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Well, my apologies up front for the unexplainable result that has meant I have wasted respondents’ time.

I downloaded and installed a free (“top 10 uninstaller”) program, tried it, found it did not give any instruction on how to use it, plus it installed 3 or 4 unwanted applications.

I uninstalled the lot.

I then started the Photodeluxe 4.0 disc again so that I could detail how far it went into the installation process to reply to access-mdb’s post.

Lo and behold, the installation went to its completion and I now have Photodeluxe 4.0 running on my PC again!   I don’t know how many times I have tried the same thing in the past, without success.

Thank you all, again, for responding.   I am now a happy man again.

1 user thanked author for this post.

7ProSP1

b wrote:

Paul T wrote:

There is no option for marking a thread solved.

What’s wrong with using the Resolution drop-down menu at top left of the thread to select Resolved (followed by clicking the Update button)?

Sorry to raise this again ‘b’, but I just realised that 2 of my 3 threads are still open.

I looked for the “Resolution” drop-down as suggested, but cannot find it.   Could you please provide me with a bit of guidance so I can mark them.

Thank you.

 

Thanks for your response.

It was many sleeps ago now that I did the uninstall, but I usually just use the ‘Control Panel>Programs>Uninstall’ method, which I assume is what is called “Microsoft build uninstall”.

I will try one of the 3rd party ones to see if that fixes it and post the results.

Thank you.

Finally  .  . .!!   I have something to report.

I won’t bother going into the details of what I have tried over the last 4 days or so – it feels like longer than that to me!   Suffice to say, that I tried numerous times restoring the image I’ve been using, and changing one step at a time.   I have experienced BSOD’s at virtually every stage – right up to and including having Windows 10 ‘clean’ installed over the old version via the MS Media Creation Tool (MCT).   Several times it got to 75 – 80 % “updating” and then came up with a ‘Stop Code – you can reboot,’ and “Driver PNP Watchdog”   Trouble is there was no reboot facility, so I had to power off/on, and then the PC would not boot.

Finally, I decided to ‘clean’ the SSD and using the MCT I did a clean install of Windows 10.   Prior to doing so, I made a backup of my Files and Folders from the old restored image, using Macrium Restore.   Once the ‘new’ Win 10 was up and running, I went to restore the files and folders, only to find there was nothing on the external drive.

I then reinstalled the other SSD into the case, and started transferring everything manually from old to new.   I have spent a day and a half doing that and installing the Apps that I need.   I now have a functioning – reasonably close – copy of my system on the new PC.

So far nothing has gone wrong.   I will make a full backup now that it is done, as well as another restore point.

I want to thank those who helped with this issue – most especially alejr, who gave so much of his time and knowledge toward solving this issue.   I am extremely grateful.

One last question, as I can’t find the answer – should I/do I need to, mark this Thread solved or ended or something?   What is the convention please?

 

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windbg

Thank you.   I will try that tomorrow (10:15 PM here now).   I really appreciate your ongoing support.

Thank you also for the tip about clearing the CMOS.   I actually tried that a week or so back.   It possibly could have helped, but I would not have known – too many big issues going on.

Regards.

 

After reading your post #2381104, I started the suggested process.   (I’ll keep this as brief as possible).

I did a clean install to the HDD, Booted into it and checked that it was working properly.   Then turned it OFF.   Later I turned it on, booted correctly.   I then made a backup of Partition 1 and saved it to an external HDD.   I reconnected the SSD and disconnected the HDD.  I then cleaned the SSD, set it up as per the Macrium KB article and restored the image file to it.   I then restored partition 1 over top of the one on the SSD (got warned about overwriting).

Exited Rescue environment and into UEFI menu to make sure SSD was 1st boot.   Got BSOD error (missing boot files) 0xc0000225.   Booted rescue DVD again, Ran “Restore to new Hardware” and got the usual ‘missing SATA/AHCI driver’ etc..   Ran “Fix Windows Boot Problems” with usual pop up windows.   When finished > asked if I wanted to Reboot – said YES.

Booted into Windows and when completed, I shut down (START>Shut Down).   Your step 1.   Powered up and started to boot, then went into brief ‘Configuring Windows’ period, then completed the Boot.

Followed PKCano’s steps:   1.   Turned off fast boot.   2.   Reinstalled drivers (Same story as before – said they were all installed, however I selected “Xpress Install” and it took a couple of seconds and window appeared “Install completed” > “Restart Required”).  Selected Restart **.   In Gigabyte logo screen with circling dots for one and a half hours.   Turned PC off.   Turned on to try reboot – same thing – logo screen, circling dots.

A half hour later I tried again – got Error 0xc0000001.   Booted into Rescue media again, Ran “Redeploy . . . .” again.   (Got the same SATA AHCI  messages).   Ran “Fix Windows Boot . . .”.    Booted into UEFI menu and selected SSD.    Logo and dots again.   Waited 30 minutes and turned off PC.

Booted Rescue media again and Restored the System Reserved Partition again, without re-restoring the whole image.   Exited Rescue and Booted SSD.   BSOD Error 98 > select ‘ESC’ to UEFI menu > checked SSD is set as boot > BSOD .efi Error 02.   PC turned off as I didn’t respond in time.    Boot into Rescue media again > run both ‘fixes’ again > asked if I wanted to reboot > selected yes.

No boot, just logo and dots.   Turned off PC 8 PM Monday.

Today – (Tuesday).

Tried for normal boot – Gigabyte logo and dots.   Booted Rescue DVD.

.    I installed it into the PC case in place of the HDD.   I cleaned it, set up the partitions as GPT and restored my original image to it, ran “Deploy” and “Fix” steps as before, at the end of which, upon reboot, Windows opened.   Shut down and turned back on successfully.   Turned off Fast Boot.   ‘Installed’ drivers as before > “Requires Reboot“.   Turned OFF** PC (START> Shut Down).   PC spent 3 to 4 minutes ‘configuring Windows’ and then shut down.

Turned on again – booted correctly.   Checked Device Manager – no flags.   Ran sfc /scannow and it said found and fixed corrupt files.   Ran DISM – “restore completed successfully”.

Restarted** PC.   Logo and dots again!   After 70 minutes turned it off.

**By this stage I had begun to suspect that Reboot/restart may be causing the fail to start issue.   Whether that is feasible, I have not a clue.

So, I started the whole process over again by cleaning/partitioning and restoring the Image to SSD2.   I repeated all of the steps exactly as last time, up to and including the ‘Ran DISM’ step.   Then I selected – START > Shut Down, instead of Restart.

When I powered up the PC again, no boot, just Logo and dots!!!!   Still going 75 minutes later.   Powered down.   That’s it for today!

Hope you can follow enough of this to get something out of it.   If you need any elaboration of any point I’ll oblige where I can.   If I get enthusiastic tomorrow, I may try repeating the overwrite of partition 1 on SSD2.   I guess one thing has been achieved today, and that is I guess I’ve ruled out an SSD hardware issue, as both of them are doing the same thing.

There’s my Restart theory blown.

Regards,  and thank you again.

I’ve been following the steps in the combined posts, as you suggested.

I’m sorry, but I’m not in a position to report, except to say that after approx 14 hours working on this today, I appear to be no further advanced.

I will have to report back tomorrow, after I’ve tried to prove/disprove a theory.

Regards

Hi Paul T thank you for taking the time to help.

That link does not seem to be applicable to my case, as I’m trying to install Windows 10, but it does point to the ‘Cloning disks and converting disk types.

<span style=”color: #0000ff;”>The procedure presented in this topic applies to Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and earlier operating systems. You can clone Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and later operating systems to a solid state disk (SSD) automatically by following the instructions in Cloning disks and converting disk types.</span>

I have been using the following :

<span style=”color: #0000ff;”>https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=23396929&src=contextnavpagetreemode</span&gt;

This KB article was recommended to me on the Macrium forum in the early days of my problem – seems a very long time ago now!

Anyway, thank you again.   I intend seeking further help from Macrium and part of that is tied to doing a clean install of Win 10.

Regards

 

Thanks alejr , apologies for not detailing the build, but I’d been ‘using’ it for about 3 weeks in trying to solve this, so I omitted that, in trying to keep my initial post short and to the point.

You are correct though, it is a Z590 UD AC Aorus MB.   I probably may have gone for a different brand if I had read about their out-of-the-box history.   Anyway as you mentioned, it seems to be software related, as it has worked on and off for periods from an hour to 3 days.

I will try to see if Macrium can suggest a way for me to do a clean install, and then get my files and folders (but not the OS) from the image file.

I really appreciate the time and trouble you have taken on my behalf – along with the other responders.   If I get it solved I will post back here, to possibly help someone else.

Very best wishes to you, and the best of health and happiness.

Firstly, thank you very much for the detailed guide.   It is really appreciated, however I will understand if you tell me – especially after reading this post – that it is taking up too much of your time, and you want to cease.   I will totally understand.

Step 1:   Cleaned SSD and restored the image including the “Restore to new hardware” step.   Upon reboot it failed to do so, with the “winload.efi” file missing or corrupt error.

I selected F1 (Go to Recovery Environment), and got Error …..98, BCD missing.    I then selected F1 and booted back into the Macrium Rescue DVD, and then ran the “Fix Windows Boot Problems” tool.   This reported a SATA AHCI driver missing, searched for and found – Standard SATA AHCI Controller from Intel Corporation.   “A driver for this device is currently installed and will load at boot”   “File : storahci.sys   Version : 10.0.19041   Date : 8/05/2021”.   I selected ‘reboot’ and it booted into Windows.

I turned off the PC once it had completely booted.   I then turned it on again, and whilst it was very slow to boot, it did so.

Then I did what PKCano suggested:   Fast Boot was on, so turned it off.   Device manager showed no errors.   I ran MS SetupDiag.   Whilst the result is way over my head, I saw no glaring errors. (log files available if required).

Ran the DISM . . . . restorehealth command.   It said it had found and fixed some errors successfully.    Ran sfc/scannow command.    Turned off the PC.  (End of PKCano steps).

Turned on PC and waited 15 minutes while dots circled – Turned OFF – Turned ON – waited 6 minutes watching dots – turned OFF  – turned ON and booted into UEFI > selected Rescue disk.   Ran “Fix Windows Boot Problems” step again.   “Running Tasks” window showed a list: EFI Partition found on disk 1, Removing old BCD, Creating BCD for C:\Windows.   Each item had a green tick before it.   Prompt – “Restart your PC? . YES.

Received BSOD “Your PC couldn’t start properly”   Error code: 0x0000001.   Pressed ‘ENTER’ (try again).   After 5 minutes of circling dots I turned off the PC, and then back on again and booted into UEFI > changed boot order to Rescue DVD > BSOD again > BCD Error 98 > F1 (Recovery Environment) > it then booted into Rescue.

I ran the “Restore to new hardware” step again – it found the SATA AHCI driver missing (as it always does), and repeated the same ‘found/installed’ message as above.   I then ran “fix Windows boot problems” again, rebooted, got BSOD BCD Error 98 again.   I selected F1 (go to Recovery Environment),  removed the Rescue DVD from the drive, entered UEFI menu and selected SSD as 1st boot.   It failed to boot – no BSOD, just ever circling dots.

I hope you can get something out of that long-winded narrative.   I started making notes in the hope I wouldn’t need them, but ended up at a dead end, so hope it tells you something.

MY only choice at this point – as I have done many times before – would be to start from scratch, with a new restore.

As I said, if you want to opt out – no hard feelings – just my sincere thanks for your efforts so far.

Regards

 

Thanks alejr for the follow-up explanation, and I apologise for the delay in responding.  (I  actually typed a long response yesterday afternoon, but it has disappeared – I probably clicked the wrong ‘submit’ button I think).

Anyway, here we go again.

I cleaned and disconnected the HDD, and switched the SSD to SATA port 1.   I cleaned the SSD and restored my image file to it.   I was then able to boot normally into Windows.

So, before doing anything else, I went through PKCano’s suggestions (see post #2379932 and #2380761 above).

I then tried to install the Gigabyte driver & utilities disk, but it showed all entries as “installed”.   When I clicked the “Install” tab anyway, it just blinked and stayed on the same window  – obviously thought about it for a m/s and decided they were all there.

Next, I went into Windows Update and found 3 updates.   I selected ‘Update Now’ and it did the first 2 and got to 20% on the third one – which I assumed was the 20H2 build 19042.1110 update.   (sorry, didn’t take a note of the KB numbers).

At the point where the third one stopped at 20%, it came up with restart required, so after waiting for a while to see if the download would continue, I told it to restart.   It went through the configuring windows for a fair while and then went to restart.   I ended up with the ever circling dots, and eventually turned the PC off.   When I got back to it yesterday afternoon, I got a BSOD with the error message about unable to boot –

I tried an online fix for this error, but I’m not sure of the results, if any.  However, I now get the earlier – BCD does not contain valid information for an Os Error code:0xc0000098.

I have been contemplating a ‘clean install’ of Windows 10, as this issue has been going round and round for over a month, but that would remove all of my data.   As I only have a mirror image file to work from I would have to find out from Macrium if there is any way to retrieve just the data – I think there is.   Anyway, that reminded me that at the very start of all of this saga, I decided – in my wisdom – to do a clean install to the formatted SSD.   I went through the process download/install/obtain validation and then restored my image to it – yes I know, in hindsight that bit was stupid.

Anyway, this leads to my question – Could all of this issue be caused by a Microsoft conflict of some sort, over the wrong Win 10 installation, authentication, validation?   I know there are a lot of intricacies about that which I don’t understand.

For example – during this saga, when I have been able to get into Windows (eg. to upgrade), I have noticed in settings>update & security>OS build info>change product key.   I have never been game to try this step.

Your thoughts on this new slant would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

Since I can’t go back to  the above post and edit it, I’ll reply to my own post.

The ‘reply’ to alejr that I mentioned in post #2380761, seems to have vanished (not posted).

I’ll have to re-do it. Sorry.

 

Hi, PKCano,

I’m sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you in response to your suggestions.

I finally managed to get into Control Panel yesterday (see reply to alejr, above), and found that Fast Boot was on – now off.

I could not re-install the drivers as it said they were installed, and would give me no options.

Device Manager showed absolutely no errors.

I downloaded and installed MS SetupDiag.   It was way above my head, but it did repeatedly show up a missing ‘.inf’ file.

This first appeared in the following section –

“setupapi.offline.log

Could not find include INFfile “ks.inf”.   Error = 0x00000002″

Then went on to say – ‘might exist in missing included INF – KS.Registration.

All sections of the log file finished with the word success or something – sorry forgot the precise word.

I then ran the Command Prompts as you gave them, and nothing was reported.

I restarted the computer, without issue (bear in mind that I had not done any upgrades etc. at this time).   Then when I tried to Upgrade Win 10 ……….

See my answer to alejr above, please.

Regards, and many thanks.

 

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Coldheart9020

Thanks Anonymous.   I really appreciate you providing this input to the problem.

At the moment I have more than enough on my hands, answering the other respondents, and have moved on slightly from where I was when you posted.

I don’t mean to brush you off.   I will come back to your suggestion if I need to in future.   Thank you.

 

Hi, alejr.   I really appreciate your input and will do as you suggest regarding the drives, just to try anything at this point.

For most of the past 3 weeks or so, that I’ve been battling this issue, the SSD has been the only drive connected.   The HDD was my Win XP main drive, from back in the day.   I kept it during Win 7 years, just in case there was a program I wanted to use – but don’t think I ever did.   After the problems started with the new PC, I formatted it (now correctly called cleaned I think), and left it blank + disconnected.

As mentioned, last weekend I think, I tried installing one of my images on to it, just to see if it was an SSD issue of some sort.   That experiment bombed as well – probably because as you pointed out there are no files in the system reserved partition.

Whenever I had the HDD connected it was in SATA port #2.   I had the SSD connected to SATA #5, purely for physical convenience.   The Case that I purchased – a wonderfully designed case IMHO – does make it very difficult to run cables to the 1 and 3 SATA ports, so that’s why (in my ignorance) I used the ones I did.   Not realising there was a technical reason not to – and not mentioned in the manual.

Anyway, now I have switched the cables to 1 and 2, I’ll try another restore as you suggest.

I will also clean the HDD and leave it that way for the time being.

Thank you sincerely.