what the heck happened to my computer?

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mnewxcv

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I usually don't make troubleshooting threads as I have a pretty good handle on solving problems that arise, but this has me stumped. For the system in my sig (lenovo S30), I installed some updates (for windows 10) requiring a reboot (which I did), rebooted, then played some games and browsed the internet. I shut down the system, then realized I needed to print something, I turned it back on. Well, this time, I get the Lenovo post screen, but then it just hangs on a black screen. Num/cap locks are unresponsive, but hitting the power button once instantly shuts it down.

My first thought was the ssd took a shit, but it still showed up in BIOS. I tested my hackintosh drive (separate drive) and that booted fine. I put windows 10 installer on a usb drive and booted that just fine as well, going to the repair computer options, none of which worked. For the hell of it, I wanted to see if the ssd from my laptop would boot in the machine, and sure enough, it booted right into windows (10). Then I decided to put the ssd from my desktop in the laptop, and that booted right into windows as well.

At this point, I have no idea what is going on. I look at the update history and both machines completed the same updates today. No variance. I swap the drives back, but the desktop still will not boot into windows with its drive. I've tried a few things like chkdsk and bcdedit to try to fix the situation but no luck.

Does anyone have an idea what is going on here and how to fix it?

edit: and of course I have taken out any pcie cards except gpu, am booting with 1 stick of ram, and disconnected all other sata devices.
 
Windows fast boot? Have you tried removing the battery from the laptop for 5 mins and then attempting a reboot? If the battery is unremovable hold the power button until the laptop fully shuts off and try again?

Have you got any recovery media? [EDIT] Looks like you've tried all recovery options.

Does it get to the login splash screen or is it just black?
 
its just black, screen on. If I hit F12 to select boot options and select windows boot manager, I get a cursor ( a _ line) that does not blink, seems frozen. Pretty sure the line is there at every startup for a split second before the splash screen. I do not get to the splash screen (windows logo).
 
Had a customer with a brand-new PC just have this issue last week.

Unplug machine. Remove BIOS battery for 30 seconds, reseat battery, plug in and power on.
 
I'll try it... though I did already reset cmos with the jumper.

edit: tried it, no change.
 
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You're not the only one to experience a hosed OS install as a result of a Windows update, I deal with them daily.
 
mnewxcv said:
But the same drive boots fine in my laptop :mad:
Click to expand...
That just shows how evil Windows 10 is - it has cursed your desktop.

If I had to guess this is an issue with secure boot. Something got messed in the last update. Have you tried booting with secure boot off? You can use the other drive to get into bios and try it.
 
B00nie said:
That just shows how evil Windows 10 is - it has cursed your desktop.

If I had to guess this is an issue with secure boot. Something got messed in the last update. Have you tried booting with secure boot off? You can use the other drive to get into bios and try it.
Click to expand...

The BIOS for my machine lacks a secure boot option.
 
mnewxcv said:
The BIOS for my machine lacks a secure boot option.
Click to expand...
hmm, then it's even more mysterious. Is it a branded computer with a gimped bios? Then you might not just be able to disable it.

Or if it's an older one that doesn't have secure boot it gets mysterious. Theoretically your ssd might have device id corruption which jams your hardware check and you can't get into BIOS. I think that the other machine may boot with the bad hardware id even if the other doesn't.
 
B00nie said:
hmm, then it's even more mysterious. Is it a branded computer with a gimped bios? Then you might not just be able to disable it.

Or if it's an older one that doesn't have secure boot it gets mysterious. Theoretically your ssd might have device id corruption which jams your hardware check and you can't get into BIOS. I think that the other machine may boot with the bad hardware id even if the other doesn't.
Click to expand...

I believe older BIOS versions for this machine (Lenovo branded) had a secure boot option. The latest version and one before though do not. CSM, UEFI, and quick boot options are there. I am wondering if secure boot was just programmed into one of those options. I will try to roll back my BIOS to one that has the option tonight. Otherwise, I guess I have no option but to put the drive in my laptop, back it up, and start from scratch with a clean install. LAME.


EDIT: upon looking for an older BIOS, I found that Lenovo released a BIOS update yesterday with "undisclosed security updates". Doesn't mention anything about it fixing boot issues, and maybe just a coincidence it came out the day the problem I have started, but I will update and see if it fixes the problem.
 
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Non-booting was a feature implemented based on user feedback. :p

My first suspicion would be a change in the AHCI/legacy compatibility setting in BIOS setup. If you reset BIOS settings and changed it back to the same setting used when Windows was installed, that should have fixed it. You may have run into a genuine update compatibility problem, so system restore to a state prior to the update should have fixed it. Beyond that, lol Windows 10: "ready" for the enterprise!
 
pxc said:
Non-booting was a feature implemented based on user feedback. :p

My first suspicion would be a change in the AHCI/legacy compatibility setting in BIOS setup. If you reset BIOS settings and changed it back to the same setting used when Windows was installed, that should have fixed it. You may have run into a genuine update compatibility problem, so system restore to a state prior to the update should have fixed it. Beyond that, lol Windows 10: "ready" for the enterprise!
Click to expand...

I tried Uefi and legacy for boot as well as ide , achi, and raid for the drive. No luck. It was a Uefi installation though.
 
win 10 did the same shit to my work pc. ended up reinstalling the entire OS. Fucking idiots release broken patches is really frustrating. I can't imagine having to deal with a ton of end users having this issue. What's weird it started out with an issue of everything being super laggy and unresponsive. I would look at the system utilization and it was normal. Acted like i have a virus or something but I honestly think it was a broken patch released a while ago. Not sure.
 
I assume I will end up having to do a clean install, which sucks because a lot of programs I use are older and have little compatibility/no support for windows 10, and it takes tinkering to get them functional. At least the drive isn't fucked though, and I can transfer stuff over. I will let you guys know what happens with the bios update.
 
Since it seems to boot in the desktop, you could try a Clonezilla image first, restore, just to see if you can avoid a total re-install.
 
Nothing I've tried has worked. Really don't know what happened but I just imaged the drive so I'm going to clean install now.

Windows 10: 1
Me: 0
 
mnewxcv said:
Nothing I've tried has worked. Really don't know what happened but I just imaged the drive so I'm going to clean install now.

Windows 10: 1
Me: 0
Click to expand...

There are no winners in that scenario.
 
mnewxcv said:
Nothing I've tried has worked. Really don't know what happened but I just imaged the drive so I'm going to clean install now.

Windows 10: 1
Me: 0
Click to expand...
That sucks. The new black box patching method spooked me into doing more regular backups and imagining on my main system (Windows 7), and ironically leaving the system in a more vulnerable state while others figure out whether 1) the patches cripple/destroy the OS or 2) add more spyware. That's progress, I guess.
 
pxc said:
That sucks. The new black box patching method spooked me into doing more regular backups and imagining on my main system (Windows 7), and ironically leaving the system in a more vulnerable state while others figure out whether 1) the patches cripple/destroy the OS or 2) add more spyware. That's progress, I guess.
Click to expand...
Does suck. I'm glad I was able to image the drive at least. Should be able to get my programs back the way they were as well as drivers and codecs. I got a good 4 months out of this install at least
 
I found a good way to fix weird Windows 10 issues like this.....

Customer had a brand new out of the box Dell laptop with Windows 10 menu issues and a problem where you can't right
click Taskbar icons. No way to unpin them. Various other weird stuff. Odd that these issues were in a new Dell PC with
their image on it.

Anyway.... I figured too many issues to troubleshoot, but we already had Office and several apps on it and preferred not to
totally wipe it and reinstall Win-10.

Then I found an "in place upgrade re-install" idea posted that worked for some people. Hell, why not it might save some
time and would be a really useful thing in the future.

What you do is download the Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft, then double click it to mount it as a DVD disk.

Then run the setup from within the mounted ISO. And yes you can have the ISO on the desktop on the OS drive you are
re-installing to (cool!). When you get to the part about "What to keep", select "Keep my files and Apps".

Then it takes off and installs just like an upgrade from Windows 7/8 except you're starting with Windows 10 already.

It worked like a charm without hosing anything up that was already installed. Office and Adobe Acrobat still installed and
activated. All user icons where we left them. Menu and icon issues fixed!

The one thing you need to be careful of is to use an ISO that matches your current major build. Not sure why that is but
it was stated in the post I found on it (sorry didn't save the link). Your major build level will be the same but you'll lose
any updates since that major build. For example, don't use the AU ISO on a pre-AU Win-10 build.

Good luck guys and I hope it saves somebody some time like it did for me.

Also FYI.... found out recently that Windows 10 has a "Networking Reset" that I didn't know about. I'm going to have to try
that on another customer's machine that has some sharing issues.

.
 
Spartacus said:
I found a good way to fix weird Windows 10 issues like this.....

Customer had a brand new out of the box Dell laptop with Windows 10 menu issues and a problem where you can't right
click Taskbar icons. No way to unpin them. Various other weird stuff. Odd that these issues were in a new Dell PC with
their image on it.

Anyway.... I figured too many issues to troubleshoot, but we already had Office and several apps on it and preferred not to
totally wipe it and reinstall Win-10.

Then I found an "in place upgrade re-install" idea posted that worked for some people. Hell, why not it might save some
time and would be a really useful thing in the future.

What you do is download the Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft, then double click it to mount it as a DVD disk.

Then run the setup from within the mounted ISO. And yes you can have the ISO on the desktop on the OS drive you are
re-installing to (cool!). When you get to the part about "What to keep", select "Keep my files and Apps".

Then it takes off and installs just like an upgrade from Windows 7/8 except you're starting with Windows 10 already.

It worked like a charm without hosing anything up that was already installed. Office and Adobe Acrobat still installed and
activated. All user icons where we left them. Menu and icon issues fixed!

The one thing you need to be careful of is to use an ISO that matches your current major build. Not sure why that is but
it was stated in the post I found on it (sorry didn't save the link). Your major build level will be the same but you'll lose
any updates since that major build. For example, don't use the AU ISO on a pre-AU Win-10 build.

Good luck guys and I hope it saves somebody some time like it did for me.

Also FYI.... found out recently that Windows 10 has a "Networking Reset" that I didn't know about. I'm going to have to try
that on another customer's machine that has some sharing issues.

.
Click to expand...

You can do the same thing with any form of USB/Optical Windows 10 install media, the issue is that quite often the option for repair install doesn't always work - You just get an error along the lines of 'the repair failed'.

You can also go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Reset this PC.

Or you can hold down the shift key while selecting restart to get to the recovery options.
 
>>You can also go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Reset this PC.

You don't have the option to save files and apps that way. It's about the same as wiping
the machine but you don't have to go find the install media.

Same with the Recovery Options, no option to save files and apps.

The "upgrade" does let you do that.

.
 
Spartacus said:
>>You can also go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Reset this PC.

You don't have the option to save files and apps that way. It's about the same as wiping
the machine but you don't have to go find the install media.

Same with the Recovery Options, no option to save files and apps.

The "upgrade" does let you do that.

.
Click to expand...

You can 'Reset This PC' and keep your files. Apps will go, but half the time it's a 'Software application' (malware/virus) that caused the issue in the first place.
 
ehh.... from what I've seen it's not malware/viruses fudging up Windows 10, it's Windows 10 falling down
on it's own with some help from new updates.

For some of my customers, there is a lot of time involved in re-installing apps, too many to just wipe the
machine every time there's another Windows 10 issue.

The "upgrade re-install" was a huge time saver the first time I tried it.
So it will be kind of hard to talk me out of that. :)


.
 
You can fix the lack of a start menu and inability to click on icons as a result of a failed Windows update without repair installing the whole OS, I've done it on a couple of client's PC's now.
 
BulletDust said:
You can fix the lack of a start menu and inability to click on icons as a result of a failed Windows update without repair installing the whole OS, I've done it on a couple of client's PC's now.
Click to expand...

I tried all of the published fixes that I could find, Powershell scripts, etc. and nothing fixed it.
I've fixed other machines before using those methods, but this one was stubborn.

If I had just done the upgrade re-install to begin with I would have saved a ton of time.

The re-install went pretty quick and I'll be using that method a lot in the future rather
than messing around with other stuff that may or may not work.

.
 
Spartacus said:
I tried all of the published fixes that I could find, Powershell scripts, etc. and nothing fixed it.
I've fixed other machines before using those methods, but this one was stubborn.

If I had just done the upgrade re-install to begin with I would have saved a ton of time.

The re-install went pretty quick and I'll be using that method a lot in the future rather
than messing around with other stuff that may or may not work.

.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, it's a repair I'll keep in mind, may come in handy some day!
 
little update. I clean installed last week after all of this shit, been working fine up until now. It installed updates last night/this morning, booted up fine. Then I played a game and browsed the web for a bit. Shut it down and now when I go to turn it on, SAME FUCKING DEAL. It freezes the second it goes to the SSD. POSTs fine but soon as it goes to boot windows it freezes before the logo right after numlock comes on. Fucking beautiful!


EDIT:

looks like other people started having the same issue a few days after I made this thread:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkS...nkstation-Won-t-Boot-Postcode-0d/td-p/3480429
 
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Windows is like the actor of the movie 10. With age it stops being so perfect. Although to her merit, Bo Derek did last a few decades longer than Windows 10 ever will :D
 
B00nie said:
Windows is like the actor of the movie 10. With age it stops being so perfect. Although to her merit, Bo Derek did last a few decades longer than Windows 10 ever will :D
Click to expand...

It's really strange how much time and effort you spend hating on Windows 10. Every thread relating to any issue, you seem to show up and lament the OS / call the OP an idiot for having installed it, in one form or another. Why do you care so much? Why do you want so badly for it to fail? It's not going to, and the bulk of users, even the bulk of more savvy users, are perfectly happy with it. It's not going anywhere. You're beating your head against the wall.
 
silent-circuit said:
It's really strange how much time and effort you spend hating on Windows 10. Every thread relating to any issue, you seem to show up and lament the OS / call the OP an idiot for having installed it, in one form or another. Why do you care so much? Why do you want so badly for it to fail? It's not going to, and the bulk of users, even the bulk of more savvy users, are perfectly happy with it. It's not going anywhere. You're beating your head against the wall.
Click to expand...
Stop bullshitting please. Windows 10 has caused you greaf 100% sure but you're just too ashamed to admit it.

I haven't had much trouble with 10 personally because I use it only 1-2 times a month for games. Perhaps the nasty updates will catch me too at some point.
 
B00nie said:
Stop bullshitting please. Windows 10 has caused you greaf 100% sure but you're just too ashamed to admit it.

I haven't had much trouble with 10 personally because I use it only 1-2 times a month for games. Perhaps the nasty updates will catch me too at some point.
Click to expand...

No, actually. I have it on both of my machines -- the desktop and laptop in my sig -- as well as my parents' old AMD Bulldozer based machine. Zero issues. Faster boot times all around than with 7, no compatibility issues. All these computers see multiple hours of use most days, everything from gaming on the desktop to office productivity / Photoshop / web design. Most of my friends are also running 10 on their desktops and laptops. Zero issues. In no way am I bullshitting.

I'm also not denying that problems exist, my point is they're no more prevalent than on Windows 7 or any other major OS. I don't get the intensity, or source of the hate. Do you just not like change?
 
silent-circuit said:
No, actually. I have it on both of my machines -- the desktop and laptop in my sig -- as well as my parents' old AMD Bulldozer based machine. Zero issues. Faster boot times all around than with 7, no compatibility issues. All these computers see multiple hours of use most days, everything from gaming on the desktop to office productivity / Photoshop / web design. Most of my friends are also running 10 on their desktops and laptops. Zero issues. In no way am I bullshitting.

I'm also not denying that problems exist, my point is they're no more prevalent than on Windows 7 or any other major OS. I don't get the intensity, or source of the hate. Do you just not like change?
Click to expand...

So your experience with just 2 computers is not much. I personally have 4 computers with Windows 10 just with my family and more with OSX/linux. My son uses Windows 10 the most and I have had to fix his computer several times already with updates messing up settings and drivers. Windows 7 was far more trouble free. Luckily I got all copies of Windows 10 for free being a windows insider, otherwise I'd be royally pissed off.
 
B00nie said:
So your experience with just 2 computers is not much. I personally have 4 computers with Windows 10 just with my family and more with OSX/linux. My son uses Windows 10 the most and I have had to fix his computer several times already with updates messing up settings and drivers. Windows 7 was far more trouble free. Luckily I got all copies of Windows 10 for free being a windows insider, otherwise I'd be royally pissed off.
Click to expand...

First of all, I listed 3. 2 of my own, one owned by my parents (that I get the call if /anything/ happens with). The bulk of my friends are running laptops and desktops with 10. That's at least another 10 machines there, and I tend to be the go-to for tech support issues. I'm not saying "if there was a problem I'd know about it" I'm saying that in my experience it's no more problematic in most configurations than 7 ever was.

I still don't understand why you exert so much effort in bad-mouthing an OS wherever possible. Where does all this anger come from?
 
silent-circuit said:
First of all, I listed 3. 2 of my own, one owned by my parents (that I get the call if /anything/ happens with). The bulk of my friends are running laptops and desktops with 10. That's at least another 10 machines there, and I tend to be the go-to for tech support issues. I'm not saying "if there was a problem I'd know about it" I'm saying that in my experience it's no more problematic in most configurations than 7 ever was.

I still don't understand why you exert so much effort in bad-mouthing an OS wherever possible. Where does all this anger come from?
Click to expand...

I'm just replying to the multiple threads where people are reporting their problems. What kind of a pervert are you to stalk my posts anyway? Get a life.
 
I've had WinXP updates cause crashes...same with Win Vista and Win 7 in the past. I've had Ubuntu updates cause a black-screen crash almost exactly like the OP described. I've not personally had a Win10 update cause a crash, but if it does, I won't be surprised.

For some reason it seems like people have a lot of extra hate for Win10. I personally don't see it as any more trouble than any of the other Windows releases were in their first year.
 
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