sata issue

spcoleman · 18 Oct 2016

A new Windows update on my desktop took over 2 hours. The machine then transitioned into a "perpetual reboot". In other words, it continued rebooting itself but never to the point of reaching the login screen. I stopped the cycle by depressing the f12 key during the rebooting. An error message appeared and displayed 2 SATA errors. I then powered off the machine and rebooted using a recovery file on a thumb drive. Unfortunately, the system will not self-repair using the recovery files and will not boot completely with the recovery files.

Any idea what this could be and how do I fix it? I am assuming that the Windows update was corrupted. Can Windows be re-installed externally? I can't boot the machine so I have no way to work from within the computer and operating system. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

dalchina · 19 Oct 2016

Hi, sorry to hear that. Happens to some. I will show you a way to prepare for such disasters.

You might be able to
- use a system restore point - if you had system restore on and providing it's an update not an upgrade
- boot into safe mode

by booting your PC from a Win 10 install medium (DVD or flash drive or external USB drive) and clicking 'Repair my computer' (not installing Win 10!)
The Tutorial section helps you get one if you don't know how or don't have one - search for 'iso'.

Other options might include uninstalling the update (do you know which one it was?) from a command prompt - again by booting from an install medium
How to uninstall specific Windows updates via CMD or batch file in Windows 7/8 and Server 2008/2012
Does Windows provide a way to uninstall security updates via command - Microsoft Community
Please explain how to list and uninstall windows updates via comand prompt - Windows 8 and Windows 8.1

For completeness, if your update was actually the 1607 upgrade you may be able to restore the previous build, again by booting from the install medium.
================================
How do you prepare for these scenarios and recover from them without technical help?
I'm assuming you haven't already discovered how invaluable using disk imaging routinely can be.
Of course, if you had, you might consider using your previously created disk images.

When you've got your system running again, read this:
Creating disk images lets you restore Windows and all your disks and partitions to a previous working state, quickly and probably without technical help.

You can recover from:
- a failed disk drive (restore to a new one)
- ransomware (which encrypts your disk)
- user error
- unrecoverable problems from failed updates to problem programs
- unbootable PC (hardware faults aside)

Images also act as a full backup- you can extract files too.

You can even use images to help you move more easily and quickly to a new PC.

Imaging can even help you sleep at night knowing you have a second chance.

Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as a good robust solution and more reliable than some others. It’s
- more feature rich
- more flexible
- more reliable
than Windows Backup and Restore system images.

It's well supported with videos, help and a responsive forum.

There are other such programs, free/commercial, some with simpler interfaces, but Macrium R is one of the most robust and reliable.

How long does it take?
SSD+ USB3 - maybe 15 mins for the first system image, less thereafter
HDD + USB2 - maybe 40-50 mins
That’s with little personal data, few programs installed.
- of course, depends how much you have on C:
(You can and should image all your partitions and disks)

Once you've created your first image, keep it updated with e.g. differential imaging- which images just changes from the first image, more quickly, and creates a smaller image file.