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Question
Monday, February 18, 2019 1:00 AM
Attempted to customize the configuration of a new Windows 10 computer and now it won't boot. The specific configuration change involved moving the page file from the C: drive to another NTFS partition. However, when attempting to reboot the computer so the change would take affect it was observed that, even though no such thing was requested, Windows update was installing changes. The automatic restart failed and now Windows 10 cannot be booted. There was so little done on this computer it seems like it would a big mistake to start various recovery options that are being offered before doing any problem determination.
While web searches locate plenty of material regarding use of logs from a functioning Windows system nothing has been found about what to do when Windows won't start.
WinPE is available and should boot properly. The question becomes how to recover any log file/s that might be useful. Other functioning computers are available for inspecting the logs.
All replies (4)
Monday, February 18, 2019 1:35 AM
If the Windows doesn't boot and got stuck then it depends where it got stuck.
These phases include PreBoot, Windows Boot Manager,Windows OS Loader and Windows NT OS Kernel. If you can not boot to desktop then there is no way to view the event error logs.
If the system is stuck at the BIOS phase, there may be a hardware problem.
If the screen is completely black except for a blinking cursor, or if you receive one of the following error codes, this indicates that the boot process is stuck in the Boot Loader phase:
Boot Configuration Data (BCD) missing or corrupted
Boot file or MBR corrupted
Operating system Missing
Boot sector missing or corrupted
Bootmgr missing or corrupted
Unable to boot due to system hive missing or corrupted
To troubleshoot this problem, use Windows installation media to start the computer, press Shift+F10 for a command prompt, and then use any of the following methods.
Kindly go through the following article for more help:
Advanced troubleshooting for Windows boot problems
S.Sengupta,Microsoft MVP Windows and Devices for IT, Windows Insider MVP
Monday, February 18, 2019 3:40 PM
Looks like a good article. Thanks for the reference. However, it will take me some time to completely digest.
None of the indications mentioned above were received. The graphic display appears to be like the one presented by what I think is being called the Boot Manager but instead of displaying operating system partitions that can be selected for booting it displays a splash screen that requests that the desired language be selected. Once this is done it displays a screen with 3 choices for selection. The choices are as follows"
- First is "Use a device" which sounds like I could then boot my WinPE disk but I haven't tried that yet because I don't know what I'd do then. I was thinking I might be able to find log files that could be copied and then carried to a working Win7 computer for inspection.
- Second is "Troubleshoot" which I did try just from curiosity and it leads to a host of other options one of which is to "Troubleshoot and Repair". That was the only one that looked somewhat harmless. The rest involved various ways to undertake some kind of recovery which seemed like much more drastic alternatives that I was quite ready to attempt. Just about the first thing I did after getting the factory supplied system installed was make a System Image (install.wim) file using WinPE. Since I have a second presently unused disk on the computer I've also verified that I can use this clone to create a multi-boot environment.
- Third is "Turn off the PC"
Does this fit what the Boot Manager would do if it coudn't load an operating system? I'm using the term Boot Manager to referred to what the UEFI firmware starts when booting an EFI System Partition on a GPT disk which all new stuff for me. Sorry if I haven't completely disgested proper Windows 10 terminology.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 7:02 PM
After reviewing the referenced article, my situation doesn't appear to fit the mentioned scenarios precisely. It appears to me that the boot process ends up in what is called "Boot Loader Phase". The GUI has the same appearance as the menu used to select which OS to boot when running multi-boot. One implication, for me, is that what I think might be called the Boot Manager record is either missing or damaged. Possibly running BCDboot would fix. However, being a bit of a novice on Win10 I'd like to avoid taking actions that might do even more harm. Therefore, I could use some advice when it comes to that idea.
However, I did think of a way to test the theory in a way that I thought should be harmless. Because I have a second disk available that is not being used for anything I went ahead and created an EFI System (boot) partition on it. Then I ran BCDboot on that system partition and changed the firmware setting to boot that disk rather than the one experiencing the problem. When I do this I end up landing on a screen that appears to be associated with the manufacturer supplied troubleshooting tools. I'm thinking those tools are installed on the Windows (OS) partition but the UI that appears is not the conventional Win10 UI.
What does this tell us?
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 8:49 PM
Sorry it now looks like this is something the UEFI firmware does when the OS won't boot. The manufacturer (Dell) has diagnostic/recovery tools installed elsewhere on the system. Why it boots differently depending of which EFI System (boot) partition is being booted is beyond my understanding at this point.