Windows 10: BSoD has Incapacitated Computer - Cannot Reboot

At the website posted above, the person who inquired at Dell Support said the Technicians replied that they had no idea what Checkpoint [WRIT] meant. This is, of course, not very encouraging.

From zbook:
If you cannot find a BIOS menu, run diagnostics, boot from a windows 10 iso, or boot from a boot recovery flash drive it may require contacting Dell.

I had a "chat" with a Dell Technician, and he informed me that the Warranty on this computer ran out on 07-26-2010. I could get further assistance, however, I would have to pay for it. How much was not stated.

 

Please update the system specs in the "My Computer" section:

How To Fill Out Your System Specs
System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums:
System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums Site Use Tutorials
In the left corner below in your post you find 'My System Specs'.
After clicking it you can find a link a little below that says 'Update your System Spec', click on this link to get to the page where you can fill in your system specs.
System Info - See Your System Specs - Windows 7 Help Forums


Include PSU. cooler, case, peripherals and anything attached to the computer by wired or wireless (mouse, keyboard, headset, printer, xbox, etc.)


The link for the Dell computer displays 4 models: (please indicate the computer model structure)
Mini tower
Desktop
Small form factor
Ultra small form factor

 

See what happens with this hardware method:

Power on the computer > as soon as you see the Microsoft icon > power off
Power on the computer again > as soon as you see the Microsoft icon > power off
Power on the computer again > allow it to load and see if you can open the Windows advanced troubleshooting menu.

If the above does not work try it again and this time Power on and off 1 additional time before letting it advanced to the windows advanced troubleshooting menu.


If the above does not work then open the computer and remove the CMOS battery.

What is POST?
POST troubleshooting steps
Computer POST and beep codes


How to Clear Your Computers CMOS to Reset BIOS Settings:
How to Clear Your Computers CMOS to Reset BIOS Settings


3 Ways to Reset Your BIOS - wikiHow:
3 Ways to Reset Your BIOS - wikiHow


If the above does not fix or allow the boot rescue to work then the options are:
a) local computer store
b) best buy
c) Microsoft store
d) Dell support

 

For zbook:

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try them all either later this evening or tomorrow.

In the meantime I have found out a couple of things:

I got a message from doing a Diagnostics Check after tapping the F-12 key. The message read:
No bootable partition in table.
I don't know what this means.

I found out what Legacy is and where to find the option to activate it:
In Setup, go to "Drives" and then SATA Operation. You are offered the option between Normal and Legacy.

I'll quote the text:

I tried booting in Legacy Mode with the Windows ISO, and it didn't boot.

 

What peripherals are attached to the computer besides mouse, keyboard, and monitor?
Printer, xbox, headset, speakers?
Remove all peripherals except mouse, keyboard and monitor.
Do you have recovery CD/DVD?


Any chance you can post images of the BIOS menus?


See if you can modify the bios to boot from the optical drive.
And see if you can modify the bios to boot from the USB2 port.


If none of the above allow you to boot see if you can reset the BIOS.


If you boot now do you see the error code:
0xc0000017
or error message:
No bootable partition in table.


What do you see when you power on now?
Do you see the computer manufacturer icon, Windows icon, rotating dots, diagnosing your PC?

 

For zbook:
I'll answer what I can now and fill in the rest tomorrow.



What peripherals are attached to the computer besides mouse, keyboard, and monitor?
Printer, xbox, headset, speakers?
I have removed the printer. I have also tried it without the Internet connection.

Remove all peripherals except mouse, keyboard and monitor.
That's what I have been doing.


Do you have recovery CD/DVD?
I don't have a recovery CD/DVD.


Any chance you can post images of the BIOS menus?
I don't get any BIOS menus. All I get is the Dell "Splash Page" with the Dell Logo.


See if you can modify the bios to boot from the optical drive.
And see if you can modify the bios to boot from the USB2 port.
I don't know how to modify the BIOS, but I'll look into this.


If none of the above allow you to boot see if you can reset the BIOS.
I'll try to find out how to reset the BIOS.


If you boot now do you see the error code:
0xc0000017
or error message:
No bootable partition in table.
I only got Error Cod and Message one time.


What do you see when you power on now?
Do you see the computer manufacturer icon, Windows icon, rotating dots, diagnosing your PC?
When I power on now, I get the Dell "Splash Page." I haven't seen the Windows icon in about two days. I don't get the Windows Icon anymore with the rotating dots. The only thing I get is a "dash" in the top left corner of the screen. Sometimes it blinks. Sometimes, I don't get anything -- just a blank screen.

Thanks for the suggestions; I'll work on them tomorrow.

 

What is the Rufus Download? Sounds like you are not creating the flash drive correctly.

You need 3 things to create a flash drive to install windows 10 from.

1. 4GB or larger flash drive
2. Windows 10 ISO downloaded from Microsoft, usually via the Media Creation Tool, 32 or 64 bit will work
3. Rufus

1. Insert the flash drive into a USB port.
2. Start Rufus.
3. Browse to the Windows 10 ISO and select it.
4. Select MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI in the Partition scheme and target system type drop down.
5. Make sure the flash drive is selected in the Device drop down.
6. Click on Start.

When Rufus ends, remove the flash drive and insert it in the BSOD computer. Power on, tap F12, to get the Boot Device Menu, highlight the USB Device and press Enter. That should do it and it should boot.

 

For Ztruker:

According to your instructions in the above post, the Flash Drive for the Reboot has to be prepared in an alternate computer. That means that the Windows 10 ISO has to be downloaded to the alternate computer file system and not directly to the Flash Drive. When I downloaded it, I downloaded it directly to the Flash Drive.

When I tried rebooting, I was either using just the Windows 10 ISO download, just the Rufus download, or just the winpese-x86-....iso -- all separately. According to your instructions, the Windows 10 ISO has to be combined with Rufus in order to function properly.

If I have understood your instructions correctly, this means that I have to download the Windows 10 ISO to the File System of my alternate computer. (I have anticipated that I need to do this, so I have started the download already.)

Judging from previous experience, it could take up to eight hours for the download of Windows 10 ISO.

Your current instructions sound good, and I'll put other suggestions on hold until I have a chance to try what you have suggested later on this evening.

Thank you for presenting this new possibility.

 

@Writer:

Just an FYI for you - what you stated as a serial number for your PC earlier is actually what's called a Service Tag. If you go to Dell Support online, you can enter that Service Tag and you will get a good bit of support info (Manuals, Driver Downloads, Warranty info, etc.). One of the things available there is the configuration your machine was shipped with - found here: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/.../configuration Note that there is a "Components" drop down you can click to see Dell components your machine has.

 

It appears that Dell uses the Serial Number also as the Service Tag. On the specification sticker on my Dell, it is printed twice that my Serial Number is 4T97CD1; there is no Service Tag Number on the sticker or anywhere else on the computer. There is also a model number, which is: DCNE (all letters).

I have been to the Dell Support website, and it automatically entered my Serial Number into the Service Tag space. Unfortunately, I can't run any of the checks online because I can't boot my computer. (I'm now using an alternate computer.)

Thank you for mentioning the Configuration link and the Components Drop-Down at the site; I'll be able to use those in the future if I can ever get this thing booted.

Thank you for your interest in this matter. This BSoD thing is as bad as a disabling virus. I am wondering why the anti-virus software wasn't able to pick up on the threat of the BSoD software. I have both Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Antimalware. Both of them did regular scans, but neither of them said a word about any BSoD software and, evidently, my other computer is just loaded with it.

 

I created a Flash Drive according to the instructions you gave. It still did not boot. However, I got a message several times that I had not gotten previously:

Press any key to boot from USB....
I pressed enter, but it did not boot.

For zbook:
I'll try some of the suggestions you made tomorrow, Friday, January 5.

 

Can you now capture the Rufus window image just prior to clicking on the Start button? I'd like to see exactly what you have selected when you create the flash drive. Something is still not right though you are getting closer.

You could use the following procedure to create the flash drive using diskpart from a Administrative Command Prompt but you may not want to be that adventurous *Smile

1. Use the Media Creation Tool to download and save the ISO file to your hard drive. (You've already done this)
2. Insert the USB flash drive.
3. Open a Administrator Command Prompt and enter: diskpart (if it isn't an administrator command prompt, it will ask for administrator permission).
4. list disk
5. select disk # <- replace # with the actual disk number of the USB flash drive
6. clean <- this will erase the disk selected above, make sure you selected the USB flash drive!
7. create part pri
8. format fs=fat32 quick
9. active
10. exit
11. exit - and if the first command prompt was not an Administrator Command Prompt, exit that one too.
11. Mount the ISO file saved by the Media Creation Tool. If you are using Windows 8 or 10, you only have to right click on it and click on mount. If you are using Windows 7, then you must use a program like WinCDEmu to mount the ISO file:
WinCDEmu - the easiest way to mount an ISO. And more...
12. Copy all the files and folders from the mounted ISO file to the USB flash drive.

That's it. Sounds like a lot but this is basically what Rufus is doing for you.

 

I'm sending the Rufus Screen Capture as an Attachment. This is the only way I was able to do it. (At bottom of Post)

The underlined sentence below is from zbook:
Power on the computer > as soon as you see the Microsoft icon > power off, etc.
The situation here is that I don't get the Microsoft icon; all I get is the Dell Logo Splash Screen; I then get a dash in the upper left-hand corner.

I tried this method with the Dell Logo page, but it didn't work.

I replaced the CMOS Battery with a brand-new one (CR2032 3v), then I got the message:
Performing automatic IDE Configuration....

But that's as far as it got -- I waited for 15 minutes. Nothing happened after this point.

3 Ways to Reset Your BIOS - wikiHow

Following instructions on the above website, I reset the Jumper Switch on the Motherboard after removing the CMOS Battery. I tried booting after this operation, but nothing happened.

Now, when I press the F-12 Key on start-up, sometimes I get nothing, sometimes I get the Boot Device Menu, sometimes I get the following page:

And this is where it freezes up.


I often do not get anything when I press the F-12 key or the F-2 key.

 

The Rufus menu looks good so the flash drive should be okay.

Try rebooting or powering up and going into BIOS Setup (F2) then Load Defaults. Also set the date and time.
Does your hard drive show correctly in the BIOS display?
DOes it show in the Boot tab of the BIOS setup?

 

In Setup, Load Defaults is found under Maintenance. One has the option of resetting the system to the factory default settings. I chose this option, and a message came up that read: Factory Default Acknowledgement OK. So, it appears that the system has the factory default settings.

I set the date and the time.

Regarding where the Hard Drive shows: This is what I see:

Under the Boot Sequence in Setup "Onboard SATA Hard Disk" is listed.

When pressing F-2 and the Boot Device Menu comes up "Onboard SATA Hard Drive" is listed.

I don't know if these are the locations you are referring to.

There is no ON/OFF switch on the computer; there is only a button to press that starts it.
When I power-down, I pull the plug. It's the only way I know how to turn it off.