I think my main drive is failing and that's causing all sorts of i

   awong,

 

Is the E: drive internal or an external USB type HDD, reason that I ask is because it has been formatted in exFAT which is common with USb devices, SD cards and Macs.

 

 since my backup (history) doesn't SEEM to be  working, could you suggest the best way to safely save and later restore my files and programs.

 

 

We need to do some basics first as in check the condition of the HDDs, steps for this below;

 

Download and run CrystalDisk info standard edition from here

 

Run the program, grab any screenshots and attach to your next reply for us.

 

To capture and post a screenshot;

 

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start…all programs…accessories…paint….left click in the white area …press CTRL + V…click on file…click on save…save it to your desktop…name it something related to the screen your capturing… BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG …otherwise it may be to big to upload… then after typing in any response you have… click on browse…desktop…find the screenshot..select it and click on the upload button…then on the lower left…after it says upload successful…click on add reply like you normally would.
 

Screenshot instructions are provided to assist those that may read this topic but are not yet aware of the “how to”.

Hello PhillPower2,

…and thank you for looking into my situation for me.

 

To answer your question, my E: drive is an internal drive.  The exFAT format was my doing and I'm honestly not sure what I read that convinced me to format this way.  Could that be the reason that I've never successfully gotten Error Checking to repair?  I've run error checking and it claimed it found errors, and offered to fix…but when I click Repair Now, it does nothing.

 

I downloaded CrystalDiskInfo and ran the .exe to install, but after that, I have not been able to run it…at least on the surface it doesn't look like anything is happening. I checked Task Manager and I see that DiskInfo32.exe is Running but it's not using any CPU, just 1.8MB memory.  Is this the way it's supposed to run?

 

I'll let it go over-night and if throws up anything on screen I'll send screen cap. Also, I can't seem to get paint up.  When I LMB start (that's the little windows icon lower left correct?) nothing happens.  When i RMB that I don't get "all programs" unfortunately.

 

OK, something did happen over-night! Unfortunately, after reading your instructions for uploading images, I can't find the "upload button"?  Please advise.

 

 

 

Thanks!

Alex

OK, figured out how to attach images.  One needs to access the "More Reply Options" under the reply window. Then you can Choose File by clicking "Choose File" which brings up a browser.  I only could pick one image or file at a time.  Click "Attach This File" after choosing each file.  You can add the images to the post by clicking "Add to Post" found at the far right of each attachment listing next to the "Delete".

 

 

📎cdrive_A.jpg📎cdrive_B.jpg📎cdrive_C.jpg📎edrive_A.jpg📎edrive_B.jpg

 

Anyways, I hope these images help.  I'm pleasantly surprised to see that my main c: drive is listed as Good?! Yay?

 

Thanks

Alex

Thanks for the update 

 

The screenshots confirmed what I was I was suspecting in that the Sec Master Hard Disk:S.M.A.R.T. Status BAD Backup and Replace message concerns the 2TB Hitachi HDD and not the 500GB Seagate boot drive, if the message was Pri Master Hard Disk it would be the C: drive where Windows lives and you would most likely have a non booting computer on your hands.:

 

Unless you are in a hurry to look into the problems with the Hitachi HDD I would first of all deal with what I suspect is a Windows problem, you can though if you wish see if you are able to format the 2TB Hitachi HDD in Disk Manager, if you do, please ensure that you select the correct HDD for formatting and be aware that if there did happen to be anything on the HDD it will be erased in the process.

 

From you Spybot thread;

 

I attempted Tweaking Registry Backup (#2 post in sticky) and it Errored after 22/26 Registry Files Backed up.

 

 

Only advanced users should go anywhere near the registry as it only takes the one wrong click to hose the OS, avoid at all costs or you could 100% be looking at having to do a clean install of Windows next time and losing all data on the HDD before being able to back it up.

 

Download then run the All in One Repair from here, disregard the malware guidance but follow the other steps to the letter and in particular ensuring that you first create a new restore point and perform a proper Windows clean boot before running the repair, details for the clean boot here.

Hello Phill,
I think I'll tackle the Windows issue first as the secondary drive just has one folder of images currently.

Looking at clean boot link I noticed it was for Win XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1?
Which procedure would best cover my Win10pro?

But, it looks like after downloading the All In One Repair(AIOR), I should be able to do a clean boot from the AIOR gui…is that correct or will I need to find procedures for Win10pro clean reboot? I read that 'f8' function was not default in Win10.

Please advise

Thanks
Alex

Hello Alex,

 

Windows 10 clean boot steps here

Hello again Phill,

 

Boy this is tough.  Each time I attempt to do something I get some weird error message that sends me down a rabbit hole.

 

"…ensuring that you first create a new restore point…" - when I attempted this, I got an "unexpected error in property page".  Volume Shadow Copy service not working 0x81000202.  When I attempted to troubleshoot Volume Shadow Copy errors I found out that my VSS had "".  All advise to troubleshoot this error leads to running SFC and/or DISM.exe, both of which I have tried multiple times earlier, and usually fail (or I think they fail…nothing ever seems to be happening).

 

"…perform a proper Windows clean boot before running the repair…" - I believe I started fairly clean LOL.  I can't seem to shut down my AVG related apps.  The funny thing is, this almost brings me full circle to one of my original problems.  AVG doesn't allow me to shut down or Uninstall or Repair. It just hangs on one of it's windows as well.  However, I believe all the rest of my startup apps aren't running…that's why I think it's a "fairly clean" start.

 

What do you think?  Should I just install the All In One Repair (already downloaded) and just run with the repairs without the Restore Point?

 

What a day! LOL

 

Thanks for all your patience with me and my system!

Alex

AVG is no longer suggested for AV protection on many forums as it has become a bit of a resource hog and is not as good as it once was, you already have AV protection in Windows Defender as you are running Windows 10 (Pro) same as me and I have only ever used Defender. 

 

Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 come with an improved Windows Defender, it offers the same real-time anti-virus/anti-malware protection as Microsoft Security Essentials. Windows Defender also shares the same malware signature definitions as Microsoft Security Essentials, and Forefront Endpoint Protection. Technically, Microsoft Security Essentials has not been renamed Windows Defender, or combined with it in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

 

 

I would get rid of AVG.

 

If any AV product that you have is a paid for version you should always make sure that you have a copy of the product key kept somewhere safe just in case you ever wish to reinstall it.

 

How to uninstall AVG here

 

Once AVG has been correctly uninstalled, check to see if Windows Defender has auto enabled and allow it to update and carry out a full scan of your computer.  

Hello Phill,

 

I have taken your advice and uninstalled AVG.  I have the product key so I should be fine in case I ever need it (too bad I just re-upped for 3 machines LOL).  I'm glad, however, to hear that you recommend Windows Defender.  At the end of all this, I'd like to ask you about what else I should pair up with Windows Defender to secure my system.

 

Happily, I was able to perform a "Full Scan" and that produced 0 threats found.

 

Unfortunately, I still can't get my system to run SFC or DISM.  sfc / scannow dies after less than 5% into the scan.  DISM dies around 5% as well.  DISM gives out this error…

 

"The WOF driver encountered a corruption in the compressed file's Resource Table." It also generated a log.

 

I tried DISM.exe / online /cleanup-image /Scanhealth

and DISM.exe / online /cleanup-image /Restorehealth - none seem to do anything but end with the corruption error.

 

I've also suffered a few BSOD with stopcode: Memory Management.

 

Attempting to create restore points yields the error I outlined above.

 

Before a lot of this happened, I was able to create a Repair Disk Win 10 64bit and a WIN10 installation media on a thumbnail drive.

 

I will try another attempt at a clean boot now that AVG is off my system.

 

Please advise.

 

Thanks again,

Alex

Hello Phill,

 

I decided to just go ahead with the All In One Repair tool and actually got through to step 4.  At this point, I got into a "Diagnosing PC - Attempting Repair" loop.  That was finally broken with the BSOD claiming that a critical driver (iaStorV.sys) is either missing or corrupted?!

 

I'm getting confused now.  It seems more and more items are going bad…but my primary disk drive is supposed to be OK.

 

So now, I have access to the Recovery Blue Screen menus which gives me a command line window.

 

Can you still help me?  Can I run the All In One Recovery tool from the command line?

 

Thanks

Alex

Also, it does look like I have two relatively recent restore points…that might be an option I guess.  Please let me know if you have any further ideas regarding my situation.

 

Thanks

Alex

Hello Alex,

 

That was finally broken with the BSOD claiming that a critical driver (iaStorV.sys) is either missing or corrupted?

 

 

Try updating the chipset drivers for the motherboard.

 

Any crash dmps for us;

 

How do I update chipset drivers please?

 

I'll try and find dmps and send.

 

Thanks

Alex

If you know the brand and model name or number of the motherboard, post the details for us and we will look for the correct drivers, alternatively, see the below;

 

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s. 

 

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

1. In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.
2. In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.
3. Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.