Windows 10 Restart loop of doom!

[NitricAcid]

Hello Everyone,
Yesterday evening, my PC decided to automatically update to the newest Windows 10 update. About 64% in I got a blue screen with the message '' Sorry we could not continue with the installation. We will restartsWindows for you'' and since then it is stuck on a restart loop. The logo shows up, a small circle with dots, and then ''restarting a previous version of Windows'', and what looks like a tab closing down, and it restarts.
This is my PC which I use for work mixing music and editing videos (so basically, no PC, no income), and it is not even a year old, and never had any problems with it.
Any help is much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Josephur]

Without actually having the computer in my hands I would find this very hard to walk someone through troubleshooting, especially someone without any technical tools available. Your best bet may be to take it to a local repair shop, or if you wish to save money you can always use the Link Removed to create a bootable USB drive or DVD disc to reinstall Windows. Depending on the state of the OS it may even give you the Upgrade and keep my files/programs option, if not I'd recommend backing up your data and doing a fresh install of Windows 10.

You may even be able to boot from the USB/DVD that the tool creates and choose the Repair my computer option, it may get you past this without requiring a reinstall. I really recommend using the tool even if you have an existing Windows 10 installation media to create a fresh one (thus hopefully containing the latest updates) rather than using an old version to attempt the repair/reinstall.

 

[Neemobeer]

I would start by seeing if you can get into safe mode. If you interrupt the boot process 3 times (power the system when you see the Windows or manufacturer logo) should kick it into automatic repair mode)

 

[kemical]

If safe mode is being a pain and you have a friend running windows 10 then ask them to create a system repair disk/USB. You can boot from this and enter the recovery module. Once your inside the recovery section you can either try a start up repair, system restore and/or a reset:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/12415/windows-10-recovery-options

 

[NitricAcid]

Hello everyone, thanks for your replies!
I have managed to reinstall Windows using my purchased CD. I then tried using Windows Update to download all updates, and after installing them it says I need to do a system repair and restart loop AGAIN?
Is there any info on a specific update that crashes the system?
I can't believe this

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I'm guessing that this is what you are running into.

Link Removed

The Culprit is...

"Cumulative Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3081424)"

What you may want to do is reinstall Windows and then defer updates until they get this fixed.

How To Turn Off Windows Update In Windows 10 - MSPoweruser

I can't guarantee this will work but it seems like the best bet to get you up and running.

Mike

PS. you might also look at your Nvidia driver after you get Windows working again, and see if there is a newer version then what you are running.

I'm running the latest version and I didn't have any problems with the update.

But if you have work you need to do I'd not try to update until it looks like Microsoft has fixed this.

 

[kemical]

Hello everyone, thanks for your replies!
I have managed to reinstall Windows using my purchased CD. I then tried using Windows Update to download all updates, and after installing them it says I need to do a system repair and restart loop AGAIN?
Is there any info on a specific update that crashes the system?
I can't believe this

When you install Windows are you performing a clean install?

If not, I would, at the first opportunity, download the needed system drivers and keep them safe. Just so you have them ready to install.. I always keep a copy of all my needed drivers so i don't have to go chasing round after every install.

If you perform a clean install there is less chance you'll be bothered by the updates mentioned above. I and others i know have clean installed and none of us, yes that's none of us have had any issues with updates.

 

[NitricAcid]

When you install Windows are you performing a clean install?

If not, I would, at the first opportunity, download the needed system drivers and keep them safe. Just so you have them ready to install.. I always keep a copy of all my needed drivers so i don't have to go chasing round after every install.

If you perform a clean install there is less chance you'll be bothered by the updates mentioned above. I and others i know have clean installed and none of us, yes that's none of us have had any issues with updates.

Hello
I have performed a clean install and , I understood you had to install all needed drivers through Windows Update to make it less clunky?
Sadly, installing and resetting a PC at 2 am means I might not make great decisions...
Thanks for your reply

 

[kemical]

I understood you had to install all needed drivers through Windows Update to make it less clunky

I never use Windows update to update drivers as it's too hit and miss. You'll find that with Windows update if you already have the most recent driver installed it won't force (or at least shouldn't do) any drivers on you.

Using my pc it's relatively easy because after I've installed the os I still need to install a network driver to access the net. This gives me the breathing space to install drivers and I always leave the network driver till last. Once I've done that i pop online and let the WU do it's thing.

I know some installs with some machines will install a working network driver and so your connected to the net straight away. Sure as sh*t you know that WU is going to be going into action so I'd remove the Ethernet cable or turn off the router until your ready to go back online. This of course only works if you have all your drivers saved somewhere beforehand.

 

[NitricAcid]

Well, I have made progress yay! I can finally access Windows.
Now my only issue is... installing the driver for my Mbox 2 soundcard. Every time I try and install the driver Windows crashes, and it never crashed before the whole incident! I am sorry I am sounding silly but after being up all night and what feels to finally get somewhere and then you realise that you're not getting anywhere... :/
Would there be a reason as to why Windows crashes when installing a driver? Thanks

 

[kemical]

You may have the incorrect driver perhaps? I found these although the latest driver is dated 2011:
Mbox 2 Drivers

 

[NitricAcid]

You may have the incorrect driver perhaps? I found these although the latest driver is dated 2011:
Mbox 2 Drivers

I am sure I have the correct drivers. And it seems to always get stuck in the same place! This is the first time I have ever had an issue with my Mbox...
I am close to giving up haha!
Thanks for your patience

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi,
All of the advice you have is good; assuming you don't have any hardware failures! When trying to get to the bottom of a problem like this generic software solutions only will take you so far. Please post the Make/Model of the computer you are having difficulties with. Is it a desktop PC or a laptop? Is it an OEM computer (Dell, Acer, HP, Toshiba) or is it a self-built PC or custom-built PC? If a self-built PC or custom-built PC, please provide all hardware specs such as Make/Model of your Motherboard, CPU chip, GPU card, RAM, Hard Drive, and PSU Make/Model/Wattage.

If you don't have that list handy, or don't know how to get that information, you can go to Link Removed and download the free SPECCY diagnostic and post back the results of it's text output file back here to this thread so that we may analyze it for you. If hardware testing is required based on this file, we will advise you and provide you step-by-step instructions via a Troubleshooting Guide. That is, if you are up for doing DIY repair. This requires some pretty good computer skills and a lot of patience. If we suspect you have to do this, it could take 2-3 days to 1 week or longer to determine the real problem. If this doesn't sound like something you can do or allocate the time for, you may rather consider taking it to your local licensed Computer Tech and paying him/her to fix it for you. It will still take 1-2 weeks or longer depending on parts availability if a hardware fault is found, but you won't be tearing your hair out trying to get 20 years of repair experience fixing computers in a few days.

Thanks,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[NitricAcid]

Hello everyone! Thank you all for the replies. After spending all night on it and after being on the '' okay, last time I try this before I give up completely'' it worked!
All I needed to do was uninstall the Mbox drivers that Windows installed as standard in device management, and then the new driver worked just fine after that.
Thanks! So glad its all sorted now...phew!

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

That's great! Thanks for sharing your solution with us and the rest of our forum users!
We see this problem a lot with W10; and very often an uninstall and download/reinstall of the exact correct updated or old driver for the misbehaving device will take care of the problem.

Best of luck,
<<<BBJ>>>

 

[kemical]

Hello everyone! Thank you all for the replies. After spending all night on it and after being on the '' okay, last time I try this before I give up completely'' it worked!
All I needed to do was uninstall the Mbox drivers that Windows installed as standard in device management, and then the new driver worked just fine after that.
Thanks! So glad its all sorted now...phew!

Hey that's great.. I avoid driver installs from the WU unit as it simply cannot be trusted to always find the correct driver. Your far better off sourcing your drivers yourself and keeping a copy of them. It can sometimes be a pain finding each specific vendor but once found, pop the page into your favourites.
Good luck and hope all goes well with the new driver..