Used Windows 10 reset feature. Now laptop won't boot.

[Mike Gulland]

I have an Asus laptop that came with Windows 8. I upgraded free to Windows 10 when it first became available. My laptop has been running slow lately. So I backed all my files up to an external hard drive and used the factory windows 10 reset feature. I reset all files and all disks. It ran threw the reset and came to a page that said "Some of your files were unable to be reset. If you intend to recycle this computer you may want to run reset again. Please click ok to continue."

Now my laptop is stuck on the loading/boot screen. It opens with Asus Republic of gaming icon and the circle loading. The ROG symbol goes away and now it just stays with a blank screen and the loading icon forever. I let it sit for about 6 hours and nothing happened. I attempted to reboot and same thing. I have tried to go into BIOS and no effect. Attached is a picture of the screen it stays on.

Specs
Asus ROG 4800
Intel i7 4700
Ram: 13 gigs
1 TB hard drive
Video: GTX 770

 

[Trouble]

You might try booting from the installation media after creating your USB Installation, again using Rufus and
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sof...459594)(TnL5HPStwNw-WaTVja5C7z2Vs7q82apCPg)()
Using the section labeled "Use the tool to create installation media.
THEN....
Use the "Repair your PC" link after booting from the installation media to access Troubleshooting -> Advanced Options to try Startup Setting to see if you can use option #5 to boot into Safe Mode with networking?
It looks like you may have a driver issue and a Safe Mode boot should allow you to boot with generic / nominal drivers.

Failing that and since you have said that

I backed all my files up to an external hard

You may want to consider just performing a custom clean install and restoring your files from your backup.

 

[JW09I4]

A reset shouldn't fail, as it essentially reinstalls Windows using runtime system files located in the Windows Component Store (C:\Windows\WinSxS). It will reset to the latest release or major update installed on the PC (v1501, v1607, etc.), while other updates installed after that are discarded [this operates the same way for drivers as well].

Most likely you began the reset with some sort of virus/antimalware software installed, of which locks system files, but more importantly memory blocks, from being accessed, changed, or removed. Either way, booting to recovery and running bootrec should resolve the issue if it's a simple BCD issue

• Reboot and do a hard reset twice in a row will auto load WinRE
  1. As soon as the BIOS screen changes to the OS bootloader, hold down the power button until the system shuts off; repeat twice.
  2. Once in WinRE, select Troubleshooting [possibly Advanced before Troubleshooting], then select Command Prompt
  3. Issue the following commands:
     1. bootrec /fixmbr
     2. bootrec /fixboot
     3. bootrec /rebuildbcd
  4. Reboot

However, if Windows was unable to access certain CAB files and memory blocks, your reset may be corrupted and unbootable. If this is the case, WinRE may be able to correct the corruption via DISM and SFC.

• Prerequisites
  1. Install.wim/esd from a Windows install ISO
     • You can download the Windows Media Creation Tool from Microsoft's website and create a bootable USB on a separate PC. The install.wim will be located in .\Sources

• Steps
  • Partition C:
    • Refers to the partition Windows is installed on and the partition letter will likely be different in WinRE
  • Partition D:
    • Refers to the USB install media for Windows 10
  
  
  1. Boot into WinRE
  2. Mount the install.wim from the install media
     1. First, verify what index matches your installed Windows version [Home or Pro]

        DISM /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:D:\Sources\Install.wim

     2. It should be index 1 or 2

        mkdir D:\Mount && DISM /Mount-Image /ImageFile:D\Sources\Install.wim /Index:1 /MountDir:D:\Mount

  3. Fix corruption in the WinSxS folder

     DISM /Image:C:\Windows /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:D:\Mount\Windows

  4. Run System File Checker

     SFC /ScanNow /OffBootDir=C:\ /OffWinDir=C:\Windows

  5. Reboot

This TechNet article explains what occurs during a Reset.

 

[Saltgrass]

Have you had any problems with Windows 10 updating or installing in the past with maybe some driver or software.

Your system appears to be at a place where it is trying to get ready to start Windows. Probably drivers are being loaded or some other software is being initiated. Maybe even some network location is being checked or attempted communication.

Does your hard drive have available space to create the archives needed? If some files were not reset, maybe this is involved or some type of access problem.

Did you have a Win 10 recovery disk?

When you reset did you choose to keep your personal settings? The message about not being able to reset some of your files could mean something your system needs is no longer present.

What to do now? I would start by removing all external devices. Turn off the network by disabling the Ethernet and Wi-Fi in the bios, if possible. While there, disable anything else you can, such as Bluetooth.

If you have the Install Media, you might be able to get to the Troubleshoot and startup section. If you can, that might be a good place to start. Starting in Safe mode, as suggested, would certainly help a driver situation.

And, as suggested, a reset pretty much puts you back to a clean install. Since none of your personal utilities will survive, it might be best to do a clean install.

 

[JW09I4]

A clean install is always the preferred route, even more so since it takes less time to perform. The only caveat is most users don't realize they must install OEM drivers in the proper order prior to installing any software or utilizing Windows Update.

• This becomes more complex when one upgraded to Windows 10 on a legacy system (i.e. a system outside of the normal 24 - 36 month life cycle provided by the manufacturer), as one must know there are certain drivers, regardless of the OS they were compiled for, that must always be installed (chipset, imei, etc.)

The Reset process has been improved upon in Windows 10, as it not longer relies upon install media or an install.wim/esd. Instead, it utilizes the WinSxS directory to restore a system to the last installed major update (v1501, v1607, etc.), applying this to drivers as well (whatever drivers were present at the time of the completed major update will be restored), intended to prevent users from having to reinstall all OEM level drivers.

My personal advice has always been once you get your system to the way you want it (customized, all software installed, etc), boot to WinRE and use DISM to capture an image [/capture-image] of the system partition using recovery compression [/compress:recovery] to create an ESD

• ESDs utilize a better compression algorithm compared to WIM, however an ESD can only be taken of a bootable partition
  • Once an initial image is created, subsequent backups can be appended [/append-image] to the initial backup, and since ESDs/WIMs utilize a smart algorithm, they only add files that have changed, thereby allowing several backups to have a very small footprint.
  
  
• For example, I have 4 indexes [backups] (1st is the initial, 2 - 4 are appended) in an ESD that is 59.8GB in size
  

  PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> dism /get-wiminfo /wimfile:Z:\WIM\AW18-Base.esd
  
  Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
  Version: 10.0.14393.0
  
  Details for image : Z:\WIM\AW18-Base.esd
  
  Index : 1
  Name : AW 18 Windows 10 Pro Base
  Description : Base Image
  Size : 84,645,160,351 bytes
  
  Index : 2
  Name : AW 18 Windows 10 Pro Restore w/o Adobe
  Description : Base Image w/ Software 1
  Size : 115,029,445,000 bytes
  
  Index : 3
  Name : AW 18 Windows 10 Pro Restore w/ Adobe
  Description : Base Image w/ Software 2
  Size : 129,537,517,470 bytes
  
  Index : 4
  Name : AW 18 Pro Restore (mSATA)
  Description : Final Restore Image
  Size : 139,739,124,752 bytes
  
  The operation completed successfully.

To capture an image:

DISM /Capture-Image /ImageFile:Z:\Base.esd /Compress:Recovery /CaptureDir:C:\ /Name:"Windows 10 Pro Base" /Description:"Base Image" /CheckIntegrity /Verify /ScratchDir:Z:\Scratch

To append an image:

DISM /Append-Image /ImageFile:Z:\Base.esd /Index:2 /CaptureDir:C:\ /Name:Windows 10 Pro Restore" /Description:"Base Image w/ Software" /CheckIntegrity /Verify /ScratchDir:Z:\Scratch

Scratch directory must be set or the capture/append will fail, as WinPE/RE only allocates 32MB for scratch

 

[richard6]

I had a similar problem. It turns out the problem was caused by the USB receiver that I use with an external wireless mouse and keyboard. When I pulled out the USB receiver, the revolving circle disappeared and the upgrade process completed. I then put the USB receiver back in and all was well.

 

[JW09I4]

I had a similar problem. It turns out the problem was caused by the USB receiver that I use with an external wireless mouse and keyboard. When I pulled out the USB receiver, the revolving circle disappeared and the upgrade process completed. I then put the USB receiver back in and all was well.

Whenever doing an update or reset, where Windows has to go through the configuration passes 2 - 6, or TiWorker must be called, all peripherals should be disconnected from the system as it's likely the peripheral will cause issues during the processes or a major update or reset.