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Windows Startup repair couldn't repair your PC


w1cx

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Hi guys, 

 

I recently got a boot problem on my desktop PC. I tried a lot of stuff trying to fix it but I am now completely lost. I tried all of the "Advanced Options" from the Troubleshoot and nothing worked... I was ready to even loose all my stuff to be able to boot it and even then, it failed. 

 

Here's what I have done so far:

 

-Tried to boot in safe mode: failed

-Reset this PC option: failed 

-System Restore: failed 

-System Image Recovery: failed 

-Startup repair: failed

-Go back to the previous version: failed 

-chkdsk: see attach picture 

-Tried what the guy said in this video: -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3za5fsfYftQ&feature=youtu.be and failed

 

I've managed to download an .iso file and boot from it...it bring me to the same Troubleshoot page... 

 

I also upgraded from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro and wanted to find my digital activation key and tried this command (did'nt work)

 

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey , (I still have my original Window 7 Pro key though)

 

 
Something weird is I don't understand why the windows (system32) is in the E: drive... Everything was in the C: before the boot problem. 
I don't really need the files on it, (maybe the wolf et files so I don't lose my xp but not a big deal for me)
 
Anybody can help me out with this issue? I don't have much money this month and would like to avoid bringing it to repair. 
 
PC Specs: 
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
HP Z620 Workstation
x64-based PC
Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2650 0 @ 2.00GHz, 2001 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)
24 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro 4000 2GB
 
Thank you
Edited by w1cx
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Well, your filesystem appears to be mounted on "E:\", because the boot image is always be on "C:\". Nothing moved. It's a symbolic link.
Now to pull your product key, you'd need to manually load the registry hive located in the system's Windows folder first.

%windir%/system32/config/software (aka E:\Windows\System32\Config\Software)

You mention a boot problem, but to be honest the diagnostics you've run aren't that descriptive. And what exactly do you mean by a "boot problem"? BSOD? Boot loop? Hard crash/freeze?

First thing I'd do is run a memory test. You can use the Windows Memory Diagnostic, but I'd recommend MemTest86+
Next, make sure your offline Windows directory is actually E:\. Usually it's D:\
it's pretty easy to do, cd to D:\ and type "dir" and check for Program Files, Users, and other files you know are on the root of the drive. If they're not there, "cd" to E:\ and check there.
 
Then, run the System File Checker by entering a command prompt and typing, where the drive letter is the partition with your known system files:

sfc /offlinebootdir=E:\ offwindir=E:\windows

You did not run chkdsk properly, as far as I can tell. Looks like you only scanned the bootloader partition.  Run

chkdsk E: /f

Edited for clarity and to correct syntax errors because I made a few mistakes by rushing.

Edited by Xernicus
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Thanks for helping me out Xernicus! 

 

I might not have been clear about the problem then. When I power my computer, it goes dark for about 5mins, then the Windows logo appear with a loading circle beneath saying preparing automatic repair  and finally it gives me the message "Windows 10 Automatic Repair Couldn’t Repair Your PC". 

 

I've run the windows memory diagnostic and finished without any error but it restarted my computer, got a blue screen with the code 0xc000021a, it restarted again, black screen for 5 mins and finally back to blue screen with the text "Automatic Repair, Your PC did not start correctly" 

 

The message I have after the sfc /scannow is "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation." 

 

After the chkdsk, it ask me if I would like to force a dismount on this volume. Picture: https://ibb.co/mX1mRw

Edited by w1cx
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Go ahead and type "Y" for that.
 
I'll need to see the CBS log, and perhaps a few others but I wanted to throw an OK for that dismount first. I'll edit the post on how to get that log onto a flash drive so you can upload it.
I'm assuming you have another computer or a phone that you can use a USB OTG cable with to upload the file.

OK- so a quick rundown... SFC scans critical OS files that are required for Windows to run properly. This "CBS" log will provide the info as to why the SFC scan failed and any damaged files it came across before finishing.

Step 1's pretty easy- plug in a thumb drive. Next,

  • Type in diskpart. You'll see this:
    Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.16299.15
    
    Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
    On computer: xxxxxxxxxxxx
    
    DISKPART>
    
  • DISKPART> prompt, type list volume. You'll get this output:
      Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
      ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
      Volume 0     E                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
      Volume 1         System Rese  NTFS   Partition    500 MB  Healthy    System
      Volume 2     C                NTFS   Partition   1862 GB  Healthy    Boot
      Volume 3     D   Media        NTFS   Partition    931 GB  Healthy
      Volume 4     G                       Removable       0 B  No Media
      Volume 5     H                       Removable       0 B  No Media
      Volume 6     I                       Removable       0 B  No Media
      Volume 7     J                       Removable       0 B  No Media
      Volume 8     F                NTFS   Removable     14 GB  Healthy
    

    These are all of your "drives". Note that only one drive is removable and smaller than the rest. That will be your flash drive. Also note that in this case, the drive letter is "F:\".
    On a side note, you should see a "Boot" flag next to the drive with the letter "E". (if I'm not mistaken)

  • Type in exit.

Armed with that info, type (Where N (in my case F)) is the letter of your flash drive):

copy E:\Windows\logs\cbs\cbs.log N:\

Now you can transfer the log to another computer to upload it. If you'd like to use our attachment function, you'll need to place the log file in a ZIP Archive first. It's pretty simple to use though.

Click on the text box as if you were writing a reply, then on the "More Reply Options" button. You'll see the full editor pop up, and a lovely "Choose Files" button. Navigate to the zip archive, click open, and finally "Add to Post".

(Added screenshot of diskpart, because code function breaks my colored drive-type separation)

post-9897-0-17705600-1517018419_thumb.jpg

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Yes I have access to a macbook pro and an iphone 8+, or an Samsung S5

 

I've been able to perform the chkdsk and took pictures of all the operations you told me. I'm going to wait for your the information about sending you the CBS log. Even though it say "Failed to transfert logged messages to the event log with status 50." ?

Edited by w1cx
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I had this exact same problem a few months ago. Just did a normal reboot and boom! dead in the water. I tried everything, scoured the internet and no love. Luckily I keep all my important stuff on an external drive, so I just bit the bullet and reinstalled Windows 10 with a Format Drive

Edited by -=HipKat=-
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Yes I have access to a macbook pro and an iphone 8+, or an Samsung S5

 

I've been able to perform the chkdsk and took pictures of all the operations you told me. I'm going to wait for your the information about sending you the CBS log. Even though it say "Failed to transfert logged messages to the event log with status 50." ?

That's fine. CBS log is different than the event log. Edited the post with instructions. :)

Sorry about the wait!

 

(Disregard the CBS Log bit... got a little mixed up there.) It's looking like we're dealing with system file corruption... but on an off chance, would you happen to have a backup drive?

Edited by Xernicus
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Here's the cbs.log file 

 

No I don't have a backup but it's alright, nothing important is on the drive. I did format the whole thing 3 months ago, but it got so complicated to reinstall the drivers and updates that I'm hoping I won't go through all that again... 

 

You will see in the log that there's no "System" or "Boot" in the info section. I guess that's not good?

CBS.log.zip

Edited by w1cx
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You will see in the log that there's no "System" or "Boot" in the info section. I guess that's not good?

It's been awhile since I've needed to use diskpart while in a recovery environment, so I can't be certain that the partition flags show up. I'm not super worried about though, because you mention that it does *try* to start Windows... so I'm guessing the partition table (which would provide those flags) is fine.

 

I'm going to eat some dinner and review this log... it'll take awhile. Go ahead and run chkdsk with an /r flag. (I was hoping to avoid this) It'll take awhile.

chkdsk E: /r

I did format the whole thing 3 months ago, but it got so complicated to reinstall the drivers and updates that I'm hoping I won't go through all that again...

I won't sit here and say that this is less complicated (if anything, it could be moreso... 50/50 chance), but by doing this you can learn how to repair a Windows installation that's FUBAR rather than "nuking it" (Format, reinstall). :geek:

 

Now by any chance did this start after installing a program or after Windows updated itself?

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You know, I'm a moron. I completely messed up the SFC flags by quite a bit. :crazy This is why you should try to get 7 hours of sleep. I can tell you that the last updates installed fine. They're not a problem.

This ought to work:

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=E:\Windows
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No worries, take your time; its good enough that you help me. :)

 

The day before the problem started, I tried to install 3-4 program and I think I uninstalled 1 or 2 as well. Another thing that I did was to connect an 12tb external raid drive that I know is broken but I was hoping I could get some of the stuff from it. It really slowed down my PC and I had to hold the power button of the PC because it was becoming ridiculously slow (wont even shut dow). I was able to start the computer normally after though. It's the morning after that the problem arrived.

 

I would like to fix my PC this time.. so I could find a way to backup all the drivers because I know everything was working fine. Before the format, I had so much troubles with the pc...

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You know, I'm a moron. I completely messed up the SFC flags by quite a bit. :crazy This is why you should try to get 7 hours of sleep. I can tell you that the last updates installed fine. They're not a problem.

This ought to work:

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=E:\Windows

Am I supposed to press enter between each "/commands" or write it all and press enter? Seems like everything I try, it says Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service.

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Write it all on one line. Try this:

net start trustedinstaller

Press enter, and then

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=E:\Windows
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the net start trustedinstaller worked. "The windows modules installer service was started successfully."

 

But the:  sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=E:\Windows . Still says "Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service." 

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the net start trustedinstaller worked. "The windows modules installer service was started successfully."

 

But the:  sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=E:\Windows . Still says "Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service."

Hmm... it worked (albeit with an error message) before you ran chkdsk with the /f flag, and now it won't start...

Assuming you haven't restarted the computer, I think I know what's going on... chkdsk unmounted the volume to scan it. After the status 50 condition, It never remounted.

 

There's also the possibility that I messed up the "offbootdir" flag. (which... would be odd, seeing how you're in the RE)

 

I don't think either of these will work, but for the sake of not wasting 30 minutes for Startup Repair to fail...

 

First try this (both drive letters E):

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=E:\ /offwindir=E:\Windows

If you get the same "Cannot start repair service" error, try

chkdsk E: /r

If you get a "Could not open volume for direct access" error... restart the computer. Then enter back into the recovery environment. SFC should work after that.

(I would go through re-establishing volume mount points... but that will make things confusing and complicated)

 

In case someone is wondering about the methods of my madness:

 

Run SFC to verify and repair critical system files and ensure component based servicing will function.

If integrity violations are found and cannot be repaired, use CBS log to find the damaged resources and selectively repair/replace them using DISM.

Once finished, use DISM to check health, clean up the recovery image, and SxS folder.

Attempt boot. If not, replace boot files using bootrec and bcdedit.

Once system image is repaired and intact (or first if the operations cannot complete), run chkdsk to fix potential filesystem errors, check for bad sectors, find lost files.

 

System should be OK at this point. Tedious, but will keep the installation intact.

 

 

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