SOLVED Windows 10 rebooting during boot up

[Antonio]

Hi there,

I'm trying to fix my windows 10 installation, it just keeps rebooting during the booting sequence. No BSOD, no errors, just reboots. I tried all the advanced options (safe mode, low resolution video...) and none worked. I tried to enable the bootlog but I could not find the log file afterwards, accessing the disk from my windows 7 OS.

I am stuck and I'd like to restore the installation rather than reinstalling it.

Could anybody help?

Tony

 

[Dipsy]

Try booting from a .iso disk and using the repair option. If you don't have one you can download the .iso here http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-iso-update-1504 and burn it to a disk.

 

[Trouble]

If the OS itself is non-operational, then......
That leaves you with booting from the installation media.
I'm pretty sure you can perform the tasks that you want from there

EDIT: Sorry Dipsy..... didn't see your post. I had this one pending for a few minutes and wasn't paying attention before I posted.

 

[Antonio]

thanks both.
I tried that before but if I am not mistaken the repair option gets rid of all the apps and files - or at least moves everything into another folder. Is there an option to actually refresh the system and keep the configuration as is?

 

[Trouble]

Is there an option to actually refresh the system

No I don't believe so. I think Reset is the only option available

Although there are some other options under "Advance options", (system restore, system image recovery, etc.,).

 

[Antonio]

System restore is disabled (cannot remember disabling it but that's it) and I haven't got an image file. I tried every other option under "startup repair".
Any chance to have the bootlog working, it should be fairly easy to find out what the problem is by the last file/driver run.

 

[Trouble]

find out what the problem is by the last file/driver run.

That kind of thing usually comes down to a person's ability to remember the last thing he did or attempted to do prior to the problem occurring.
If you're suspicious of a driver then perhaps look into the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers directory and rename the problem .sys file to a .OLD file extension.

The only other thing I know that you might try would be to rebuild the boot files.
Boot to the installation media Advance Troubleshooting options and command prompt and use bootrec.exe https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/927392
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

See if that helps... although I would expect some error message rather than a boot loop.

 

[Antonio]

Right, I'm writing this post from Windows 10!

The thing is... I don't know how I did it!
First I went on the Drivers folder, added the 'last accessed' column. Only two files were marked as accessed back in April (which was approx the last time Windows 10 worked). I took ownership of the folder and renamed them.
Rebooted in windows 10, now windows wouldn't boot up at all, it would go straight into automatic repair mode. I tried again safe mode, no luck. I did not repair the boot record, I don't think that that would help and I did not want to upset windows 7.
Final test, went back to windows 10 folder, restored the extension to those two files.

Rebooted and here I am!

Ah, when I rebooted into windows 7 windows asked if I wanted to do an integrity check on the windows 10 disk. I could not skip it (my keyboard sometimes failes to work at boot) and the procedure found several errors on several files.

When W10 restarted it said "configuring upgrades", which tells me that last time I upgraded something!

BTW the two files were clfs.sys and http.sys. How bizarre, despite it's booted up now, those two files are still the ones accessed last, in April...

Well, hope it lasts. Thanks for your help, I appreciated it!

 

[Trouble]

I'm writing this post from Windows 10!

Good news.
All's well that ends well, I suppose.

The thing is... I don't know how I did it!

Sort of reminds me of when I finally find my keys.... "in the last place I looked".
Do enough, try enough, throw enough stuff at it and sometimes something sticks. One of the mysteries and magic of computer repair I guess.

 

[Antonio]

yep.

Now a new build is about to be installed, wish me luck. Ah, in the meantime the start menu stopped working by itself. I'll lit a candle before restarting. I have created a restore point though, you never know!
Thanks for your help guys, appreciated!

 

[Antonio]

update: windows 10 updated to build 10074, start menu has come back to like, all good!
Thanks again for your support!