asked on

Recover Windows 7 after likely KB3004394 disaster

Hello, so I have this customer whose W7 32bit PC keeps rebooting during startup, never reaches the desktop.

It's been happening since last week, so I think it may be KB3004394-related.

If I disable the option to reboot on system error, I get a bluescreen with much less text than usual, referring to a C0000005 error in memory allocation.

Here are all the things I've tried:

-test RAM (OK)
-test drive (OK)
-load last known good config (reboots anyway)
-start in Safe Mode (reboots anyway)
-external system restore (doesn't find restore points)
-boot disc with antivirus check (nothing relevant found)

So I'm wondering, do I just give up, backup data and reinstall Windows or is there something else you think I could try?

Thanks.

noxcho

Have you tried to taking out one RAM stick, then exchanging the places of these sticks?
Also it would be interesting to have a look on a dump file. Can you located one in C:\Windows and post it here?
You can get access to the C: drive via Paragon Rescue Kit Free or Parted Magic boot CD.

Daniele Brunengo

ASKER

I already looked for dump files with Hirens Boot cd. Strangely there is no minidump folder or memory.dmp file either.

There's only one 2GB memory stick and I tried reseating it but nothing changed.

noxcho

Is there any chance you can reconfigure system recovery settings so that it creates the dump file. Like in my example.
Startup-and-Recovery.jpg

David Johnson, CD

that update only updates the root certificate authorities and is faulty and blocks further updates.

The KB 3004394 update that was dated December 10, 2014 can cause additional problems on computers that are running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. This includes the inability to install future updates. This new update is available to remove KB 3004394 from your computer.

The uninstaller is located @ https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3024777

Daniele Brunengo

ASKER

No, there is no way to access Windows so I can't change any settings. I was only able to stop it from rebooting on error by choosing the F8 option.

Daniele Brunengo

ASKER

Actually there have been cases of people being unable to boot after the update, it seems to break some drivers too.

noxcho

Then maybe you can try to perform Repair Install of Windows.

Daniele Brunengo

ASKER

Being Windows 7, I think the only way to perform a Repair Install is to enter the operating system first, which I can't. Or is there another way?

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

noxcho

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

Daniele Brunengo

ASKER

That's the only thing left to do I fear. I also tried disabling most items with autoruns (using the option to analyze offline system) but it didn't work...

Rob G

You can still do a system disk repair of windows 7 without booting into windows 7.
The option is in the installation disk..

nobus

did you try all the methods suggested here ?
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

>> , I get a bluescreen with much less text than usual, referring to a C0000005 error in memory allocation. << can you post a picture of that screen ?

Daniele Brunengo

ASKER

@nobus, I can't try any of them because they all need you to log into your current Windows installation.

@Rob G, I think by "system disk repair" you mean repair disk errors with chkdsk, which I tried with more than one Windows PE version, but there are no errors on the disk.

Daniele Brunengo

ASKER

Oh, one more thing I've tried: I made a disk image with Macrium Reflect, converted it to vhd, connected the virtual disk to a Vmware machine, used the "Redeploy to new hardware" option in Macrium's boot disk on the virtual disk, and after all that the virtual machine still gave me the exact same blue screen you can see above.

noxcho

It is time to try new installation of Windows on this machine.

nobus

and still no dmp file? and the system is set to make tehm ?

Daniele Brunengo

ASKER

There were never any dump files, no idea how the system was setup though, since I never had actual access to the OS (it was a first-time-customer machine).

Luckily the PC had just a handful of software installed and about 100Mb of documents, so it was a breeze to reinstall Windows and have a working machine again. Still would have liked to find a way to fix it, but after all I tried and all your suggestions I didn't know what else to look for.

Thanks everybody.