BSOD on boot

[alexsmith2709]

I've got a frustrating one today.

On every boot i get a BSOD with code SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED. No dump file is written so i cant analyse that to find the cause. After the BSOD it reboots and get the error 0xc0000001 error. User reported it failed an update before and last thing they saw was it "cleaning up" after the failed update.
srtTrail.txt from the automatic attempt to fix suggests the root cause is "A recently served boot binary is corrupt"

I cant boot to safe mode, but can get to recovery using a Win 10 boot USB. No restore points exist. I was able to remove a pending update from today but nothing from the previous update time of 17th.

I have tried bootrec /fixboot and get access denied error. If i try a bootrec /scanos or /rebuildbcd it doesnt find any installations. I have formatted the EFI partition and remade it with the files and no change to the errors.

I couldnt initially run sfc /scannow due to a pending repair, but removing the "pending.xml" from c:\windows\WinSxS" folder allowed me to run that and it found no errors. I have tried running DISM RestoreHealth, which completes but doesnt affect the result.

HDD seems fine, I ran memtest for a couple hours with nothing found, i know ideally i should run this longer but im fairly confident its not a RAM issue as i can run recovery or WinPE for hours without issue.

Before i nuke it, have i missed anything?

 

[thecomputerguy]

If you are going to put the effort into nuking it then just drop in a new HD while you're at it. No sense in doing a nuke + data + setup just to have the same issues.

I'd probably be heading down the nuke path at this point or replacing the system depending on age.

What are the specs?

 

[Markverhyden]

If you are going to put the effort into nuking it then just drop in a new HD while you're at it.

And make it an SSD. Almost forgot. Did you try a repair install?

 

[Larry Sabo]

And make it an SSD. Almost forgot. Did you try a repair install?

I understood that the system drive can't boot, so a repair install is not an option. I've never had an offline repair install work.

 

[Markverhyden]

I understood that the system drive can't boot, so a repair install is not an option. I've never had an offline repair install work.

It's been a long time but I have a vague recollection that it will work but the offline media has to be the same version as on disk. At any rate I'd only be looking at that if they had a bunch of installed stuff they wanted preserved.

 

[gadgetfixup]

Clone it to a SSD if you have a bit by bit copier, and drop it in there to see if it fixes itself. We've seen several times when a system does this, we can clone the drive to a new drive (we only use SSDs now) and drop it in there to see if fix itself. It's worth a shot.

Have you booted with a Windows PE to see if the user folder is still there with the data? We've also seen where a customer starts a reset and then pulls the plug once it clicks they might lose their data. You might be doing all this repair attempt for a machine the customer already dumped the data on.

 

[alexsmith2709]

It's been a long time but I have a vague recollection that it will work but the offline media has to be the same version as on disk. At any rate I'd only be looking at that if they had a bunch of installed stuff they wanted preserved.

I didnt know this was an option. I thought the closest option to a repair was using dism cleanup-image /restorehealth and maybe using the /source option as well.
How do you do an offline repair install?

Its already running an SSD, its an nvme one (128GB) which i dont have a spare of. Its also only got 4GB RAM with no slots to upgrade (its soldered RAM). All the users docs seem to be stored on onedrive and i didnt spot any potentially difficult software to reinstall

The laptop is only 2 years old but i may talk to the users about the option of getting a new one vs costs of repairing this one and it still being a poor performer.

 

[Markverhyden]

How do you do an offline repair install?

Its already running an SSD, its an nvme one (128GB) which i dont have a spare of. Its also only got 4GB RAM with no slots to upgrade (its soldered RAM). All the users docs seem to be stored on onedrive and i didnt spot any potentially difficult software to reinstall

The laptop is only 2 years old but i may talk to the users about the option of getting a new one vs costs of repairing this one and it still being a poor performer.

So my memory was flawed. For you to do an offline repair install you do have to build an installer that is the same version of what's installed. There is an option to keep your personal information, ie the machine account, but you will have to re-install apps. You can also upgrade the OS this way keeping files. To get an image to build an installer you can just go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO on a Windows box.

But your next two comments are far more important. That thing was obsolete before it even got to the drawing board. Of course everybody has budgetary constraints so that maybe all they can afford. Since it looks like it's actually being used as a thin client I'd have the eu log into their onedrive account to make sure everything is there. Then build the latest installer from the link above and do a nuke and pave.

 

[alexsmith2709]

So my memory was flawed. For you to do an offline repair install you do have to build an installer that is the same version of what's installed. There is an option to keep your personal information, ie the machine account, but you will have to re-install apps. You can also upgrade the OS this way keeping files. To get an image to build an installer you can just go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO on a Windows box.

But your next two comments are far more important. That thing was obsolete before it even got to the drawing board. Of course everybody has budgetary constraints so that maybe all they can afford. Since it looks like it's actually being used as a thin client I'd have the eu log into their onedrive account to make sure everything is there. Then build the latest installer from the link above and do a nuke and pave.

I've got the same build as the user has installed, its 21H1 by the looks of it, no idea why its such an old build but thats what the registry is saying. Its possible that because it such a small drive there is no room to update. Having not seen this computer in a working state its hard to say, but there is currently over 10GB free on the drive (maybe more i cant remember).

I have now given the user the option to nuke this one and warned its a POS or buy a better machine.

I miss XP when you could do an offline repair install.

 

[britechguy]

I miss XP when you could do an offline repair install.

I don't. The problems with Windows XP were myriad compared to Windows 10 and 11. I shudder when I think of Windows XP, period.

 

[alexsmith2709]

I don't. The problems with Windows XP were myriad compared to Windows 10 and 11. I shudder when I think of Windows XP, period.

From the perspective of being able to do a repair install i mean. There have been numerous occasions like this when an offline repair would have most likely fixed the issue. I guess there is a valid reason for Microsoft removing this feature, but who knows!

 

[Markverhyden]

but there is currently over 10GB free on the drive (maybe more i cant remember).

That's almost certainly why it hasn't been updated. Common problem in both the Apple and Microsoft ecosystems with those obsolete before they were made machines. Meaning 128gb ssd and 4 gb soldered RAM. They need room to unpack the "new" installation prior to launching it as well as temp space for all the installation activities. Seem to remember that 15gb+ is what is needed for either platform.

 

[Rigo]

128GB

I think that's the problem even if the drive is saying healthy. 128GB for Windows and applications is just way too thin nowadays. Add IMAP account and problems start happening soon.
Lack of free space, I've come across 3% free space left packing up after windows updates or something else. It's supposed to check for free space before attempting to go any further, fails at it often. If a removable drive I would use an adapter to check the drive on another computer.

 

[alexsmith2709]

There was actually 48GB free, but i have wiped it and did a fresh install and its good again now.
Its not my ideal result, but it was the clients personal laptop that was being used for business and now shes getting a business laptop.

 

[britechguy]

now shes getting a business laptop.

And, God willing, has learned her lesson. Once burned, twice shy.

 

[alexsmith2709]

And, God willing, has learned her lesson. Once burned, twice shy.

We can only hope

 

[Rigo]

A couple of times I attempted to nuke n pave on 64GB emmc drives when even resetting from zero wouldn't work, couldn't do it. Only way was to offline-clone from another prepared drive.

 

[ell]

I've got a frustrating one today.

On every boot i get a BSOD with code SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED. No dump file is written so i cant analyse that to find the cause. After the BSOD it reboots and get the error 0xc0000001 error. User reported it failed an update before and last thing they saw was it "cleaning up" after the failed update.
srtTrail.txt from the automatic attempt to fix suggests the root cause is "A recently served boot binary is corrupt"

I cant boot to safe mode, but can get to recovery using a Win 10 boot USB. No restore points exist. I was able to remove a pending update from today but nothing from the previous update time of 17th.

I have tried bootrec /fixboot and get access denied error. If i try a bootrec /scanos or /rebuildbcd it doesnt find any installations. I have formatted the EFI partition and remade it with the files and no change to the errors.

I couldnt initially run sfc /scannow due to a pending repair, but removing the "pending.xml" from c:\windows\WinSxS" folder allowed me to run that and it found no errors. I have tried running DISM RestoreHealth, which completes but doesnt affect the result.

HDD seems fine, I ran memtest for a couple hours with nothing found, i know ideally i should run this longer but im fairly confident its not a RAM issue as i can run recovery or WinPE for hours without issue.

Before i nuke it, have i missed anything?

My kinda rule of thumb is if the HD tests fine and you can't boot to safe mode, you need to backup data and nuke & pave