In article <
7fydnQkb5_JqCCn-nZ2dnZfqn_idnZ2d@brightview.co.uk>, JoeJoe wrote...
A 3 year old top-of-the-range-at-the-time office desktop.
Came with Windows 10 Pro, and I have chosen to ignore Windows 11 pleas
to update so far. Had no reason to "touch" Windows in the last 3 years -
just the regular updates
After the latest Windows update a few days ago - both several "standard" updates + a feature update, and the mandatory restart, the machine
started to a BSO with the error message 0Xc000021a which Google provides
very little in terms of understanding the cause of how to fix it.
I managed to boot to Recovery (F12), and after uninstalling the standard updates the machine started fine again.
As I did not prevent it from updating again, the BSOD returned the next
day after the restart.
This time recovery would not allow me to undo the updates, but luckily I
was able to restore to the last restore point and the machine is working again.
It has already updated again and will restart during the night (I have
all the options for an auto-restart-after-update set to NO, but it still
does it...
- I do not wish to update to Win 11 at this stage
- Windows and all the apps are installed on one drive. Everything else
is on a separate physical drive (and backed up), so not worried about that.
- Should I go for the option offered in Recovery to "re-install Windows without losing your data"?
- Drive C (where Windows is installed) has 2 Recovery partitions - one
of 1GB, the other of 16GB, so I assume that there is a fresh Dell image stored there. Am happy to download an OS ISO from Dell website or
Microsoft if needed for a fresh install.
- The machine has MANY apps installed and it will take me a very long
time to wipe the drive clean and re-install/set up everything which I
hope to avoid.
- If I am forced to re-install Windows then I will probably opt for a
clean install as I am sure that there is a lot of associated junk
accumulated over the years.
Any idea how to proceed please?
Here's my standard way of assessing a machine that blue-screens.
Firstly, assess the hardware. My 10-year old Dell recently started crashing, and it stopped entirely when I reseated the memory cards (static precautions advised). Get the thing running and you should be able to run diagnostics either by booting from the diagnostic partition (tap F12 - varies- repeatedly, imediately on booting to see options) or from the Dell support website. If necessary, try booting in Safe Mode (tap F8 repeatedly as you boot). Use Safe Mode with Networking to access the Dell online diagnostics. If you go into the Settings page, then you can configure Windows itself to check for memory problems (search "memory" in settings).
Is your disk healthy? I use Hard Disk Sentinal (paid, but cheap) to monitor disk deterioration - any SMART diagnostic will do.
If it passes diagnostics, and especially if it's stable in Safe Mode, then you're looking for a software cause. Check you system is configured to save a memory dump (Control Panel). Then download Bluesceenview from Nirsoft, and look at the last few crashes;
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html
Sometimes it'll consistently show the faulting module is a device driver - that's your problem.
If there's no consistency, that can point back to hardware, or to the underlying installation of Windows.
I always run a disk integrity check (from File Manager's Properties/Tools on the drive concerned, or by running chkdsk /R in an elevated command window.
Next, prepare to use the System File Checker by checking the Windows Image.
Run (elevated):
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
.. and if necessary:
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
(More on all this at
https://adamtheautomator.com/dism-cleanup-image/)
Once you're satisfied the Windows Image is healthy, run (elevated):
SFC /scannow
- this never once worked for me until I learned about the DISM command!
Yes, there are sometimes updates which don't sit well on a particular machine. You can remove recent updates from the "Alternate Startup" screen, which you can access from the Settings, Update & Security, Recovery window, or by rebooting with the Shift key held down. You can then pause updates for up to a 35 days, which is usually enough time for Redmond to fix the update!
By this stage I've usually found and fixed the fault.
Otherwise, you're looking at a Reset of Windows (also on the Recovery page). You'd likely need to reinstall anything installed other than from the Windows Store, so look out media and keys.
I hope that helps. (Tweaks & corrections welcomed.)
--
Phil, London
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