Hi guys, Is it possible to upgrade (repair install) the current installation of a system partition that just won't boot? Microsoft says you need to start the setup process from within the OS. I can't think of any way to repair this installation without losing programs. I keep getting the "INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE" BSOD after I accidentally disconnected the SATA cable in the middle of a Windows Update cleanup. Automatic repair won't work. MBR, bootmgr, bootloader, BCD are fine. CHKDSK returns no more errors. I used another working installation to restore health with DISM. SFC reports no errors. I tried loading the SYSTEM hive offline to set storahci start value to 0 and disable Fast startup. Still nothing. Although I noticed that some drivers were missing form System32\drivers (including storahci and pciide) and I restored them manually. This is driving me insane. Any help greatly appreciated!
Here's one solution to try: Solution 1: Uninstall the Recently Installed Packages Recently installed packages can result in the inaccessible boot device error in Windows 10. If you’ve set Windows Update to install packages automatically, it will install new packages without notifying you. If you believe the recently-installed packages cause this problem, you can remove them one after another. Hopefully, uninstalling the updates one by one will ultimately delete the package causing the issue. Since it’s not possible to boot Windows 10 normally when this error occurs, you’re recommended to uninstall the packages by going to Repair and using the DSM command. Note: This process restarts your computer. Make sure all work has been saved before you continue. Steps to follow: Ensure your machine is completely off Press your PC’s power button to turn it on, and then hold down the power button for 5 seconds until it automatically shuts down. Repeat this process more than two times until the “Preparing Automatic Repair” screen appears. Note: This step aims at bringing up the Preparing Automatic Repair screen. If Windows cannot boot correctly, this screen pops up, and Windows tries to fix the issue by itself. You can skip this step if this screen appears the first time you power up your computer. Wait for the Windows diagnosis to complete Click “Advanced Options” to bring up the Windows Recovery Environment screen Click “Troubleshoot” on the Windows Recovery Environment screen Choose “Advanced Options” on the Troubleshoot screen Select the Command Prompt Your PC should restart and boot itself into the Command Prompt. When the Command Prompt has appeared on your screen, follow the instructions below: Type dir c : ( That is if you have Windows installed in the drive C) and tap Enter Run Dism / Image: C:\/ Get-Packages A list of packages installed on the system appears. You can use the date field to determine the most recent package. Make sure to note the package identity To uninstall a package, enter dism.exe /image:c:\ /remove-package /[package name]. “Package identity” here is the package name that you jotted down in the preceding step. 9. Reboot your computer after uninstalling the packages. Then, check to verify whether the error has been successfully resolved. If the error persists after uninstalling recent updates, you are recommended to remove another recently updated package, using the same process. Alternatively, you can use an entirely new solution to fix this blue screen hitch.
Thanks a lot. I'm aware of this, I will try it. But, as I said, Windows Update didn't cause this, the cable disconnection did as I was using the disk cleanup utility to remove old Windows Update files...
If you really need to really get that installation working, there are a lot of things you can do. Just stay away from the usual MS suggestions/official procedures, that almost always leads to nothing. First thing I would try is to boot in IDE mode, the chances of success are low, but testing it is quick and stightforward Second, install a parallel system (one the same HW), in a native vhdx or a different partition or a different HDD, then install the missing drivers on it (if any) and update it to the same LCU was installed in the corrupt OS. This way you can avoid to fight with WinPE and you have a working copy of any file needed. I would start copying the whole content of System32\drivers on the corrupt OS overwriting the old one, but you can do the same also with files (not folders) in System32 Third you can try to boot the corrupted OS inside a VM launched from the fresh OS (using the physical partition or cloning it in a vhdx/vhd/vmdk virtual disk. If the above wont boot you can boot the mini XP and fix the error 7B (inaccessible boot device) using the fix_hdc script from it. If nothing of the above works, you can even try to replace the system registry file (\windows\system32\config\system) with the one from the fresh one, it may lead to other troubles but would be enough to reach the desktop and launch an in place upgrade As last resort you can just keep the freshly installed OS and migrate the old profiles using forensit and copying selected folders from \programdata \program files and so on. It's really about how much time you want to dedicate to the task, how much skilled you are, and it's also matter of luck For sure blocking the in-place upgrade when booting from external media was one of the worst downgrade MS introduced in 30 years (the other was the need of the exact HDD controller to boot an already installed OS on different HW, and you are somewhat a victim of both of them).
First thing I would do is boot a Linux live iso and save everything you can from the drive, just copy it to another storage drive...then fart around with "repairing" windows and see if you can break it even more. After all that fails, you can reinstall clean and put most of your saved stuff back
First, that's really the wrong way to operate in a situation like this, a way that leads of a huge waste of time w/o accomplishing the purpose. Second, even if you want to do a poorman's fresh install, there isn't any need to format and restore the data. It's just pointless. Do a fresh install then move the old data from windows.old folder to the current one.
1 - acer-5100 who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. 2 - DOOM_NX A - Dont listen to clowns over complicating things . B - Dude Guyman was right . Copy it out ......... and then kill it ..........then reinstal ........... and make a back up before you go into the net ........... that way you have a working system . If you just try to fix it by dealing with symptoms you could spend the rest of your life poking in the dark ........... and you might get it working .......... but did you fix it ? C - ts about 24 hours since your first post . Copying it out and reinstalling would only take a few hours ?
It's just that when I was younger and more stupid (although never at your level) I spent my time learning instead of writing ignorant post like yours. Is not being a petty keyboard warrior that you get respect from others, it's being competent and helpful that you earn respect. So, really, type less and read more, and maybe your chronical inferiority syndrome will be cured
I don't think saving all you can via a Linux live boot CD/DVD is a waste of time at all! All I'm saying is save all your stuff that you can just in case the repairs fail, and in my experience, they almost always do. MS "recovery tools" are generally garbage, just like System Restore vs Macrium Reflect, or similar. I am not saying not to try repairing it, though I would never bother myself, I keep backup images that take 45 seconds to restore the entire disk 100% and I keep all my 'goodies' on an external drive anyway, just save what you can before trying it is all I'm saying because MS tools for that sort of thing are likely to make it worse and wipe everything out. When I talk about doing a clean install, there would be no Windows.old folder. I would wipe it CLEAN to avoid future problems.
It is, unless you have a physically corrupt disk / bad sectors or alike (which 99.9% is not the OP's problem, according to what he wrote. It's, obviously, up to you what you do with your data. It may be the best thing you can do or it maybe just that you get used to bad habits, I don't know, and it's not my business. BUT If a user asks explicitly how to recover a messed up situation I try to help him. And that's just wrong. Its wrong semantically, because "clean install" is the opposite of "in place upgrade". Not a synonym of format/wipe. And it's wrong practically. Format may be a good idea if you are dealing with a PC infected by a nasty low level virus, something that I don't see since a couple of decades. Format is just a way to waste time and to loose data, given there is always something you forget to backup. If you do a clean install there is always time to delete everything you don't need, while you're relaxed, and not in hurry and nervous because your PC is not working and you need it ASAP. Learning how human beings react to emergencies, is as much important as learning how PC works.