Please help: Windows can't boot after intel optane update

jumanji · 20 Feb 2022

I visualise a situation wherein the OP may not be able to access his SSD either with WinPE or Windows installation media with Optane enabled in BIOS standing in-between. The Optane+SSD operate in some sort of RAID mode. Anyway in a desperate situation one has to keep trying whatever is possible to try. No further mess is possible than what the OP has already created. Its going to be a tough nut to crack online if you hadn't already worked on this sort of Optane+ SSD combination anytime before. Good Luck to you and the OP. I shall keep watching this thread from the sidelines since it is going to be a learning experience to me

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zbook · 20 Feb 2022

Was this an accidental or deliberate installation of software or drivers?

Consider a system restore?

And consider uninstalling the latest Windows update.

If the system restore fails then a reset save files.

If the system restore and the reset save files fail then custom install.

If custom install fails then clean install after manually backing up important files.

All of the above are typically accomplished with a bootable Windows iso.

There are third party software (for a fee) that can move applications.

The mobile workstation or notebook that I'm using to type this post had the old Intel technology (IRST with flash cache).

Turning off acceleration was a method that had fixed some problems.

What Is Intel Optane? The Memory That Gives Hard Drives SSD Speeds | Laptop Mag

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...6-e3b5a3024da5

cato · 20 Feb 2022

I had many problems with an Intel M.2 SSD with optane. All my SSD's were considered RAID which I did not want.I tried so many things that always ended in a blue screen and the repair mode wouldn't work. Thankfully I would always run a Macrium restore to get back to normal boot. After a month or so of searching and trying I found this that took care of my problem. It may not be the same conditions that the OP is having, but I felt obligated to share this just in case:

Switch Windows 10 from RAID/IDE to AHCI Support Team 2022-01-13 50 Comments in Microsoft WindowsSome systems will have the Windows operating system installed using RAID drivers including the Intel Rapid Storage Technology. SSD drives typically perform better using AHCI drivers. There is in fact a way to switch operation from either IDE / RAID to AHCI within Windows 10 without having to reinstall. Here are the steps:

Click the Start Button and type cmd
Right-click the result and select Run as administrator.
Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal (ALT: bcdedit /set safeboot minimal)

Restart the computer and enter BIOS Setup
Change the SATA Operation mode to AHCI from either IDE or RAID
Save changes and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.
Right-click the Windows Start Menu once more. Choose Command Prompt (Admin).Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot (ALT: bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot)Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.bcdedit /set safeboot minimal)bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot)

I had a really odd experience attempting this on Windows 10, but I finally figured it out:When I switched to AHCI and got to the safeboot menu, my keyboard wouldn't work. If I tried to get to the keyboard settings nothing happened. I was able to get to the Command Prompt terminal via the 'Windows Systems' tab in the Start Menu. Once I had opened the Command Prompt, I could type in it using the on-screen keboard (Start Menu -> Settings -> Ease of Access -> Keyboard (scroll down and it's on the left) -> On-Screen Keyboard). Then I typed bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot (there didn't seem to be a way to use curly brackets). Then I Rebooted, and found that I had left Safe Mode, and everything was back to normal :)

I did not have that problem personally given in that last paragraph, but I left it in case that happens to you. Hope this helps.

lous · 21 Feb 2022

jumanji said:

Hi @lous,

Did you install this driver from Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology Driver Installation Software with Intel(R) Optane™ Memory (10th and 11th Gen Platforms) without disabling Optane memory in the Optane software 2 or 3?
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Yes. i did it. Didn't used Windows update because i was unable to do it. i bought the pc second hand and it was running pretty well but for some reason windows update never worked, tried to fix it with sfc / scannow without success, so i installed everything i needed manually.
I think you are right because everythig i try in cmd doesn´t work. fortunately i can still access my data. if i am not able to fix it with the help of MaloK, my last chance is to clean the disk

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zbook said:

Was this an accidental or deliberate installation of software or drivers?

Consider a system restore?

And consider uninstalling the latest Windows update.

It was deliberate. Yes, alredy tried all, I can still try reinstall windows with the bootable dirive or the PE option. Don't want to do the first because i dont want to lose an account that i can't recover

zbook · 21 Feb 2022

One or more of these links may be useful:

Run Startup Repair in Windows 10

System Restore Windows 10

Reset Windows 10

Custom Install Windows 10
How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...6-e3b5a3024da5

lous · 21 Feb 2022

Hello
I have installed WindowsPE and followed the steps here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...iew=windows-11 but after creating the fat32 primary partition, i am unable to create the second primary ntsf partition for the image, I thought there was an issue with the usb stick and changed it, but i got the same result. in both cases the error message was: "no usable free extent could be found (...)" ¿Does it has to be a hard drive instead?

zbook · 22 Feb 2022

What are you planning if you had a functioning Windows PE?

Please list the steps.

How did you decide to use the link?

lous · 27 Feb 2022

zbook said:

What are you planning if you had a functioning Windows PE?

Please list the steps.

How did you decide to use the link?

Hello zbook. To be honest i used google to try to find out and to figure out how to do all these stuff you guys suggested but i got more confused, The last thing i tried was to mount a bootable windows in an usb with rufus but it didn't work. None of the recovery methodes worked and I realized that i don't understand enough of how to use the PE, so i gave up. This is what i ended up doing last night:
1 Manually recover all my data
2 Used "clean" with diskpart
3 Created partition gpt
4 Download a windows installation on an usb
5 plug and run windows installation media

Now my machine is working again.
Many thanks to all of you for your kind help you really are pros

zbook · 28 Feb 2022

I'm glad to read that you're backup and running again.

You're welcome.

Going forward consider making free backup images and save the images to anther disk drive or the cloud.

Then if there are any of these problems you can restore the image:
malware
ransomware
corruption of the operating system
corruption of the registry
corruption of the component store
corruption of the drive file system
failure to boot
etc.

These are some software for free and pay backup images:
Acronis, Aoemi, EaseUS, Macrium, Paragon, etc.

Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect
Macrium Software | Reflect Free Edition

Step #4 in your post is a bootable Windows 10 iso which is one method to use Windows Recovery Environment (RE).

When booting to Windows RE you typically can perform:
startup repair
system restore
remove a windows update
perform a custom install
run commands using command prompt
etc.

A custom install can save files and reinstall Windows:
Custom Install Windows 10
How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10