microsoft tool, and to the Intel drivers also ...

Here it is:
  1. Download version 9 or 10 of the Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) Driver.
  2. Download the Windows 10 "Show or Hide Updates" Troubleshooter Package (http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/2/2/F22D5FDB-59CD-4275-8C95-1BE17BF70B21/wushowhide.diagcab).
  3. Change the Windows Update Services setting from Automatic (Delayed Start) to Manual.
    • In the Control Panel, select Administrative Tools and open Services.
    • Scroll down to Windows Update and double-click it to bring up its properties.
    • Click Stop to stop the service from running.
    • Change the Startup Type to Manual and click OK.
  4. Install version 9 or 10 of the Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) Driver. If you receive a dialog warning about replacing a newer version of the software, accept it.
    • NOTE: You do NOT need to uninstall version 11 before installing version 9 or 10. The presence of some version of the driver is required in order to "upgrade" (or in this case downgrade) it.
  5. Run the Windows 10 "Show or Hide Updates" Troubleshooter Package and hide updates to the Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) Driver. (Doing so will block your system from automatically reinstalling or showing updates for version 11 of the driver.)
  6. Change the Windows Update Services setting from Manual back to Automatic (Delayed Start).
  7. Restart your computer.
  8. Rejoice! You can finally sleep and shut down again.
    16x16_smiley-happy.gif
Click to expand...
_______________

If the Intel driver change, and the Bios update, don't provide any relief for the hibernation/sleep issues, some users have luck by turning off the Fast Startup component in Windows 10 (the default behavior of Windows 10 is a sort of hybrid hibernation at system shutdown, rather than a full old-fashioned shutdown). If you want to try that angle as well, here are the steps for that:
1) Go to the Control Panel
2) Go to Power Options
3) In Power options, on the left hand side, select Choose what the power buttons do
4) Select Change settings that are currently unavailable
5) Scroll down to the Shutdown Settings section
6) Remove the checkmark from the Turn on Fast Startup option button
7) Select Save changes
8) Shutdown the computer.
9) Wait a minute or so, and power on again.
_______________

Start Menu issues -- sorry to hear that you are having more issues than just the hibernation trouble. During beta testing there were a few builds of Windows 10 that had Start Menu issues. Most of them were fixed, so I'll look to see if there are any magic spells to restore the Start Menu to health. I'll post what I find here a bit later on.
_______________

"Reinstalling" while saving files ... in Windows 10
You mentioned not having an option to save your personal data while reinstalling Windows 10. Where you using the Reset options in Settings---Update & Security---Recovery---Reset My PC? At that point, you should have seen a screen saying "Choose an option" ... with two options: 1) Keep my files ... and 2) Remove everything. Did you get to that last step and not have the option to "Keep my files"? ... let me know if so.
_______________

.... Time for more coffee & conversation, but I'll check back later on ....
Click to expand...

Many thanks for the detailed reply OldGrayGary. I think I have fixed (fingers crossed) all my problems so far - except one I have for ages. (I'll come back to that.)

Yesterday morning I thought I would 'bite the bullet', so I restored my PC to the image I took on 28 November, immediately after upgrading to Windows 10.0.10856.0 and then added all the Windows Updates - plus a few programs I had installed since Nov 28 - back on. So far no obvious problems or corruptions - although I've yet to run sfc /scannow or DISM. The list of functions that occur when you right click the Start Button, now work correctly, and so far, no problems when returning from Sleep Mode. (This was a PAGE_NOT_FOUND error.) Regarding the latter error, several folks had posted on other forums that they found NCH software caused this error. Since I had several NCH audio applications (which I was only trialling anyway) I removed them. May be that was my problem too.

Returning to the question of my BIOS; I've now installed Speecy and this reports that the Firmware is American Megatrends Inc. Version F7 dated 30/05/2014. This is older than I expected it to be (for a virtually new PC) and so I have emailed AMI asking if there is a later version of firmware. (Their site doesn't appear to have a Downloads section.) If there is a later version (with clear installation instructions!) I may upgrade it.

As far as Intel MEI Driver is concerned, if I don't get any more error / corruptions, I leave it at version 11. If I do, then I'll certainly try 'dropping back' to version 9 or 10. Many thanks for posting the 'How to' instructions from Dan G.

The one problem I've had for a long time (and have yet to find a permanent solution for) is the start-up state of my Windows Live Mail program. Every time this starts up for the first time after switch-on (and sometimes if it's been closed with the PC left powered up - but not always), it does so with a black pane-wide bar where the tools bar is normally and in a continuous 'wait' state. The only way to close it down is via the Task Manager. You then have to run Windows Live Essentials repair routine to get it to start up correctly. I now have a short cut on my desk top for this, so I activate it each time I switch my PC on!

Admittedly I do have a LOT of Storage folders and about 9GB of email messages - some historic from when we built our own house in 2011 and had endless messages relating to that which occasionally I have to refer back to. May be I'm just pushing it to far as I don't have this problem on my wife's PC - either with her messages, or mine - but there's far less messages on that PC. I'v started to look at other Offline email readers, but I don't want the 'hassle' of changing if I can find a permanent fix. And not every offline reader can import WLM messages. (The popular Firefox Thunderbird won't for example.)

If you have any ideas as to why Windows Essentials can repair it, but the 'fix' does't hold permanently, please let me know! Thanks again for your help & suggestions - time for a cuppa!
 
Glad to hear that you've had a lot of good progress! I wouldn't worry too much about those fixes for the hibernation issues - if your system isn't having that trouble anymore. A lot of the fixes are rather unfortunately of the "workaround" variety. They help things work OK until a Windows Update fixes whatever was wrong in the first place. Or a driver update from a manufacturer works better (or both!).....

I've read up a little on the Windows Live Mail situation ... so far, for folks needing local backups of their mail (via a "desktop client"), I've been recommending Thunderbird (since it's free, well-supported, and secure ... and not being "pushed out the door" by its designers). I also recommend MS Outlook to people who already have it installed as part of Microsoft Office (so long as they remember to also check the setting "leave a copy on the server", so that they keep access to their mail by smartphones, tablets, and other computers).

It turns out you can import your email, contacts, and such from Windows Live Mail into Thunderbird. They have a nice set of step-by-step tutorials for that. It turns out you download and use a third-party Mozilla Add-on called ImportExport Tools. All the info for that, and links to the add-on, are available over on a Mozilla support page. Here's the link:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switching-thunderbird

I think the article covers both Windows Live Mail & Windows Mail (along with a bunch of others).

Since I'm enrolled in the Windows 10 Insider program, I read a lot about future plans for the Windows world. And most of what I hear as to Windows Live Mail is that it seems to be on its way out. As I put it in another thread: it seems "popular but doomed".

I'm hoping your computer year might be fairly smooth here pretty soon :)
 
OldGrayGary said:
Glad to hear that you've had a lot of good progress! I wouldn't worry too much about those fixes for the hibernation issues - if your system isn't having that trouble anymore. A lot of the fixes are rather unfortunately of the "workaround" variety. They help things work OK until a Windows Update fixes whatever was wrong in the first place. Or a driver update from a manufacturer works better (or both!).....

I've read up a little on the Windows Live Mail situation ... so far, for folks needing local backups of their mail (via a "desktop client"), I've been recommending Thunderbird (since it's free, well-supported, and secure ... and not being "pushed out the door" by its designers). I also recommend MS Outlook to people who already have it installed as part of Microsoft Office (so long as they remember to also check the setting "leave a copy on the server", so that they keep access to their mail by smartphones, tablets, and other computers).

It turns out you can import your email, contacts, and such from Windows Live Mail into Thunderbird. They have a nice set of step-by-step tutorials for that. It turns out you download and use a third-party Mozilla Add-on called ImportExport Tools. All the info for that, and links to the add-on, are available over on a Mozilla support page. Here's the link:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/switching-thunderbird

I think the article covers both Windows Live Mail & Windows Mail (along with a bunch of others).

Since I'm enrolled in the Windows 10 Insider program, I read a lot about future plans for the Windows world. And most of what I hear as to Windows Live Mail is that it seems to be on its way out. As I put it in another thread: it seems "popular but doomed".

I'm hoping your computer year might be fairly smooth here pretty soon :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply. My PC is still behaving itself! (Apart from Windows Live Mail.) When you have ample storage space (which I do - an external Toshiba 4GB hard drive and a 2GB Buffalo external with hardware encryption - which is really useful for backing up personal data on) taking regular Images is often an easier way of fixing obscure problems. OK, it might take 45 mins to create the image and 60 mins to put it back at a later stage - but you can be doing something else whilst that process is happening.

Thanks too for the Thunderbird info - I'm glad to hear that there's a Third Party app that can enable importing WLM messages. I would use Microsoft Outlook if I could justify (or have reason to) buying the current version of MS Office. My version is 2007, which already does much more that I require (I'm retired). If MS Outlook was available by itself, I would buy it as I'm already very familiar with it, having used it at work for longer than I care to remember. I haven't looked at Windows Mail bundled with Windows 10, but if I recall correctly, it's a 'cloud'-based app with no local message store. Fine if your using Windows 10 on a Lumina phone, but not good if you're on a powerful desktop. Really, only (possibly) a step up from gmail.

I'm not surprised to hear that WLM is on the way out. The last version, which I use (as do thousands of PC users) is 2012. It's simple & effective. If only I could find a permanent fix for the black bar I get in place of the tools ribbon!

Time for lunch. Thanks again for all you help.
 
Hi again

I forgot to ask if you've installed the update from mid-December (2015) for Windows Live Mail? I imagine you likely have it already, but just in case: it's Knowledge Base article is KB3093594. It would show up in your "update history" in Windows Update if you've got it (or you could search in Programs & Features - choosing the "show updates" option). If you haven't tried the update yet, here's a direct link to the Microsoft site with details, requirements, instructions & of course: the download itself:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dow...f8cca344c5ee8bce413e)(259740)(2542549)(d_wp)()

I have a few older program favorites that I keep running, too. They are like old shoes ... they fit well, and they just don't make the exact style anymore!
 
OldGrayGary said:
Hi again

I forgot to ask if you've installed the update from mid-December (2015) for Windows Live Mail? I imagine you likely have it already, but just in case: it's Knowledge Base article is KB3093594. It would show up in your "update history" in Windows Update if you've got it (or you could search in Programs & Features - choosing the "show updates" option). If you haven't tried the update yet, here's a direct link to the Microsoft site with details, requirements, instructions & of course: the download itself:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dow...f8cca344c5ee8bce413e)(259740)(2542549)(d_wp)()

I have a few older program favorites that I keep running, too. They are like old shoes ... they fit well, and they just don't make the exact style anymore!
Click to expand...

Hi again

I've installed all the updates that Microsoft has sent me (up until yesterday evening) but I can't see KB30933594 listed when I ask Windows 10 to list the updates. Of course, it may be in one of the 'bundles', but just in case it's not, I've downloaded & run it anyway. I'll let you know if it fixes the problem when I've powered down a few times. Many thanks for the direct link.

Talking of 'old shoes' I have some really old (1994) Quattro Pro files I need to open up. I've just found a solution! Install Libre Office - this will open .wb1 & .wbs files (Open Office only goes back to .wb2 files) then save them as Excel 2007 files. So far, I've not found any translation errors. That can't be bad for 22 year old files! (It even beats the old shoes!!)
 
OOPS .... OK, so I didn't look at the details for that update (you'll probably get an error message if you try it) ... it turns out that it is meant for Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 .... Ugh.

No mention of Windows 10 support. Darn. I had my hopes up.

But I did notice a thread in another forum with several longtime users of Windows Live Mail trying to get it to keep going (at least for a few more months) ... Some had luck doing a "repair" (in Programs & Features) and one mentioned removing the other Windows Essentials except Live Mail. Here's a link to their discussions:
https://windowsforum.com/threads/windows-live-mail-fails-to-start-up-correctly.215994/

It's funny that quite a few of these fellows have migrated to Thunderbird .... I'm guessing they might have a few favorite old shoes, too :)


P.S. ... glad that LibreOffice is helping with file conversions ... LibreOffice has been improving over the years (it used to be OpenOffice, but became an independent branch when Sun/Oracle took OpenOffice private). Linux has been getting better every year, too - but I wonder if it's too little, too late for Linux. I actually use Linux computers for most of my remote repairs for my customers...
 
OldGrayGary said:
OOPS .... OK, so I didn't look at the details for that update (you'll probably get an error message if you try it) ... it turns out that it is meant for Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 .... Ugh.

No mention of Windows 10 support. Darn. I had my hopes up.

But I did notice a thread in another forum with several longtime users of Windows Live Mail trying to get it to keep going (at least for a few more months) ... Some had luck doing a "repair" (in Programs & Features) and one mentioned removing the other Windows Essentials except Live Mail. Here's a link to their discussions:
https://windowsforum.com/threads/windows-live-mail-fails-to-start-up-correctly.215994/

It's funny that quite a few of these fellows have migrated to Thunderbird .... I'm guessing they might have a few favorite old shoes, too :)


P.S. ... glad that LibreOffice is helping with file conversions ... LibreOffice has been improving over the years (it used to be OpenOffice, but became an independent branch when Sun/Oracle took OpenOffice private). Linux has been getting better every year, too - but I wonder if it's too little, too late for Linux. I actually use Linux computers for most of my remote repairs for my customers...
Click to expand...

HaHa, you've found me out OldGrayGary! I started that post on Windows Forum. I haven't been back to it for a while, but I see I'm not alone in having WLM problems of one sort or another.

The installation of the WLM patch hasn't made any difference - good or bad (i.e. no error messages showed up) and it's not listed in installed updates even after running it, so may be Windows 10 just ignored it. I'll try the idea of removing the other Windows Essentials programs that I don't use. If that works, it will do as a 'stop gap' until I get everything switched over to Thunderbird.

I see you'r a Linux user. I worked for Silicon Graphics (SGI) for 10 years with Irix machines. (On the marketing rather than the technical team). Sun and HP were our 'arch rivals' - but I had friends in both companies. One of my tech wizz-kids colleagues developed the code for the reflecting turning Microsoft screen saver. (the code was originally written for the SGI screen saver). He's still working in high performance 3D computer graphics, as is another technical wizz-kid colleague David Hughes, the creator of SGI Reality Centres which he & I marketed together. (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDMjqCrV_u4 if you have 20 mins to spare.)
 
Mr. Hughes has a seriously cool job (thanks for the video link!) .... I watch a lot of science specials on NOVA, etc. ... and I think they might be coming up with one involving the 3D tech that he demonstrates in the video.

I worked on some Unix mainframes briefly at TRW back in the late 70s/early 80s ... then for 25 years on Tandem Non-Stop, DEC VAX, and various HP boxes... Linux is a nice branch of Unix (Irix was darn fabulous in its day, too) ... pretty funny to me that the high-priced Apple personal computers are somewhat of a branch of Linux (generally available in free open-source distributions) ...

Enjoy those magnificent friends!
 
OldGrayGary said:
Mr. Hughes has a seriously cool job (thanks for the video link!) .... I watch a lot of science specials on NOVA, etc. ... and I think they might be coming up with one involving the 3D tech that he demonstrates in the video.

I worked on some Unix mainframes briefly at TRW back in the late 70s/early 80s ... then for 25 years on Tandem Non-Stop, DEC VAX, and various HP boxes... Linux is a nice branch of Unix (Irix was darn fabulous in its day, too) ... pretty funny to me that the high-priced Apple personal computers are somewhat of a branch of Linux (generally available in free open-source distributions) ...

Enjoy those magnificent friends!
Click to expand...

Yes, there's a bunch of us ex-SGI folks who communicate with each other via LinkedIn. (They're based just down the road from the old SGI buildings in Mountain View.) One of the 'gang' now works for Google as a senior graphics man. He told me the other day that it seems strange going back to the old SGI campus in Mountain View; it's all occupied by Google now! (SGI was taken over by Rackable Systems Inc.) Those were the days!
 
Yes, there's a bunch of us ex-SGI folks who communicate with each other via LinkedIn. (They're based just down the road from the old SGI buildings in Mountain View.) One of the 'gang' now works for Google as a senior graphics man. He told me the other day that it seems strange going back to the old SGI campus in Mountain View; it's all occupied by Google now! (SGI was taken over by Rackable Systems Inc.) Those were the days!

I think I have 'cracked' the WLM problem! I took up your suggestion (thanks for that) of deleting other applications in Windows Essentials. I did that, just leaving Messenger, which I use occasionally. So far, after several on / offs, the problem has not reappeared. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't.

I now have a new problem:

Ever since I upgraded to Windows 10 I have used the 'Sleep' mode successfully on a daily basis and it has always worked - which was not the case on my Windows 7 installation!


Yesterday, I installed KB3124262 (Cumulative Update for Windows 10 version 1511) together with an Intel Driver update for HD Graphics 4600, both updates being automatically downloaded via Windows Update.


Now when I select 'Sleep' mode, the system partially shut down; the screen goes blank, the 'operating' lights on the PC go off but at least one of the fans keeps running. Trying to re-start it via a left mouse button click doesn't work and the only way to get it to come back to life correctly is to push the off button until it stops completely and then start from scratch. Is this a new 'feature' of the latest update? Anyone any ideas how to fix it?


Ironically, for some time I had been planning to implement the 'Hibernate' feature. I have just done that and it works OK! My PC is Windows 10 Pro 64-bit on an almost new i5 system built on a Gigabyte motherboard. If you have any ideas what's the cause and how to fix it, please let me know.
 
Hmmm.... I just received that update roll-up earlier today too ... Seems like I heard that some of the bigger Windows 10 updates are re-setting things more than we'd expect. Why not have a good long look at the setting in your Windows 10 "Power Options" (in the Control Panel ... or just type in "Power Options" in Search/Cortana) ... Keep an eye open for a blue link that mentions "change settings that are currently unavailable" and choose that, then explore the options in there. Especially look for a setting that asks for "what the power button does when pressed" - because there are several options.

It might be that your computer went into hibernate rather than sleep ... hibernate requires you to briefly push on the power button to resume (moving or clicking with the mouse wouldn't do anything, nor would pressing keys on the keyboard).

I'll test things a little on my Windows 10 laptops later tonight .... right now I'm on one of my Linux computers.

Think I might need a cup of coffee, too ... it's been a long day ...
 
OldGrayGary said:
Hmmm.... I just received that update roll-up earlier today too ... Seems like I heard that some of the bigger Windows 10 updates are re-setting things more than we'd expect. Why not have a good long look at the setting in your Windows 10 "Power Options" (in the Control Panel ... or just type in "Power Options" in Search/Cortana) ... Keep an eye open for a blue link that mentions "change settings that are currently unavailable" and choose that, then explore the options in there. Especially look for a setting that asks for "what the power button does when pressed" - because there are several options.

It might be that your computer went into hibernate rather than sleep ... hibernate requires you to briefly push on the power button to resume (moving or clicking with the mouse wouldn't do anything, nor would pressing keys on the keyboard).

I'll test things a little on my Windows 10 laptops later tonight .... right now I'm on one of my Linux computers.

Think I might need a cup of coffee, too ... it's been a long day ...
Click to expand...

Hi again OldGraygary. Thanks for the info. I think I have explored all the choices that the 'Power Options' gives you - all to no avail. I set my PC to go into sleep mode after 15 mins of no activity and then left it. Sure enough it went to sleep - but only 'half sleep' with the fan motor (or one of them) still running. I had to power in down (fully) to get it back. Just touching the Power Button on the PC case didn't do the necessary; neither did hitting any key or the LH mouse button. It was just the same as if I had gone into sleep manually.

I have now selected the option that stops you seeing the 'Sleep' choice so that I don't accidentally hit it. (I'll put it back when / if I find a solution). I have left the Hibernate choice that I added. Someone (on the UK PC Advisor forum) suggested that the problem could be caused by the chipset driver. Since there was an Intel HD graphics driver update at the same time as the last Microsoft cumulative updates, I might try & roll the Intel driver back to see if that fixes it.

BTW, where are you geographically? I hope you're not on the Eastern board of the USA with all that snow! We're in Scotland, a few miles south of the Cairn Gorms mountains. The snow the Eastern board had landed here as rain (worst on our West Coast) - but we have very strong winds today. (132 mph on top of the mountains!)
 
Windows 10 Updates have been proving to be more entertaining than expected. No sure-fire remedy yet for the Sleep mode issue: I looked a bit, but nothing looks like a slam-dunk yet.

You know, sometimes Microsoft issues an update, but finds a flaw in it, and then reissues that update with "flawless" code: you could try uninstalling the recent updates, waiting a few days, and them letting them reinstall. If a newer version has been posted - it might work better.

You could also, just to see, run the power troubleshooter (this is one I've never tried myself .... didn't even know it existed)
a. Press windows key + X key.
b. Select control panel.
c. Select troubleshooter.
d. Click system and security and run the power troubleshooter.
_______________

My grandfather on my father's side had his Scottish "coat of arms" on his mantle. We used to kid him about it, since the family comes from England, Scotland, Ireland & France ... He had a "genealogy service" to look up family history [so, the results might be mythological :) ] ... our last name is Routh, and my parents on a visit to England found a town named Routh (but all such Rouths were either dead or elsewhere) ... We've been in the States for a long enough time that no one is sure when we got here. Since my father was in the Air Force when young, we lived in a lot of places. Been in California mostly, since the mid-70s. My wife & I (& kids ... nest not empty yet) are in Woodland Hills nowadays, a suburb of Los Angeles in San Fernando Valley just north of the city. Pretty warm here most of the time ... a bit warmer than most of us would like! [... do you happen to enjoy the musical group "The Corries"? - they've been a favorite of mine since the 70's .."...many a bonnie Jean in the streets of Aberdeen, but the fleur of them all bides in Fivee-O" ] ... Cheers

(P.S. ... 78 degrees F or 25.5 degrees C here in the Valley today )
 
OldGrayGary said:
Windows 10 Updates have been proving to be more entertaining than expected. No sure-fire remedy yet for the Sleep mode issue: I looked a bit, but nothing looks like a slam-dunk yet.

You know, sometimes Microsoft issues an update, but finds a flaw in it, and then reissues that update with "flawless" code: you could try uninstalling the recent updates, waiting a few days, and them letting them reinstall. If a newer version has been posted - it might work better.

You could also, just to see, run the power troubleshooter (this is one I've never tried myself .... didn't even know it existed)
a. Press windows key + X key.
b. Select control panel.
c. Select troubleshooter.
d. Click system and security and run the power troubleshooter.
_______________

My grandfather on my father's side had his Scottish "coat of arms" on his mantle. We used to kid him about it, since the family comes from England, Scotland, Ireland & France ... He had a "genealogy service" to look up family history [so, the results might be mythological :) ] ... our last name is Routh, and my parents on a visit to England found a town named Routh (but all such Rouths were either dead or elsewhere) ... We've been in the States for a long enough time that no one is sure when we got here. Since my father was in the Air Force when young, we lived in a lot of places. Been in California mostly, since the mid-70s. My wife & I (& kids ... nest not empty yet) are in Woodland Hills nowadays, a suburb of Los Angeles in San Fernando Valley just north of the city. Pretty warm here most of the time ... a bit warmer than most of us would like! [... do you happen to enjoy the musical group "The Corries"? - they've been a favorite of mine since the 70's .."...many a bonnie Jean in the streets of Aberdeen, but the fleur of them all bides in Fivee-O" ] ... Cheers

(P.S. ... 78 degrees F or 25.5 degrees C here in the Valley today )
Click to expand...

Thanks for the further post. First I tried your suggestion of the Power Troubleshooter. That just reported that my time before sleep was too long and simply reset it to 15 minutes. It didn't fix the problem. I then un-installed the latest Microsoft update, and the problem still existed. I wouldn't have thought the 3-4 maintenance programs I added around the time of the update (before I realised there was a cumulative update imminent) would have caused the sleep problem - but they might. I've now re-installed the latest update and left the Sleep problem as it was. As mentioned previously (I think!) I have now instigated Hibernate. That works almost as fast as sleep. It takes a bit longer to shut down, but it's virtually as quick to come back to where you left off. Also, I'm sure Microsoft tell you to touch the PC Power Button to start up the PC again. On my PC it comes back with a click of the left mouse button - just the same as Sleep. Is Windows 10 mixing up the two routines?

After doing these two tasks and with the PC appearing to work OK in all other aspects, I did a SFC / Scannow and DISM run in the Administrator Command Prompt screen. I got the same error message that instigated this post in the first place (Error: 0x800f081f) Ugh! Until such time that my PC ceases to function in some way, I think I'll live with it as the 'fix' ("Use the 'Source' option to specify the location of the files that are required to restore the feature". It also says For more information on specifying a source location, see a Microsoft Administrator's Forum web site) is too involved for me - I'd probably screw something else up! No doubt Microsoft will issue another Windows 10 'build' before July is here (a year after intro) so hopefully the error will get fixed then, if not before.

BTW, I found out what was causing none of the entries in the 'Programs & Features list to show up when you do a left mouse button click on the Start Button list; it was a Shell extension on the SurDoc backup software I was trying. As soon as I prevented it from running at start-up, the list actions worked. Apparently quite a few people have had problems with this list not functioning as a result of different Shell extensions. I'v now removed SurDoc altogether as I use a UK Cloud-based server for online backup storage. (As well as my local external disks).

_____________________

You beat me on Scottish heritage - I have none (that I'm aware of) - we just live here to be nearer to the Children. I come from the Midlands (Coventry - I'm a Freeman of the City of Coventry having done an electronics apprenticeship there) but it's a long time since we have been there, yet alone lived there. Most of my working life has been spent in the Thames Valley - the UK's equivalent of Silicon Valley. We spent a short while living in Portland, Oregon, when I worked for Tektronix (20 years for them in the UK) and more recently I worked for Overland Storage (UK - after SGI) who are based in San Diego so I know the Californian / Oregon coast fairly well. Right now, we could do with some of your sunshine - It's been snowing all day and it's -0.6C outside with blizzard conditions! I expect we've got the 'tail end' of the stuff New York had.

The Corries are quite popular here, but I don't have any of their CDs. I'll have to download a few of their tracks to listen to on my tablet / MP3 player.

Time for another cuppa....
 
I have to admit that the Power Options in Windows 10 are so numerous (in the advanced settings, especially) that what each button does to wake the system can get unnecessarily complicated. (It's almost as bad as my grammar ... to complicated for my own good).

Odd that a shell extension on a backup app messed with Programs & Features! Haven't seen that before. Glad you figured that one out. Some "handy-dandy" apps make lots of changes to the shell (such as the Explorer extensions that are optional in Classic menu) ... but I'm still bewildered by the backup app getting involved in those. Never a dull moment, looks like.
_______________

The Midlands probably seem tropical now, huh :) ..... Just to make you feel better, the Valley cooled back down to its average winter temp - in the high 50s/lmid 60s F, with rain expected later tonight & tomorrow ... We don't see real snow here unless we go up to the local mountains (about an hours drive) - skiing is pretty nice up there. Looks like your local mountains have some good skiing too (probably a lot more snow, too). ... the reason the temps go up and down so much here in the Valley is that the natural habitat here is actually a semi-desert, with the large variations between night-time lows and day-time highs... an aqueduct from Northern California changed everything quite a bit as far as growing things & drinking water, but the climate isn't all that affected by a few reservoirs :) .... Cheers!
 

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