How to Fix a Non-Booting PC Remotely

The RAM /DIMM /MB can be tested using Memtest86+ version 5.01.
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
The testing is not done by time but by passes.
To use the test results you need to have 8 or more passes.
The more the passes the better.
If fewer than 8 passes are made during the testing there is a significant number of false negatives.
A false negative is a pass when there is malfunctioning RAM.
When using Memtest86+ version 5.01 it takes approximately 1 -2 hours / GB RAM.
So testing can be start in the evening and finish sometime the next day with 8 GB RAM.
Just 1 error is a fail and you can abort testing.
Then test 1 RAM module at a time in the same DIMM to detemine which RAM module is malfunctioning or to determinine whether there is a problem with the DIMM /Motherboard.
When the RAM are tested 1 module at a time the testing again is by passes and 8 or more passes are needed to have a usable test result.
When the testing has completed 8 or more passes use a camera or smart phone camera to take a picture and post an image into the thread.
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

Microsoft Community
MemTest86+ - Test RAM Windows 10 BSOD Tutorials

zbook said:

The RAM /DIMM /MB can be tested using Memtest86+ version 5.01.
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
The testing is not done by time but by passes.
To use the test results you need to have 8 or more passes.
The more the passes the better.
If fewer than 8 passes are made during the testing there is a significant number of false negatives.
A false negative is a pass when there is malfunctioning RAM.
When using Memtest86+ version 5.01 it takes approximately 1 -2 hours / GB RAM.
So testing can be start in the evening and finish sometime the next day with 8 GB RAM.
Just 1 error is a fail and you can abort testing.
Then test 1 RAM module at a time in the same DIMM to detemine which RAM module is malfunctioning or to determinine whether there is a problem with the DIMM /Motherboard.
When the RAM are tested 1 module at a time the testing again is by passes and 8 or more passes are needed to have a usable test result.
When the testing has completed 8 or more passes use a camera or smart phone camera to take a picture and post an image into the thread.
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

Microsoft Community
MemTest86+ - Test RAM Windows 10 BSOD Tutorials

Thanks - I manged to run the Windows memory test (mdsched) from the command prompt which showed no errors. Chkdsk also ran without errors. I tried the boot configuration repair in my post 10 but that didn't work.
The PC repair will now have wait until I visit and recover from the Macrium Reflect backup. There seem to be two ways to do this:

1. Boot from the Reflect repair USB and recover the system drive backup partitions or
2. Boot the computer from a Windows 10 USB flash drive in UEFI mode (CSM disabled). Delete every partition on the drive, and install Windows to the unallocated space. Windows will set it up as GPT partitioning and create the EFI System Partition. Then boot the computer from the Macrium Reflect rescue USB flash drive and restore the image of the old Windows right over the top of the newly created Windows partition. Then you might also have to run the Fix Windows boot problems utility from the restore menu of Macrium Reflect.

Which is the most reliable method?

Steve C said:

There seem to be two ways to do this:

1. Boot from the Reflect repair USB and recover the system drive backup partitions or
2. Boot the computer from a Windows 10 USB flash drive in UEFI mode (CSM disabled). Delete every partition on the drive, and install Windows to the unallocated space. Windows will set it up as GPT partitioning and create the EFI System Partition. Then boot the computer from the Macrium Reflect rescue USB flash drive and restore the image of the old Windows right over the top of the newly created Windows partition. Then you might also have to run the Fix Windows boot problems utility from the restore menu of Macrium Reflect.

Which is the most reliable method?

Not sure I understand why you would use method 2, which appears to be a clean install which you then overwrite with a prior Macrium image.

If you want to do a clean install, that's fine---but why would you then overwrite it? The premise of imaging is to save you from having to do a clean install and then all applications.

Am I grossly misunderstanding something?

Is the hardware on the machine the same now as it was when the image was made?

If the computer is getting to the spinning dots and just hanging there with the spinning dots then the problem is not likely to be the EFI System Partition or the BCD. The computer is getting past that and trying to load Windows. Method 2 was written for a situation when the computer was booting in CSM (legacy BIOS) mode on an MBR partitioned drive and was recommended to convert the computer to UEFI booting and converting the drive to GPT. The advantage to method 2 is that you get a nice, clean EFI System Partition and BCD to boot from.

I would boot from Kyhi's Recovery Tools (which I think you already have?) That will help rule out hardware problems. Then run Macrium Reflect from Kyhi's Recovery to restore the saved image and see if that works. If that does not work, then you are probably looking at a clean install of Windows 10 - you can install Macrium Free - then browse the old image file to retrieve data files from it.

Thanks for all your replies. The recovery from the Reflect backup will have to wait a couple of weeks until I visit. There is some merit in a clean install since this PC started life as Windows 8 in 2013.

I haven't had to recover a failed PC using Reflect before. Do I need to clean the C: drive initially or just recover the backup to drive C: ?Does Reflect recover everything or are there some settings I need to reconfigure?

Steve C said:

Thanks for all your replies. The recovery from the Reflect backup will have to wait a couple of weeks until I visit. There is some merit in a clean install since this PC started life as Windows 8 in 2013.

I haven't had to recover a failed PC using Reflect before. Do I need to clean the C: drive initially or just recover the backup to drive C: ?Does Reflect recover everything or are there some settings I need to reconfigure?

No, you don't need to clean C.

Macrium will do whatever cleaning is needed as part of it's restoration process.

The restored drive will be in the exact state it was in as of the date the image was made. No more. No less.

It might not work, so be prepared to do a clean install if it comes to that.

If the existing C will not boot, you will need some way to start that PC so you can restore. Presumably your previously made Macrium recovery medium.

If the existing C will boot, you can just start up from the existing C and run Macrium directly from it's installation on C.

You might try to familiarize yourself with a Macrium tutorial in the meantime so you know what the menu choices are and what you need to do.

ignatzatsonic said:

No, you don't need to clean C.

Macrium will do whatever cleaning is needed as part of it's restoration process.

The restored drive will be in the exact state it was in as of the date the image was made. No more. No less.

It might not work, so be prepared to do a clean install if it comes to that.

If the existing C will not boot, you will need some way to start that PC so you can restore. Presumably your previously made Macrium recovery medium.

If the existing C will boot, you can just start up from the existing C and run Macrium directly from it's installation on C.

You might try to familiarize yourself with a Macrium tutorial in the meantime so you know what the menu choices are and what you need to do.

You said Reflect 'might not work'? Why could this happen unless there was a problem with the integrity of the backup image?

Steve C said:

You said Reflect 'might not work'? Why could this happen unless there was a problem with the integrity of the backup image?

Who knows? I'm not a software engineer.

I've seen reports of it happening.

I had a competing app refuse to even acknowledge the very image file it had created, so I could not restore.

You'd be foolish to assume it will work.

You can "verify" the image, but that doesn't mean it will properly restore when push comes to shove.

Re cleaning the disk; it can't hurt to do that before hand. Who knows--there's some unknowable chance some code is on the disk that confuses Macrium. Just try to give yourself every possible advantage. If you have had some non-Windows OS on a drive, strange things can happen.

I've now been able to visit my father and troubleshoot his offending PC. I noticed a problem with two vertical green bands on the display as soon as I booted KYHI's repair disk. I removed the MSI R7870 GPU and the PC boots fine using the motherboard's Intel GPU or using an old NVidia GPU. I did all the usual system checks on the W10 system and these are fine.

It seems the R7870 GPU is bust. Any recommendations for a modern mid range GPU for basic gaming resolutions up to 1920x1080?