Windows update has trashed my HDD for the second time

I have arrived here in some frustration and desperation, having found no obvious solution to my issues that would not create a huge amount of work and leave me in the same situation as I find myself in now.

The story. I bought a new Asus X555L laptop a couple of weeks ago, as I am travelling and unable to use my self-built i7 desktop system. Having built and managed my own and friends systems since the days of Windows 95, I have a fair idea what I am doing, but this laptop is my first (and last) venture into windows 8 territory.

Having got the system into more or less a condition that I was happy with, I started applying windows updates, which seemed to go fine until the necessary reboot, which unexpectedly caused a huge issue. My system became unbootable and all attempts to repair the system via the windows diagnostic tools failed. At that stage, the best thing to do seemed to be to return to factory settings, which I did successfully.

By this time, the OCZ 480GB SSD I was waiting for had arrived, so I installed it into the main SATA slot, moving the provided 1TB HDD into a new slot in place of the optical drive and used Easus TODO to clone the contents of the original drive onto the SSD. All went perfectly and I proceeded to install antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware software (zonealarm pro and spybot S&D pro), along with several other applications and mail accounts etc.

Having done this, I hid the system partition on the HDD, as I wanted to preserve this as a backup, which, as it turns out, was a very good move, because when I again tried to apply windows updates to resolve a common Logitech gaming mouse issue, the same thing happened again.

After downloading and installing 1.5GB of "necessary" updates (all "optional updates unselected), all was well, and windows then decided it needed another 19 "necessary" updates totalling another 1.2GB or so. This was where the problems started.

Part way through this process, the machine reported that it had encountered an error and needed to reboot (exactly what had happened before). On reboot, I was immediately taken not into the OS, but into BIOS, where everything looked as it should except that NEITHER my SSD or HDD were listed in the SATA device list.

Not having any other real options, I closed the system down and rebooted, which went straight into BIOS again, with the same result. Realising that this was serious (I was out at the time), I took a couple of photos of the error messages then I dediced to leave it until I went home and shut the system down. (Error was "Critical_Process_Died ", BSOD code was 0x00000185)

On getting home, I rebooted and the machine went straight into the OS, which I found very weird. However, it didn't take long to realise that the OS in question was the on on the original HDD and not the SSD version that had been updating when the problem occurred. On checking the system, the SSD was visible and working fine, but seemed to be unbootable, so I began suspecting either a SATA driver, chipset driver or that the GPT had become corrupted (as it seemed to do on the previous occasion).

The next step was to do a complete system backup, which I was planning to do once everything was set up how I wanted it, but which I never achieved.

Once that was complete, I began troubleshooting and that is where I am now. However, having rebooted again in the meantime, my SSD drive is no longer visible in disk management (haven't looked in BIOS yet).

I am currently downloading an ISO of Win 8.1 in an attempt to use the repair tools to repair the (apparently) corrupt GPT, but if there are any other solutions that I haven't thought of, I'd really appreciate some help, as this is a huge concern . . . I am now a long way away from my desktop system, and unable to access it for quite some time, so am limited to the gear I have with me, which, thankfully now included a backup of the system as well as the working HDD version, with windows updates switched OFF!

Having googled the issue, I realise that I am not the first to experience it. I had hoped to find the log files and post them, but, as the disk is currently not accessible, I don't have them yet.

Any other suggestions gratefully received - thanks in advance,
Brian

 

Hi K1iled. Welcome to Windows BBS.

The update you are talking about -was it a Windows update or some driver update ?

 

I had the same problem with W7 updates but was able to restore my system with imaging software. At first, I assumed the problem was just one of those PC mysteries. After the restore, I again updated W7 and the same problem. Did another restore and will not try any updates on this laptop until I can determine which update is the problem. The update appears to crash some systems but not all from what I've seen on other boards.

 

Thanks for the replly, I really appreciate it.

It was a windows update (both times). I usually update key drivers (like the sound and video cards) individually, and both were already up-to-date

It seems totally clear that this was a windows-update issue, as nothing else had changed and it happened during the update process to a system that was otherwise fine. That microsoft can screw an otherwise perfectly good system, with no recovery route is outrageous! (if, indeed, that is the case)

 

I can also confirm it was a windows update that caused the problem. Still haven't determined which one.

 

Hmm. Then there is nothing to do except to find the culprit & not to install it.

Trial & error.

 

Hi K1lted, Welcome to WindowsBBS. When the laptop was busy downloading and installing the updates, were you using the laptop to do other things?
I've always found that it's best to let a large bunch of updates fully install on their own or do it in smaller bundles.
I note you have an OCZ SSD installed now. OCZ SSD's have the highest RTA on Reviews I have read, so you may want to ensure that the SSD is AOK.
I personally have had no problems with my HP Notebook which was purchased with W8 and 3 months later updated to W8.1 and has been on auto updates ever since.
I suspect network interference when corruption occurs especially with large (GB) downloads. If you were trying to do complex work while the comp was installing updates - I would let the comp do it's thing first before you condemn MS W8.1.
I currently have 3 comps running W8.1 and 2 with W10 Insider Preview running without hassles. Neil.

 

Thanks Neil, and everyone else who has contributed.

Given that I have finally found a thread on the Asus website about resolving this issue, it would seem to be fairly common, but no-one seems to have tried to work out what i causing it yet (at least not successfully)

That thread is http://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1011476/

I have finally downloaded the necessary files to try a system repair, but cant do that until tomorrow, so will do so and post back my results. Good news is that I am not seeing any hardware errors anywhere, I think it is just the GPT / BCD config that is botched.

Time will tell!

 

Thanks for the update. Let's know what the outcome is. Neil.

 

Update!

Some progress made . . . after finally finding the external media I needed, I was able to do some system repairs from bootable media. . . details follow. Before starting I disconnected the healthy HDD, leaving only the faulty SSD connected.

Booted from a USB stick with repair system downloaded from Microsoft

First thing I tried was "autorepair ". I normally hate doing stuff like this, but bit the bullet. After some time, the machine rebooted, but still could not get into Windows. I ran "autorepair" again, which eventually reported that it couldn't repair the system.

At this point I rebooted into command prompt and followed the guidance from Asus on the link above . . . assigning a drive letter to the system partition and using BDCboot to attempt a repair of the boot process. All appeared to go well.

On rebooting, I was again taken back to BIOS, so changed the boot order and booted from media again. At this point, when I tried "autorepair ", I got a report of errors on the disk, which, it was claimed we re fixed, but which changed nothing.

Tried the "repair boot issues" again after that, but got nowhere, however, I did notice that I now have 2 options to "repair ", both 8.1 and both in Volume 4, so it seems that some part of thas process has confused the boot partition into thinking I have 2 separate installations on the same volume

So, it would seem there are now a few options

1. I can try "repairing" the second "identified" system, though I assume it points to the same files as the other at this stage

2. I can try a system refresh, to see if repairing the system files is enough to get me going again. Having never tried this, I am somewhat sceptical, but open-minded enough to give it a go if that is what I need

3. I could try a System restore, but that will only put me back to the pre-update situation, which will no doubt recurr when I run windows updates again . . . with something like 87 updates (even in the first batch), I am not inspired by the thought of installing them one at a time to find out which one causes the issue - that is What Asus should be doing!

Of course, there may be other options that I haven't come up with yet - suggestions gratefully received
Brian

PS Almost forgot, now that I can access (but not boot from) the SSD, I was able to get into the repair log file - here it is!

Starts

Startup Repair diagnosis and repair log
---------------------------
Number of repair attempts: 1

Session details
---------------------------
System Disk = \Device\Harddisk0
Windows directory = C:\\Windows
AutoChk Run = 0
Number of root causes = 1

Test Performed:
---------------------------
Name: Check for updates
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 0 ms

Test Performed:
---------------------------
Name: System disk test
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 0 ms

Test Performed:
---------------------------
Name: Disk failure diagnosis
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 0 ms

Test Performed:
---------------------------
Name: Disk metadata test
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 16 ms

Test Performed:
---------------------------
Name: Target OS test
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 46 ms

Test Performed:
---------------------------
Name: Volume content check
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 47 ms

Root cause found:
---------------------------
System volume on disk is corrupt.

Repair action: File system repair (chkdsk)
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 230031 ms

---------------------------
---------------------------
Ends

 

Hi K1lted, Sorry I haven't been back earlier. Have you had any progress with your SSD?

Did you connect your SSD via USB port?
I would install W8.1 to the SSD as a fresh install if you have your Data on the 'healthy HDD'. You will be able to transfer it over to the SSD once you get it set up. Neil.

 

Thanks again for the reply

Things have happened, but I am not sure if I would call it progress.

My data is on a separate partition on the "healthy" HDD, and always has been - I always keep it separate from my windows partition and set it up so that it can be used by either, with common data files.

I have now been through several new installs of the windows 10 upgrade and of 8.1 . . . the same issue arose with all of them, though diagnostics show no issues with the hardware.

The current situation is that I am now back on 8.1 with windows updates switched off as I cannot trust them to not screw up the machine (this is not a clean install, but a clone of the stable installation on my HDD). It is reasonably stable, but I still get the occasional BSOD with "critical_process_died" as the error. Having been through the logs, I haven't spotted anything suspicious in them, but am not experienced at examining them, so that may not mean anything. Am happy to post them here if it would help.

FSC still finds errors, but is unable to repair them, whether I run it from safe mode or from external media (and yes, that was done from USB)

Unless a solution presents itself, my plan is to wait another 2 weeks for the official 10 release and upgrade then, which should hopefully over-write the corrupt files, without me having to go back to a clean install, which would be quite a nightmare, as my other (main) machine is in another country (browsers, passwords etc are set up to synch and my options to back them up here are limited).

The only other nagging thing is an issue with my logitech G700 mouse, where the buttons stop working, which seems to be common on 8 and 8.1. It is as if it gets stuck on a particular tab / window and is unable to do anything on others, but again, I expect that 10 will fix that. (driver updates, setpoint and their gaming software do not fix the issue). It was this issue that prompted me to do the updates in the first place, that caused the system failure . . . . grrr.

Thanks again for the help - any other suggestions most welcome

 

A Google found this suggested fix for "Logitech g700 mouse Problems" Erratic behavior fix - Logitech wireless g700 gaming mouse ... Neil.