Windows fails to boot after blackscreen/freeze and cannot repair/restore in rescue environment (Also on new install+disk)

  • Thread starter Thread starter EAlbers
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EAlbers

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Hi all,

Note: I will update this thread as I receive advice and apply tests.


I have the following problem, which has occurred before, but continues today on a brand new win10 installation.
Problem:
Windows freezes, becomes a black screen during use, or cannot see external HDD if it is connected. This requires system to be rebooted, or it reboots automatically. Upon reboot, system fails to boot successfully, often showing the Asus boot logo or stopping at the Win10 boot screen, after which it reboots again in a loop. Eventually, the Windows Rescue Environment (WRE) appears saying windows could not be booted and could not be repaired (shows restart and troubleshoot buttons).

1. In the WRE, NO troubleshooting options work. Startup repair, load earlier restore point, uninstall updates, (insert any WRE options I'm currently forgetting) do NOT work. I've tried them all. They all fail.
2. CMD can be accessed on earlier cases of this problem. But I did not try it on the most recent one (yesterday evening).
3. Every time the issue occurs, I had to reinstall my OS.
4. Issue occurred on win10, but after using my win8.1 installation disk the problem also occurred on that OS soon after reinstall.


Most recent appearance of the problem:
19-02-19:
Following the appearance of the Problem on windows 8.1 fresh install, I suspected a failing SSD.
I bought a new SSD (Samsung EVO 860 500GB) and replaced my OS drive. I downloaded the Windows Media Creation Tool from the Microsoft site on a laptop and created a USB boot media. With that, I booted the desktop and proceeded to create a partition on the new, empty SSD (sorted as Disk 2) and installed win10 to that drive. After installation, I rebooted the system twice to check for errors. Everything seemed fine.

The system had been deactivated for a while and I initially thought I was missing a partition on another drive (sorted as Disk 0), so I hooked up my external HDD to check if I had made a copy of said partition (I was mistaken as Disk 0 had some empty space I still need to resolve someday). However, Win10 did NOT add any Ext-HDD volumes to the Explorer list. It could not see the drive. I opened device manager where the Ext-HDD was present under disk drives, and opted to update the driver. Drivers already up to date. Win10 presented me with the option to search for updates through Windows Update, which I selected. (New installation, so Win-Update likely has updates anyway, better get it over with). Windows starts to search for updates, and begins to download updates. At that point, my screen starts flashing black, and eventually reboots. It fails to boot and hangs at the Asus boot screen. I press the reset button eventually, and it tries to boot (unsuccessfully) multiple times before entering the WRE with the message that Windows could not start.

WRE shows two types of updates installed, but I cannot uninstall either of them. Their names have slipped my mind at the moment.
Startup repair sat on the 'attempting to repair' screen for the night, but in the morning it had the message that it was unable to repair anything.
System restore point finds no restore point.

Addition: I connected the Ext-HDD to my laptop where it showed fine without errors.

I think that covers everything. So the issue still occurs on a brand new disk, with a new windows install. I do not know what's causing this.


My system components:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4930K CPU @ 3.40GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770
23 GB RAM
OS drive is a brand new (bought yesterday) Samsung 860 EVO 500 GB


Keywords:
Windows 10**** Windows update (?)


I am currently at work so cannot check things, but I'll get to it tonight.

Thanks to anyone for taking the time to try and help with this.

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