Windows 10: Windows 10 update catastrophic failure - system files are missing

I'm (actually was) running Windows 10 build 1703. Since beginning Windows 10 upgrade did not work on my machine, always failed during update to new version beginning with Windows 7 to 10 update. Everything was working fine after fresh install of given version.


As Windows always failed to update I choosed to defer functional updates for as long as possible which is 365 days. It was working perfectly until today when it decided to upgrade to 1709. I did not notiece that when restarting as I thought it's simple security update. As always it restarted, booted to update subsystem, then failed, went to restoring previous version but could not start system again. Common problem with missing winload.exe. It happened to me before, fixing BCD always helped so I tried it this time as well. The problem is that everything with BCD was fine and despite trying different thing I could not boot this system. Finally I checked if this file actually exists and it turns out it disappeared along with all system files from system32 as well as SysWOW64.


First question is HOW IT'S EVEN POSSIBLE? I have 1433 files there and most of them look like drivers or other application libraries. Winload.exe is missing and it looks like much more is missing. File listing here:

https://1drv.ms/t/s!AhqjjqCRmeVokvNR8OqS2Y6ASAdGGw


Here is windows update log but I don't see any meaningful information there:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhqjjqCRmeVokvNQ6zonbiaDb62ESw

I tried to run SFC but it does not recognize it as system and fails with "Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service" message. No logs generated.

DISM on the other hand failed with:

Error: 50

DISM does not support servicing a Windows Vista RTM or earlier operating system.

If the operating system is supported check that SSShim.DLL is present.


Indeed, SSShim.DLL is also missing.

Is there any option to recover such system? Is there any backup made by windows update before replacing this files? I had backup drive which somehow failed and has completely broken filesystem, so I have no external backup right now.


I installed another copy of Windows on this machine but configuring it will take ages and I'd rather get back to my previous installation.


This is desktop PC

Motherboard: ASUS P6T

CPU: Xeon X5670

It does not support UEFI. Previously I had system installed on MBR 120GB SSD, then I switched to GPT for system drive and bootloader is placed on different drive with MBR so it can start without using EFI. I know that small SSD on MBR and lack of EFI is most probably reason for failures before but I did not have such failure before.

:)

 

Windows .NET Framework 4.7 Update Failed / Catastrophic Failure / 0x8000ffff

Hi Nick,

There are different factors that can contribute as to why you are not able to install a specific update. This could be caused by missing update components or system files that got corrupted. For us to resolve your concern, kindly answer the questions below:

• Have you attempted to manually install the update and check if the same issue occurs?
• We would also like to confirm what is the build number of Windows 10 that is installed in your computer?

As a initial recommendation, you can follow the steps provided by pvdg42 that is available through this

link to install the update manually and correct the error. The steps posted was for a previous version of
Microsoft .NET Framework, but they still apply and all you need to do is use the latest version of the installer.

We look forward to your response to our queries.

 

Error 0x8000FFFF: Catastrophic Failure

Hi Paty,

The Error 0x8000FFFF: Catastrophic Failure may have occurred due to the recent change on your PC or the issue came from the USB Drive itself. To isolate your concern, we'd like to ask the following:

• Have you tried to use the USB Drive and create a new folder on a different PC?
  
• What troubleshooting steps have you tried so far to resolve the issue?

We look forward to your response.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.