Windows Update - Kaboom

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Paingod
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Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by Paingod »

My computer did itself a nice Windows Update last night when I booted to spend some time relaxing. I'm guessing there's a critical security issue because it just couldn't wait for me to authorize it. When my computer tried to reboot, I saw a loading bar across the bottom with "Windows is loading files..." which is new - and not good. When it hit the end of the loading bar, it just sat there.

I'm working through this list of options, but running out of things to try.
  • I can get into my BIOS and verify that the RAID0 appears to be working, and it doesn't show any errors in there that jump out at me.
  • For some reason, my DVD-ROM isn't booting the Windows 7 64-bit Pro disc I have, so I've switched to a backup USB Dell Windows 7 installer for access to some tools. I plan to try a new DVD-ROM later today and see if I can get to the right disc.
  • Startup Repair doesn't detect my Windows 7 install. I'm using an ASUS RoG MoBo with built-in RAID0 on two SSD's. Not detected by the USB repair tools, asking for drivers I don't have.
  • I can't get to Safe Mode because the ASUS RoG MoBo has hijacked F8 for it's own boot list. Even using F7 to get to the alternate Windows boot options and try to go to Advanced doesn't work.
  • The next things I may try before swapping hardware is ensuring my BIOS is up-to-date. I do note the MoBo's RAM error indicator is giving me different codes each time I boot. Normally it says "A0" when everything is fine, but I've seen two or three other codes come up, and none of them are A0. None of them have meant anything specific, either.
  • For giggles, I let the PC sit for 7 hours on the "Windows is loading files..." screen. No change.
It's going to be a fun couple of days getting my PC back to a working state. Thanks Microsoft!
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Paingod
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by Paingod »

In troubleshooting, I asked my wife to boot it up today to get the exact RAM error codes, and it came up A0 - nothing's wrong.

However, the OS isn't loading but at least it came up with recovery options but still refuses to see Windows in the drive (or even showing the drive at all). I'm guessing the RAID needs to be rebuilt (for the fourth time in 3 years) and will try that when I get home.
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Paingod
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by Paingod »

Last night I made progress followed by an immediate setback.

I got home and popped in the new BIOS drivers for the MoBo to flash onto itself. When I was starting it, I noticed the BIOS was saying it was last updated in December of 2016. Now, I'm positive I did an update more recently than that - but have never heard of Windows kicking a MoBo so hard it reverted back by several BIOS versions, so I may be mistaken.

After flashing the BIOS and reconfiguring the RAID0, my computer did a Startup Repair and successfully let me into Windows.

I copied off a slew of files that seemed important. A Terraria folder with 700+ hours of work in it. A X3 save file with 300 hours of work. Things like that.

I rebooted the PC to ensure it was stable ... and Windows Update updated again. I crossed my fingers and the PC is back to dead - only now I can't update the BIOS because it's showing the most current version. This time I can get into the System Restore menu reliably, but keep getting memory read errors on one restore point, and the second restore point keeps telling me an Internet Explorer .dll file won't load and fails.

I brought my PC to work and this morning I'm going to try flashing to an earlier version, see if that works, then go back to the newer one, see if that works, and finally put in an old HDD and try to get Windows 7 hobbling on it as well as I can - just to finish pulling files. I remembered that I missed my Grim Dawn and Titan Quest saves - both equaling a lot of time spent.

*Edit: An earlier BIOS version is yielding a different result. Flashed, reconfigured RAID - "Windows is loading..." and I'm prompted to Install Windows 7 (which it did the very first time I was able to fix it). If I can get back into Windows, I'll copy off the last of the data I think I need and disable the Windows Updates to see if I can stabilize the system. If I can, I'm going to try and get a Windows 10 license conversion from my Windows 7 one, split up the RAID, and install Windows 10 on one of my 1TB drives and format the other. Having to fight with a Windows issue AND the complication of pulling data off a RAID that may or may not work has soured me on doing it for slightly faster load times.

**Edit: Nope. Despite "looking" better, I'm still getting memory errors. I did run the Windows Memory tool last night but went to bed before it finished. At 75% done it had found nothing amiss. I do have a Hiren's Boot CD to play with this morning and may run more memory tools before I spend more time fighting to revive Windows. I'm also considering just using cheats to give myself some of the items back that I may lose between Grim Dawn and Titan Quest. Normally I'd spit on the ground before saying that, but today it feels like a valid way to rebuild some of the hundreds of hours of play time that might be lost.

***Edit: Running MemTest86+ to see if it finds anything. I don't know if this tool is still as useful as it was a decade ago, but it's there and I'm trying it. A little research tells me that corrupted hard drive data can also come up as memory errors, so I'm not banking on finding a problem with my RAM suddenly after a Windows Update. I'm mostly just ruling it out so I can continue without concern for it. After this I'm thinking of using Hiren's MiniXP to see if I can access the C drive and copy off files I may want, then re-flashing the BIOS and finally nuking the thing to start over. From there it's a matter of working out the cleanest way to "legally" upgrade my old Win7 license to Win10 - I've read that there are loopholes still floating around that can be used.
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Grifman
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by Grifman »

Sorry to hear all of this, I know it is very frustrating. Sorry, this is beyond my experience, I have no advice to give here :(
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Paingod
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by Paingod »

Grifman wrote: Fri Aug 16, 2019 7:43 am Sorry to hear all of this, I know it is very frustrating. Sorry, this is beyond my experience, I have no advice to give here :(
No worries. I'm mostly posting what I'm doing and seeing as a record that may help others with the same issue if they find it. Right now I'm leaning toward this being a HD corruption issue caused by a Windows Update. It broke my most recent System Restore points (the only ones available) and because of my RAID structure I can't just yank the drives to salvage data - I need to find a way to access the data without pulling or damaging the file structure more.

I've been doing IT, including desktop support, for almost 15 years now... this should be something I can accomplish. I'm mostly annoyed that I'm going to have to rebuild Windows because of a gorram Windows Update.

If Hiren's Boot CD doesn't get me where I want, my last alternative is to install an old normal drive and install Windows on that and see if I can get it to see the RAID drives as a secondary drive I can pull data from.

It's a lot of work to save a bunch of save games, really - but those amount to a lot of play time!

*Edit: So no joy on anything in terms of recovery of the existing systems, but I have succeeded in getting Hiren's to connect to my network and am dumping my old profile into a share I can salvage it from. Once it's done copying over the 58GB of data, I'll begin the process of rebuilding my computer. Without RAID.
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Blackhawk
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by Blackhawk »

Can you be 100% certain that it was the update itself that caused it? Could it have been a drive failure that just happened to coincide with the heavy read/writes that an OS update entails?
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Paingod
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by Paingod »

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Aug 16, 2019 11:25 am Can you be 100% certain that it was the update itself that caused it? Could it have been a drive failure that just happened to coincide with the heavy read/writes that an OS update entails?
No, I can't say that with 100% certainty. Checkdisk returned no errors when I ran it, but that doesn't mean everything's fine... just that it didn't find anything. If Windows 10 flips out, I'll probably look more closely at the drives. I'm hoping it won't, though.

The update is simply my best guess right now since this started with an update, Windows was able to repair itself, and then Windows crashed again after the update was re-applied and couldn't be revived.
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Paingod
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by Paingod »

Well, there it is. Windows 10 installed, fully updated. Now I get to rebuild my gaming library there.

You can still legitimately activate old Windows 7 & 8 keys as Windows 10. I opted to tie mine to my live.com account so I could re-use it with future computers. All I had to do was enter my Win7 64-bit Pro key and Windows 10 Pro said everything was kosher. No loopholes to exploit or jump through. Just typed in my key it still works.
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by jztemple2 »

Paingod wrote: Fri Aug 16, 2019 3:08 pm You can still legitimately activate old Windows 7 & 8 keys as Windows 10. I opted to tie mine to my live.com account so I could re-use it with future computers. All I had to do was enter my Win7 64-bit Pro key and Windows 10 Pro said everything was kosher. No loopholes to exploit or jump through. Just typed in my key it still works.
I did that for my Falcon-Northwest and my wife's HP when I upgraded them to Win10. After seeing all those articles on how to upgrade to Win10 for free I figured I'd have to do all those "loopholes to exploit or jump through". Nope, I didn't even have to enter a key. Weird.
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em2nought
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by em2nought »

Have an ASUS Windows 10 box that's been setting for a year and tried to update it, but it fails. I tried downloading the update outside of windows update and it fails. Had to set the PC network to looked like a pay as you go metered phone so that it wouldn't continually try to update Windows 10 with no success. I read where there are multiple people with the same problem. Maybe I'll just wait a few months and try again, maybe MS will fix something? :think:
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LordMortis
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by LordMortis »

em2nought wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2019 5:39 pm Have an ASUS Windows 10 box that's been setting for a year and tried to update it, but it fails. I tried downloading the update outside of windows update and it fails. Had to set the PC network to looked like a pay as you go metered phone so that it wouldn't continually try to update Windows 10 with no success. I read where there are multiple people with the same problem. Maybe I'll just wait a few months and try again, maybe MS will fix something? :think:

Sitting for a year? What do you mean outside of update? Did you use assistant? I've had good luck with it.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softwar ... /windows10

Also what does fail mean?
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em2nought
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by em2nought »

LordMortis wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2019 5:58 pm
em2nought wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2019 5:39 pm Have an ASUS Windows 10 box that's been setting for a year and tried to update it, but it fails. I tried downloading the update outside of windows update and it fails. Had to set the PC network to looked like a pay as you go metered phone so that it wouldn't continually try to update Windows 10 with no success. I read where there are multiple people with the same problem. Maybe I'll just wait a few months and try again, maybe MS will fix something? :think:

Sitting for a year? What do you mean outside of update? Did you use assistant? I've had good luck with it.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softwar ... /windows10

Also what does fail mean?
Sorry for lousy terminology. Computer hadn't been turned on for a year. My computer hangs at 81% each time it tries to update. I haven't tried the troubleshooter yet since I just saw such a thing is a thing.

By outside up update I mean that I downloaded the cumulative update from the Microsoft Update Catalog http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Home.aspx but it still gets stuck at 81% https://www.windowscentral.com/how-down ... s-manually

Thanks for the reply.
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LordMortis
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Re: Windows Update - Kaboom

Post by LordMortis »

em2nought wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2019 6:54 pm
LordMortis wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2019 5:58 pm
em2nought wrote: Fri Sep 06, 2019 5:39 pm Have an ASUS Windows 10 box that's been setting for a year and tried to update it, but it fails. I tried downloading the update outside of windows update and it fails. Had to set the PC network to looked like a pay as you go metered phone so that it wouldn't continually try to update Windows 10 with no success. I read where there are multiple people with the same problem. Maybe I'll just wait a few months and try again, maybe MS will fix something? :think:

Sitting for a year? What do you mean outside of update? Did you use assistant? I've had good luck with it.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softwar ... /windows10

Also what does fail mean?
Sorry for lousy terminology. Computer hadn't been turned on for a year. My computer hangs at 81% each time it tries to update. I haven't tried the troubleshooter yet since I just saw such a thing is a thing.

By outside up update I mean that I downloaded the cumulative update from the Microsoft Update Catalog http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Home.aspx but it still gets stuck at 81% https://www.windowscentral.com/how-down ... s-manually

Thanks for the reply.
That sadly is not uncommon. Honestly, I would try the assistant to move you to 1903 first. That's where you want to end up anyway.
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