Windows 10 Update Error - Will not boot/reinstall/reimage

[Wolfie]

Further to @Trouble's comments, if you can get into BIOS/UEFI, switch off "Fastboot" too.

And maybe "Secure Boot" too?.

Press F2 as soon as the computer starts, and you should be able to access BIOS/UEFI:

(Page 149/150 here)

http://downloads.dell.com/manuals/a..._laptop/inspiron-xps_owner's manual_en-us.pdf

 

[Snuffy]

Hi anyone & everyone,

On 03/10/20 midnight I shut down my laptop (Dell XPS circa 2016) - a Windows 10 update started and as far as I know laptop shut down as normal. Next morning, computer boots up with Dell icon and the following (3) messages: Preparing Automatic Repair, Diagnosing Your PC, Attempting Repairs -- then the blue Windows screen appears with Continue, Use a Device, Troubleshoot, etc.

Computer will not boot in Safe Mode, and I have tried:
- Startup Repair (above process occurs returning to blue screen)
- Continue to exit to Windows Recovery Environment (restarts and the whole above process occurs returning to blue screen)
- Uninstalling quality/feature updates (both return errors: "Pending update actions" and to try start up repair (which will not work)
- System restore from 2 points on 2/18 & 3/10 (error: "Failed while mounting registry from the restore point 0x80070020")
- Reset this PC - gets to about 40% and restarts, returning to blue screen

I have NOT yet attempted a Factory Image Restore in the hopes that anyone has some kind of command prompt recovery assistance or something I haven't tried. Really aghast that a failed Windows 10 update has annihilated my otherwise perfectly functioning device.

Thanks in advance.
Lili

Here are the recommendations from MS Insider Set.
This solution is to disable the automatic repair from starting if your computer fails to boot into windows.

What you will need - A Windows 10 USB-CD

Step 1: Place the CD in your drive and proceed to boot from it

Step 2: When the install screen pops up, look to the bottom left and select "Repair Your Computer".

Step 3: You will now see a screen that says "Choose an option". Select "Troubleshoot", then "Advanced Options", and finally "Command Prompt".

Step 4: You should now see the command prompt. Type "bcdedit" (without quotes) and hit enter.

Step 5: A list should have appeared. Towards the top, you should see "resumeobject" (It is under "default"). Highlight the long number, including the brackets, and copy.

Step 6: Now type "bcdedit /set (the long number you copied) recoveryenabled No" (Without quotes). Hit enter.

Step 7: You should now see the message "The operation completed successfully"

Step 8: Type "Exit" (Without quotes)

Step 9: Reboot
*******************************
Running check disk to see if your hard drive is the problem

What you will need - A Windows 8 or 8.1 CD

Step 1: Place the CD in your drive and proceed to boot from it

Step 2: When the install screen pops up, look to the bottom left and select "Repair Your Computer".

Step 3: You will now see a screen that says "Choose an option". Select "Troubleshoot", then "Advanced Options", and finally "Command Prompt".

Step 4: Type "chkdsk /r C:" (Without quotes)

Step 5: The scan should start. This could take several hours depending on the size of your hard drive.

Step 6: Once the scan is done, type "exit" (without quotes).

Step 7: Reboot

_______________________________________________________________________________________


Making sure your hard drive is first in boot priority.

What you will need - nothing

Step 1: Boot into BIOS on your computer

Step 2: Go into your boot priority list

Step 3: If you see "Windows Boot Manager" as number 1 in your priority, change it so that your hard drive is number 1.

Step 4: Save and exit BIOS

Step 5: Reboot

 

[confusedlili]

Something that might be pertinent OR perhaps not, but we've seen it before....

You should know that IF
Your install was done in compliance with UEFI / GPT standards and somehow your BIOS has been altered to legacy configuration...
That is Safe Boot has been disabled and or LEGACY has been chosen explicitly from your boot options, THEN.... your system will not boot.
IF
On the other hand your install was done in compliance with Legacy Standards and somehow the reverse has happened and your BIOS has been configured in such a manner as to support UEFI / GPT, THEN likewise your system will not boot.

It's important that you have at least a minimal understanding of what these two options entail so that you can experiment between the two and see if THAT might be what you are encountering.
Remember... It has nothing to do with what your system is capable of... It has everything to do with the state of the system when the install was performed and what state the system is currently configured to support.
That is to say what the boot process is looking for Windows Boot Manager (in the case of UEFI) OR ...
A simple MBR partition with the system files in the case of a LEGACY install.

This may help a little bit

Disable Legacy Boot Mode and Enable UEFI

Newer Windows 10 or Windows 11 PCs might require you to manually enable legacy boot mode in order to boot into older operating systems or bootable tools and utilities. However, when you’ve fi…

neosmart.net

Switching from Legacy BIOS to UEFI | DELL Technologies

My XPS 9360 (i7 7th generation with a Samsung 960 Pro 512GB I installed myself) is running well and fast. My BIOS is set as follow: Boot Sequence: Legacy (USB & PCIe) Advanced Boot Options: ...

www.dell.com

Or not

This made my head explode. I bought the laptop from Dell 4 years ago and that was that... just trying to decipher the two links will take me some time...

 

[confusedlili]

Further to @Trouble's comments, if you can get into BIOS/UEFI, switch off "Fastboot" too.

And maybe "Secure Boot" too?.

Press F2 as soon as the computer starts, and you should be able to access BIOS/UEFI:

(Page 149/150 here)

http://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_inspiron_laptop/inspiron-xps_owner's manual_en-us.pdf

Ok, so following the guides you and Trouble sent... (tried to decipher) I have:

-Enabled Legacy Option ROMs
-Enabled UEFI Network Stack
-Disabled "Enabled Attempt Legacy Boot"
-Enabled USB Boot Support
-Enabled External USB Port
-Disabled Secure Boot


Should I be doing anything different? Under BIOS Recovery the "Bios Recovery from Hard Drive" is selected.

After making all those changes the PC just cycles back to the Blue HSoD

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Lilli,

put in a WIndows 10 USB stick before starting the computer, as soon as the computer starts, press F12 and it will give you the chance to change the boot option (one time per boot cycle only). Choose the name of the USB stick and use the arrow keys (Up/Down) to select it, a message might be on the screen and you have to press any key to boot from the USB stick and then you can select Advanced options and troubleshoot your problem.

Read from "If you can't boot Windows 10" here:

Advanced Startup Options

If you run in to serious problems with Windows 10, you may need to access the advanced startup options to begin troubleshooting your issue. Many of our other articles will refer to this page as an initial step, to avoid duplication. From this...

www.windows10forums.com

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Trouble]

Disabled Secure Boot

Try enabling secure boot, that will put you on the path to boot from your EFI partition.
Although there may be another place or two you will have to explicitly choose UEFI and Windows Boot Manager (usually within the section on Boot Device Options