Windows 10: Sudden BSOD/Restart, Unable to Boot, Bootres.dll Corrupted

Hello,

I have had an issue starting last afternoon where my PC hard-restarted in the middle of use and was unable to boot back into Windows 10.

I have had issues with screen flickering and the screen suddenly turning black before and this is the second time it hard resetted (the first time was a while ago but my PC was able to successfully boot back up). This time, and every time thereafter, my PC makes it to the Windows 10 loading screen before it suddenly stops loading, blacks out, and restarts. After three restarts it goes into a diagnostics mode which is unable to resolve the issue but logs the issue under Windows/System32/LogFiles/Srt. The log file suggests i:\boot\resources\custom\bootres.dll is corrupted.

After Googling and performing troubleshooting, system restore, startup restore, and all the other troubleshooting options to no avail, I arrived at automatic repair...bootres.dll is corrupt - Microsoft Community which provided a solution involving bcdboot C:\windows /s V:. I tried this command with C:\ replaced with the drive number for my Windows, /s linked to my system reserved partition (then in another attempt to a fresh 2GB partition), and /f as BIOS or ALL as I had a BIOS system. I even tried /c once to not copy over any settings and that didn't work.

I also attempted bootrec command line commands trying to repair the master boot record which didn't work: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...startup-issues

I dual booted my Ubuntu and Windows, and could access neither (I could get into Grub though)

Interesting enough, I CAN boot Windows into safe mode with networking and the issue with suddenly crashing/restarting does not occur. Through there, I tested my hard drive integrity, ran Malwarebytes, reformatted some disk partitions, and ran all of Window's troubleshooters to no avail.

In the end, I decided to clean boot Windows using a USB with a Microsoft ISO provided by their Installation Tool: Download Windows 10 I cleared out all the data on my SSD, deleted and remade all the partitions. I also removed the small 100MB-1GB sectors on my 1TB HDD.

Sometimes, Windows would crash-restart while it's finalizing the setup and trying to get me to the desktop. Other times, it would make it to the desktop and hard reset within 10 minutes. In all circumstances I end up with the same issue of never being able to boot again (except in safe mode/safe mode with networking).

I unplugged my HDD so Windows would only use the completely empty SSD. Even with a fresh, clean install of Windows 10 onto a completely empty SSD, it didn't work. I also tried installing on the HDD, it didn't work either.

I am throughly baffled what could be causing this, is it a hardware fault? Is it a software fault? A Google search suggested that the bootrec.dll being corrupted error was the cause of a recent Windows update. Still it's strange I wasn't able to boot into Ubuntu but I was able to boot into Windows safe mode.

SPECS:

I built this PC myself about 2 years ago, adding in an SSD later:

CPU: AMD FX-6300
GPU: ATI Radeon R9 270X
RAM: 8GB DRR3 1600MHz
OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
SSD: SSD 850 EVO 500GB
Hard Drive: Seagate ST1000LM014 1TB
Motherboard: MSI 760GMA-P34 (FX)
PSU: EVGA 500W

If anyone could help me that would be great! If you need any additional information I am happy to provide.

I also posted on a reddit community for help but I was wondering if someone here could also lend their assistance if they've had experience with this issue.

Thanks!

:)

 

MBR keeps corrupting after restart

I have a machine that when restarted or allowed to go into hibernation, I receive a missing/corrupted master boot record message and Windows doesn't boot. I am able to successfully repair the MBR each time using Windows recovery console, but I'm unable to determine what keeps making it happen.

Dell Latitude E6420
Windows 7 64bit

Steps performed so far: -besides fixing the MBR after each restart or hibernation
-ran system file checker sfc /scannow
-ran chkdsk
-verified that ACHI was enabled in the bios

If I can't figure this out I will end up just reinstalling the operating system, but I worried that the issue with just reoccur later down the line. Any advice/recommendations would be much appreciated.

 

Unable to boot windows due to missing or corrupt files

Hi Callum,

There are several reasons why your PC isn't booting properly. One of which is because of broken boot data configuration components. To isolate the issue, we highly suggest you to boot your PC in Safe Mode. Given that you cannot access the setup screen, please
follow these steps:

Do the improper shutdown process:

• Turn on your computer.
• When the Windows logo is visible, unplug the computer. Do this thrice.
• At the 4th boot, simply wait for the Windows Recovery Environment window to appear.

After doing the improper shutdown process, please follow these steps:

• On the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot.
• Click Advanced options then, Startup Settings.
• Click Restart.
• Once the PC has restarted, press the F4 key to boot in Safe Mode.

Let us know if the resolution worked for you.

 

Random Restarts, No BSOD

He mentioned that he had done that above. Also I provided a BSOD details app. There were no BSODs to report.