Windows 10 1903 Update Black Dots Spinning (Solved)

This blog post is about how to fix the problem when after installing the ‘Feature update to Windows 10, version 1903’, you end up with black dots spinning when booting up.

Thankfully I solved this problem and I hope the information on this blog post can help others. I’m not telling you to perform the exact same solution, but sharing my experience. Personally the issue for me was a conflict with my Nvidia graphics driver.

More information
At some stage whilst attempting to get Windows 10 to boot up properly, it showed:

We couldn’t complete the updates
Undoing changes
Don’t turn off your computer

I honestly can’t remember at what stage the above was shown, but I thought I should mention it.

The solution that worked for me

Warning: I turned off power to my PC two or three times suddenly to access safe mode, which is dangerous! Turning off power like this can kill or corrupt hard drives and it is risky!! I don’t recommend doing this! It is however what I did, and I’m just telling you what I did. You perform any action at your own risk and don’t hold me responsible for any problems or costs!!!

Highlights of what I did:

1. I booted into safe mode with networking.
2. I removed my graphics drivers using DDU.
3. I installed feature 1903.
4. I then installed a graphics driver.

Part 1 – Booting into Safe Mode

1. I turned off the power two or three times just as Windows 10 was booting (read the warning above!). *
2. I choose ‘See advanced repair options’.
3. I then selected ‘Troubleshoot’.
4. Then I selected ‘Advanced options’.
5. I choose ‘Startup Settings’.
6. I selected ‘Restart’.
7. I then pressed 5, which was ‘Enable Safe Mode with Networking’.

* Please read the warning towards the top of this blog post. This action is dangerous and it’s important you read the warning.

Part 2 – Uninstalling my Nvidia Graphics Driver

1. I downloaded Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU).
2. I extracted the application from the zip file and ran the DDU software.
3. I selected, GPU, Nvidia and then ‘Clean and shutdown’.

Part 3 – I installed the Windows 10 1903 feature update
After the update had been installed, I then rebooted the computer.

Part 4 – I installed Nvidia graphics driver
Even though Windows had installed a driver again for my Nvidia graphics card, I visited the Nvidia website and installed a driver and software from their site.

Conclusion
The Window 10 problem was frustrating and time consuming to resolve, but thankfully the PC is now up and running, with no problems being experienced since.