How to recover Win 10 OS after BSOD crash

[JOrr0]

In Sept 2018 I got a new CyberPower PC, with ASRock MB Z370 Killer SLI, Optane 32 GB enabled. All seemed to go well until Dec 17, 2018 when the system crashed, going to a restart and repair loop until a black screen. Impossible to restart. I tried using Macrium to restore the image of the OS disk (I have a separate mirrored disk pair for data). This did not work. I ultimately reinstalled Windows 10 Pro and then reinstalled all my apps. A major pain!

All seemed to be OK until Monday this week when the system crashed again following an Adobe driver update. Nothing I've done following various on-line advice for recovering from a WIN 10 crash. I have disabled Optane in BIOS.

My other WIN 10 computers without Optane do not suffer this way.

It appears to me that the Optane cache deprives the OS of something it needs to run. I have no clue as to what is missing, nor how to restore the OS short of a new WIN 10 install.

What can I do to get my system up and running now?

I will not tolerate a condition where one minor part of the system can cause this much grief.

[DiegoV_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hi JOrr0,

Thank you for posting in the Intel® communities.

I’m sorry that you have had these issues with your computer, however these are issues related to the OS itself rather than with the Intel® Optane™ Memory.

When there is a Windows* OS issue like this, the recommended action is to perform an OS recovery from one of the system restore points that you or the system should have created. This method is recommended when the system crashes after a recent app installation or update. Please check the following Microsoft* article for additional details about the process: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12415/windows-10-recovery-options

Regarding to the fact that you disabled the module from BIOS, this action resets the module and de-concatenates it from the drive. This process is only recommended in case the OS was re-installed without disabling the module first from the application, so it has to be reset in order to set it up again with the new OS. 

By resetting the module from BIOS, you removed the module’s data from your system, so the system is currently de-concatenated from it, but the OS itself may still “think” that it’s still paired with the module, and therefore it may attempt to get data from it during boot.

Having said this, if you cannot restore your system by following the Microsoft* options in the article above, then I’m afraid that you would have to perform an OS re-installation. 

I hope you find this information helpful.

Have a nice day.

Regards,

Diego V.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[JOrr0]

Thank you for replying. I wonder why I don't feel much pleasure in it. Blaming all of the issue on the OS seems disingenuous. Clearly there is a relationship between the Optane cache and the OS startup. I'm aware of most of the options in the MS support for recovery. However, I'm not certain that Optane is free from culpability. There is little on the web that helps, and little from the MB site, and evidently not from Intel either. The fact that this has happened twice in a few months makes me leery of using Optane at all. I begin to think that I can forego the minor improvements in access for greater stability in the entire system. I don't see the opportunity to use a disk backup from my daily backup from Macrium. I'm very tempted to remove Optane from the system. If I leave Optane on the MB, I understand that I will have to do these steps: reset Windows 10 Pro. download the Optane driver/management app. link the OS and the cache in RAID. link my backup disks in RAID1. System Restore is disabled by default, so I must configure System Properties|System Protection|Turn On System Protection, and set maximum disk space usage to some value. Windows saves some restore points automatically (with each cumulative update installed through Windows Update, for example). it's probably a good idea to take a system configuration snapshot manually before installing a new app or a downloaded driver or low-level system utility. reinstall one by one all of the apps I want to use, and reconfigure each of them. test each install before starting the next. if there is a problem after making a system change first uninstall the app or driver using Settings > Apps > Apps & Features. Then run System Restore (Rstrui.exe) to restore the previous system configuration. Hope that a Windows Update will not result in a crash-related incompatibility with something in Optane. DiegoV_Intel (Sykes-CR) Hi JOrr0, Thank you for posting in the Intel® communities. I’m sorry that you have had these issues with your computer, however these are issues related to the OS itself rather than with the Intel® Optane™ Memory. When there is a Windows* OS issue like this, the recommended action is to perform an OS recovery from one of the system restore points that you or the system should have created. This method is recommended when the system crashes after a recent app installation or update. Please check the following Microsoft* article for additional details about the process: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12415/windows-10-recovery-options Regarding to the fact that you disabled the module from BIOS, this action resets the module and de-concatenates it from the drive. This process is only recommended in case the OS was re-installed without disabling the module first from the application, so it has to be reset in order to set it up again with the new OS. Having said this, if you cannot restore your system by following the Microsoft* options in the article above, then I’m afraid that you would have to perform an OS re-installation. I hope you find this information helpful. Have a nice day. Regards,Diego V.Intel Customer Support TechnicianUnder Contract to Intel Corporation View/Answer View/Answer <!-- or reply to this email Replying to JOrr0 (Customer) asked a question. Wednesday, February 20, 2019 11:14 AM How to recover Win 10 OS after BSOD crashIn Sept 2018 I got a new CyberPower PC, with ASRock MB Z370 Killer SLI, Optane 32 GB enabled. All seemed to go well until Dec 17, 2018 when the system crashed, going to a restart and repair loop until a black screen. Impossible to restart. I tried using Macrium to restore the image of the OS disk (I have a separate mirrored disk pair for data). This did not work. I ultimately reinstalled Windows 10 Pro and then reinstalled all my apps. A major pain! All seemed to be OK until Monday this week when the system crashed again following an Adobe driver update. Nothing I've done following various on-line advice for recovering from a WIN 10 crash. I have disabled Optane in BIOS. My other WIN 10 computers without Optane do not suffer this way. It appears to me that the Optane cache deprives the OS of something it needs to run. I have no clue as to what is missing, nor how to restore the OS short of a new WIN 10 install. What can I do to get my system up and running now? I will not tolerate a condition where one minor part of the system can cause this much grief. DiegoV_Intel (Sykes-CR) Hi JOrr0, Thank you for posting in the Intel® communities. I’m sorry that you have had these issues with your computer, however these are issues related to the OS itself rather than with the Intel® Optane™ Memory. When there is a Windows* OS issue like this, the recommended action is to perform an OS recovery from one of the system restore points that you or the system should have created. This method is recommended when the system crashes after a recent app installation or update. Please check the following Microsoft* article for additional details about the process: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12415/windows-10-recovery-options Regarding to the fact that you disabled the module from BIOS, this action resets the module and de-concatenates it from the drive. This process is only recommended in case the OS was re-installed without disabling the module first from the application, so it has to be reset in order to set it up again with the new OS. Having said this, if you cannot restore your system by following the Microsoft* options in the article above, then I’m afraid that you would have to perform an OS re-installation. I hope you find this information helpful. Have a nice day. Regards,Diego V.Intel Customer Support TechnicianUnder Contract to Intel Corporation Wednesday, February 20, 2019 12:19 PM You're receiving emails when someone "Comments on my posts." To change or turn off Forums email, log in as 300002105607@intel.com.isvc. Are notifications about this post getting annoying? Reply to this email with the word " mute ". For Privacy and Legal notices, please visit these links: http://www.intel.com/privacy, https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/legal/terms-of-use.html.

[DiegoV_Intel]

Hi JOrr0,

I completely understand what you say about the Intel® Optane™ Memory, and it’s true that when the module is enabled, there is a relationship between the drive and the module, however we haven’t received any report before about similar issues where the module is the root cause of the OS crash.

There are some reports though where the OS doesn’t boot, but this happens when the module is removed from the system without being disabled beforehand, however this is expected as the module should not have to be removed from the system without being first properly disabled from the application.

Unfortunately there is nothing else I can provide or suggest to try to recover the system, so the only option would be to re-install the OS. 

I’m sorry for all the inconveniences an OS re-installation comes with. If you consider the issue was caused by the module, you can try to setup your system without using it and keep monitoring the system to see if the issue doesn’t happen again in the next months.

Please keep in mind that the possibility of an OS crash after a software or OS update always exists, and the good practice of having backup systems or recovery points are intended to fix or recover the system when this happens, so the fact that the module was installed in your system doesn’t necessarily mean that the system failed because of it.

Have a nice day.

Regards,

Diego V.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Under Contract to Intel Corporation