Doesn't Windows setup disk give you the option to reinstall just the OS but leave your files(and maybe settings) alone these days?
I gave up windows 20+ years ago for these very types of issues. I've been running Linux/Ubuntu/Kubuntu since then.
Separating concerns isn't a bad idea. Below, John folder has docs, pics, downloads etc etc but also a bunch of config files. Linux sticks all your config files with setting etc in your Home folder. File System has Linux and installed programs. I have two hard drives in this laptop so during installation of Linux, I chose to use one for my home folder, John and the other drive for File System. I could wipe the system drive, reinstall Linux and any programs and it would be like nothing had changed. Same browser tabs would open with same browsing history. All programs would be set up the same and show recent files opened etc. Same desktop theme, layout, colors.
Linux updates generally don't require a reboot. If it does, it takes maybe 10-15 seconds longer than a regular reboot. No 20 minute bs. I use windows at work but the IT guys update them when no one's working.
Ok, I have a modest thread started here that anyone with a Win 10 computer probably should read through:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4341085/posts
The “killer” is that it appears Microsoft is trying to “snuff” old machines via updates. For sure, the latest updates can kill a Win 10 machine, and since the recovery drive / disk, if you have one, once started, contains an “old” version of the OS, the machine will immediately try to update. If you download the latest copy of Win 10 for a bootable USB flash drive, it will have the update, and it may kill your computer anyway.
This post has the most damning accusation:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4341085/posts?page=38#38
and ordinarily I’d say “no way”, but, the evidence on my end fits.
I’d recommend pausing any updates for as long as you can, immediately, for anyone with a Win 10 machine, and do a backup immediately. But, even then, you may not be able to use the computer online for long, as Microsoft forces you to eventually do an update. The max pause is currently 35 days if you’ve had an update installed recently. If the machine starts to download an update, I’d say disconnect from the web quickly, before it can begin installation. I believe a notification can be turned on for this. If it starts an update installation, you may be in considerable trouble.
I’d also export all your bookmarks to a flash drive, and also try to save any custom dictionary files you may have.
Microsoft, it appears, has gone from very annoying to insidious. :-(
I’m “lucky” because the laptop machine I’m on now is a Win 11 Pro, and I have a Win 11 Pro desktop that I’d just begun to put programs (apps) on, and I have a “data” drive separate from the OS and Programs drive, and then a copy of the data drive, in the old Win 10 Pro desktop. IIRC I’d copied over my favorites from my Win 10 Pro desktop to the new machine, but, some time ago, so I’m going to have to find a way to snatch those out for the recent stuff, even though I can’t boot from the C: drive any longer. (If I stay offline, I can boot from an old copy of the OS that is still on the data drive, but, then, almost none of the apps are on that data drive, of course.)
Agghhhh!!
All this may be my last straw with Microsoft, and even if not, I may well have to go to Linux on my older machines, or just never connect them online.