How to find the cause of frequent WIndows boot problems?

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  1. Posts : 5
    Windowns 10
       #1

    How to find the cause of frequent WIndows boot problems?


    Recently my system started having really frequent booting problems. They sometimes result in a BSOD, but sometimes don't - the laptop restarts two times, then shows automatic repair information, then says it was unable to perform automatic repairs.
    First it did that about a year ago (after two years from buying the laptop), then half a year ago, and now it happens roughly once per two months.

    On one occasion, I tried to bring it up using internet tutorials. The BSOD cause was "CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED". I tried to restore the System Restore points (there were three), but after restoring each one the system still wasn't booting.
    I also tried some console commands that were supposed to restore system files from the installation media, but the commands failed. Then, as per some website suggestion, I tried restoring the registry backup, but then it turned out the registry backup files weren't present. I assume they were restored by my previous attempts, or by the System Restore point, or they were never created, which would be strange. I gave up, and reinstalled the system.

    Recently I started backing up the system, because I didn't want to make a full reinstall every time. I've just had another booting issue, which required me to restore the system from the backup. Now it works, but I don't know for how long.

    My question is: how do I diagnose what the cause of the problem is?
    I already did 5 full cycles of memtest86, which were successful.
    My main suspect is the SSD (Silicon Power 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe UD70), but I don't want to replace it blindly, because it's expensive, and the problem may lie somewhere else. All the HDD/SSD diagnostic programs I've tried say the drive is in good condition. The system partition has 441GB, of which only 138GB is used.

    My Windows 10 version is 22H2 (build 19045.3570)
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 14,026
    Win10 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home, Win7, Linux Mint
       #2

    The problems could result from a failing battery or AC power unit or dust in the case blocking the vents. I use canned air to blow the computers out, it can be particularly bad if having pets in the house with their fine hairs floating around [may not be very visible].

    Does the computer have built-in diagnostics? If so, might run all of them, my ASUS Desktop had them until the plastics in the front of the case started falling apart after 6 years.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 4,810
    Windows 11 Pro 64 Bit 22H2
       #3

    You may also have Bad Sectors on your SSD.
    Download Crystal Disk Info or DiskGenius both in my signature. View theSMART information for your drive. If it is anything less the Good, the drive needs to be replaced.

    ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FA506 review (FA506IV model - Ryzen 7 4800H, RTX 2060 90W)
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 5,330
    Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
       #4

    This guide contains instructions to fix the CRITICAL PROCESS DIED BSOD error message in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

      My Computer


  5. Posts : 6,383
    Windows 11 Pro - Windows 7 HP - Lubuntu
       #5

    Open a CMD window as administrator and type:
    chkdsk c: /f
    It will say your disk is in use and ask if you want to schedule to next start = yes
    Restart

    Back to Windows, open a CMD window as administrator and type:
    sfc /scannow

    If it finds any corrupted files, fixing or not, reboot and run again

    Then run
    Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
    and
    Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

    Check disk log Read Chkdsk Log in Event Viewer in Windows 10
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 5
    Windowns 10
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Thank you all for the ideas.

    Berton said:
    The problems could result from a failing battery or AC power unit or dust in the case blocking the vents. I use canned air to blow the computers out, it can be particularly bad if having pets in the house with their fine hairs floating around [may not be very visible].
    It's definitely not a failing battery, as it still lasts 5-6 hours. Also I cleaned the laptop inside recently, so it's not the dust too.

    Berton said:
    Does the computer have built-in diagnostics? If so, might run all of them, my ASUS Desktop had them until the plastics in the front of the case started falling apart after 6 years.
    I've just run the diagnostics. It found missing power adapter, long WiFi connect time, and some driver update. Nothing seemingly related to the problem.

    spunk said:
    You may also have Bad Sectors on your SSD.
    Download Crystal Disk Info or DiskGenius both in my signature. View theSMART information for your drive. If it is anything less the Good, the drive needs to be replaced.
    Crystal Disk Info does not show any bad sector info. Are you sure bad sectors are displayed for SSDs?
    Otherwise it looks alright. No critical warnings, no data integrity errors.
    How to find the cause of frequent WIndows boot problems?-asus_ssd.jpg

    FreeBooter said:
    This guide contains instructions to fix the CRITICAL PROCESS DIED BSOD error message in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
    Thank you, I will try it next time it happens.

    Megahertz said:
    Open a CMD window as administrator and type:
    chkdsk c: /f
    ...
    Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
    I found a similar guide before, and tried it at one point, but the Dism command failed with an error (don't remember what exactly). Then I found another guide to resolve that error, which involved restoring the Registry backup, and that I couldn't perform, because the registry backup directory was empty.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 705
    W10
       #7

    My PC runs for 12 yrs now and Crystal Disk Info says SSD is 98%
    I would not be comfortable with 86%
    And hopefully lasts your CMOS battery longer than 6 hrs 😀
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 5
    Windowns 10
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Was Berton talking about CMOS battery? I don't think this model has it at all. The main battery is non-user-removable, and I can't find it on the MB picture, so it most likely doesn't.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 14,026
    Win10 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home, Win7, Linux Mint
       #9

    kazink said:
    Was Berton talking about CMOS battery? I don't think this model has it at all. The main battery is non-user-removable, and I can't find it on the MB picture, so it most likely doesn't.
    No, I wasn't talking about the CMOS battery which if it goes bad the User settings in the BIOS will be lost and revert to its defaults. It usually is a CR-2032 but have seen smaller on an 11" Notebook.

    I also have Notebooks with the 'gel-pack' type batteries, they can be replaced but not easily changeable, have to do some dissemble of the case to get to them.
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 5
    Windowns 10
    Thread Starter
       #10

    I just downloaded a toll from the SSD manufacturer (SP Toolbox), and it says the SSD health is "good" (the highest status), and the estimated remaining life is 99.48%. I assume they base it on the amount of data written proportional to the total amount guaranteed by the manufacturer. I'm curious why Crystal Disk's health estimation is so much lower.

    I have also run short and long "diagnostic scan", that I think detects bad sectors, and both of them returned "0 Errors".

    Any other ideas what could be wrong with my system?
    It's unlikely to be high cpu load related too, because I rarely run cpu-intensive games or programs (and never had any issues when doing so).
      My Computer


 

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